Marine issued sidearms

[willis68]

If you all who are in the know, can someone tell me if the military, Marines, Army do they carry sidearms, Pistols? someone is trying to tell me that the Marines in Iraq are not issued a pistol? can anyone shed some light on this for me

[Omega]

I don't know about now, but until 04' most did not get issued sidearms. The only reason I had one was due to having to be in civies most times and having to blend in. Honestly, I would rather of carried my M4 since it can be used in short or long range.

[1gewehr]

Generally, hanguns are issued to people who cannot or should not be carrying a rifle.  The standard handgun of all US forces is the M9 Beretta 9mm.  There are some groups which use other pistols such as an upgraded 1911A1 .45, the Sig 228, and the Glock  17, 19, and 21.

Not many folks in a combat zone want to carry pistols.  A pistol is a very poor weapon in a combat zone.  About the best that can be said is that having a pistol is better than not having a gun.

[teecro]

I would have to think that the deciding factors must really be where and what duty your pulling? I can't see infantry having much use for a sidearm when they are carrying an M4 around. Lots of extra weight and clumsy with all their other gear.

[Jonnin]

As I understand it the biggest use of sidearms in the military are special forces missions (unclear how often) and military police in some circumstances.  

 

And I am ok with that.  What should simply be allowed is that all soldiers, after completing basic training and being moved to duty, should be allowed to carry a pistol.   Their own would be fine.  Issued would be fine.  I don't care what it is or where it came from, but they should simply be allowed the choice of doing this.  And that should over-ride 100% of all state laws until such time as their discharge.

[Garufa]

I'd like to expand the question if Willis doesn't mind. Just how much handgun training do recruits get in any branch of the service?


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[Patton]

I have been completely separated from the US Armed Forces for over five years now. During the course of my eight years of service I saw more and more service members getting issued and trained on handguns. The reason is because on a deployment the POGs don't want to carry around rifles everywhere. Ironically, most of the ones who need them like the infantry and artillery don't get them.

On a deployment you do not see too many Marines with handguns. I would say more than 50 % of soldiers, sailors, and airmen are walking around with handguns on deployments. While the Beretta is the most common handgun, you still see a lot of 1911's, Sigs, and Glocks.

As a MP in basic training during 2002, we received about a solid 40 hours of time with the handguns. I hear they get a little more now. On active duty we averaged about 400 rounds a year through the handguns. I did a combat pistol course in 2006 that was a little over a week long with a mix of Berettas and Sigs. Edited July 19, 2015 by Patton

[Moped]

I didn't see a pistol in Basic Training or AIT.  Once I got to my unit I was issued a .45.  I had shot the 1911a1 before, and knew how to break one down, I'd never qualified with one.  It wasn't all that hard.  When Desert Storm rolled around, I was in a different and higher position and was issued a M16a1.  And I had no problem with that, being in a combat engineering battalion!  I wanted nothing to do with a pistol in combat. 

 

I do think that all soldiers should go though an orientation for pistols in Basic though.  All Soldiers and Marines should be familiar with every personal weapon in their respective service's inventory.  I also think regardless of what your position is, you should have a weapon issued to you.  Recruiters should have a sidearm issued and should go through a training course and qualification with that sidearm.  And they should be required to carry that sidearm now.

Edited July 19, 2015 by Moped

[Spots]

There is no pistol training in Marine boot camp. I saw pistols issued, normally they would be issued to SNCO'S and Officers, as well as some pilots. Some air crew carried them, though when I was doing AO on my last deployment we were issued M4's, while the pilots were issued M9's.

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[Grunt67]

Little exposure to a 1911 during basic at Ft. Campbell. Never saw one after that. Issued a M16 w/ M203 underneath in 'Nam.

Don't recall seeing anyone carrying a pistol.

[Grayfox54]

My younger son was Army National Guard 11B infantry. In Infantry School he got training with everything from the M4 to Ma Duece, but no pistol training at all. In Iraq his primary weapon was a 240B mounted on top of a MRAP. He had a M4 for a walking around weapon. For a while he was issued a M9, however he turned it back in by his own choice because he considered it just extra dead weight to carry.

 

As for myself, Army 1972-75, I never got any formal handgun training. However,  I did receive some very basic pistol training on the unit level and was required to qualify once per year, but only because I was a driver of a tracked vehicle and the 1911 was supposed to be my issued personal weapon. However, due to a shortage of 1911s in our unit, I was never issued one. 

 

While I am all in favor of issuing weapons for our military on U.S. soil, most are not trained in the use of a handgun. By all means issue pistols as needed, but first properly train these troops to use them.

[wmaddox]

The answer to the question is yes and no. If your primary weapon is a crew serve I.e. 240 or .50 then you may get pistol. But normally you carry an m4 or something of that variant.


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[duncan1371]

Snco's and officers in my unit got m9's to carry in the wire. An m4's for outside the wire. We did an eog shoot and got to shoot about 500 rounds a piece but that was our only time with it

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[bersaguy]

My Grandson did 1 tour in Afghanistan and 2 tours in Iraq while in the Rangers and he was issued an M9 and I think an M4 all the time he was in country.

[crossfire]

Little exposure to a 1911 during basic at Ft. Campbell. Never saw one after that. Issued a M16 w/ M203 underneath in 'Nam.

Don't recall seeing anyone carrying a pistol.

I was issued a 1911 and a M-79 before I left for Nam, in 1966 .  Just had a couple days training with both before we shipped. It really pissed off the brass that a SPC4 had a pistol. :)  The M203 was just being introduced when I left Nam late 1967. The M16 was new at the time, early 1967 and still needed to have some bugs worked out, all magazines  were only 20 rounds.

Edited July 22, 2015 by crossfire

[SlapChopDonkey]

Most only carry an M4, from what I've seen. But some office types only carry an M9. There is a growing number that carry an M4 with a pistol as a sidearm though.
For the most part though, at least in the Army, pistol training remains grossly inadequate.

[tnhawk]

In basic training at Ft Polk, I trained with an M14, M60, M79, no pistol.  Before going to my first assignment, without training time I qualified with an M16.  During that assigment I was required to attend practice time with these weapons and a 1911.

[DWARREN123]

When I was in (long ago) only certain folks were issued sidearms. Most were issued rifles.

[Tncobra]

I was issued a 120mm smooth bore M1A1 and a pistol.

[LCPfraTN]

As previously indicated, most pistol issuances and training are based on your military job (MOS) and/or your rank. Many NCOs and officers are issued pistols. It was a long time ago for me, and certainly things have changed, but I carried a pistol almost my entire time in the Marine Corps. We didn't receive any pistol training in boot camp, but I became a squad leader in a 60mm mortar section of a weapons platoon soon after boot camp and received training with the 1911 and carried one for about a year. Then, I was honored to serve on Embassy Duty and carried a revolver every day for over 2 1/2 years. I think we had close to a week of pistol training at Quantico before serving on Embassy Duty.


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[bersaguy]

back when I was in and sent to Nam I was issues an M16 and a 1911 Colt 45 that I carried in a shoulder holster because I wanted it high enough that if we had to enter any swamps or Rice patty fields I did not want it going under water. I was given the 45 and 5 extra magazines for it. It came in handy several times during fire fights that lasted any length of time at all................ :up: