Lawmaker asking why Navy SEALs don't have enough rifles

[Wrabbit2000]

This is sad. Beyond Sad.... Pathetic.

I still see and hear many of my fellow Americans touting America as the best Military in the world, or the most capable. This.......used to be true. This....could still BE true, and we haven't lost the structure, numbers (generally speaking) or ability to train a fine edge to our people. We have just lost the collective desire to try or maintain it.

Navy SEAL teams don't have enough combat rifles to go around, even as these highly trained forces are relied on more than ever to carry out counterterrorism operations and other secretive missions, according to SEALs who have confided in Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif.

After SEALs return from a deployment, their rifles are given to other commandos who are shipping out, said Hunter, a former Marine who served three combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. This weapons carousel undercuts the "train like you fight" ethos of the U.S. special operations forces, they said.

Yeah, this is a great idea.... The rifles aren't lifetime items to start with, and they DO take heavy wear and tear. The Mattel toys they call M-16's are particularly susceptible to hard wear and tear, compared to...say...the venerable M-14.

Sharing rifles may seem inconsequential. It's not. The weapons, which are outfitted with telescopic targeting sights and laser pointers, are fine-tuned to individual specifications and become intensely personal pieces of gear.

"They want their rifles," Hunter said. "It's their lifeline. So let them keep their guns until they're assigned desk jobs at the Pentagon."

Sounds like a reasonable request to me, anyway....

One of the SEALs who contacted Hunter blamed a slow, penny-pinching bureaucracy that rarely seeks input from the service members who use the gear, according to a brief excerpt of his comments that the congressman's office provided to The Associated Press.

Delays of as long as three to four years paralyze the acquisition system, the SEAL said. Once an item has finally been approved for purchase, new and better gear may be available, triggering the same lengthy screening process to see if it's worth getting instead.

Source


I hope no one is under illusions of being able to meet an enemy in battle and fight a MAJOR war or a serious engagement where the other side has the ability and will to actually win for a change. We'd have a run for our money, I believe. At best.