Quote History Originally Posted By TacticalGarand44:
Interestingly, it doesn't look like any foot soldiers carried them in addition to a Kalashnikov. Mostly just officers and political officers, RPG operators, tankers, drivers, and the like.
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Not machine gunners? Other than that, it appears similar to US MTOE at the time. Pistols were for people whose role prevented them from carrying a larger weapon, or as backup for something more prone to failure, like a belt-fed MG. The pistol was the original PDW.
The exception(s) would be special forces, and those who scrounged battlefield pickups (which was fairly common among WWII combatants). Not issued of course.
Does that document indicate who was issued Stechkin APS machinepistols?