Phoebus,

Thanks for your service and taking it to the enemy. Please pass on that our thoughts and prayers are with all the troops. Thanks to one and all! I get up everyday, plug away at work,  and think that you are doing what hopefully my children will not have to do.  I am grateful for that.

As an AR aficionado I am curious how your weapons have been performing in the "sandbox"? I have heard alot about how difficult it is to keep the AR platform running but what has been your experience?  

Thanks and stay safe.

T
Kansas City

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: You know, I completely understand your frustration, but I'm curious as hell why your buddy didn't have his carry handle with him. It is possible that the carry handle was safely stashed away in a ruck that was left in the humvee.  It is equally possible that he actually had his carry handle with him and simply didn't think to grab it.   Roger, got that. However, I'd still like my question answered, See here is the thing. This is my third trip in my Army career to the sand box. I know that Phoebus is in an NG unit, and prior to RIPing with the unit we replaced a couple of months ago, I'd never worked with a NG unit before. I was amazed at the quality and quantity of gear that they had. So I'm somewhat surprised to hear of the problems in Phoebus' unit. Not only that, but I'm really surprised that an NCO let a soldier off the FOB on a mission without conducting any kind of PCCs of PCIs since that means that they didn't ensure that the Soldier would have his carrying handle, ie his BUIS with him and readily available. I'm glad that Phoebus had the presence of mind to toss his buddy his carrying handle. Obviously it did some good even though it wasn't zeroed to his weapon. I'm an infantry platoon sergeant that is currently a staff wienie who would give his left nut to be out with a platoon again, but someone has to push paper and that gets to be me for this trip. So to read a story like this it really pisses me off that someone set up a soldier for failure by not doing their job. At least, that's what I'm inferring here. I'd like the details. Call it professional curiosity.

You're definitely correct, there was a PCC/PCI breakdown here.  A chain of events lead to this situation.  First, we didn't get all the gear we were expecting when we arrived.  Then, we received extra people, further straining our equipment base.  In addition, after working together for several months, the leadership comes to trust the joes to be squared away.  The problem there is that replacements like Caleb may not be quite with the program yet, and the leadership needs to keep an eye on them for a period.  In this case, that didn't happen.

There are many guard units with high-speed equipment, but those typically come from one of the NG enhanced brigades.  All of the guard units are gradually being reorganized into these units of action.  Unfortuantely, ours had not yet been so organized when we deployed (it is now, back home, so we will be falling in on a totally new organizational table when we redeploy back to the states).

We deployed initially with A2s, PVS-5s...you get the idea.  We eventually got the high-speed gear, but some people slipped through the cracks.  And naturally, the FOBbit supply guys walk around with M4s, Surfire 951s, PEQ2s, and M9s while the PFC that does combat patrols uses his A2.

This is, in the end, a combination supply, leadership, and individual failure.  Luckily, everything turned out ok.

Quoted: Phoebus, Thanks for your service and taking it to the enemy. Please pass on that our thoughts and prayers are with all the troops. Thanks to one and all! I get up everyday, plug away at work,  and think that you are doing what hopefully my children will not have to do.  I am grateful for that. As an AR aficionado I am curious how your weapons have been performing in the "sandbox"? I have heard alot about how difficult it is to keep the AR platform running but what has been your experience?   Thanks and stay safe. T Kansas City

I personally use a combination of Hoppe's No. 9, Militech, and CLP to clean and lube my weapon.  I've found that as long as a basic wipedown (5 min) is done every day and a thorough cleaninga about once per week, or more on an as-needed basis, that the AR platform doesn't have any problems.  Of course, in a good ol' fashioned Iraqi sandstorm, things get pretty crazy, and you need to pop your BCG out every thirty or sixty minutes and wipe her down.  A storm of that level doesn't happen too often, though.

Thanks for your support, everyone!

Knock off or real deal?

matech sold on arfcom

Quoted: Knock off or real deal? matech sold on arfcom

Looks just like my issue matech.

... Congratulations on your 10th and 11th confirmed kills! Stay safe bro.

I hope the NCO in charge of you get the shit smack out of them. As an NCO I cringe when I hear stories like this, bad leadership is all it boils down to.

If it was me I'd be outside the Platoon SGT tent, than make my way up to the CSM to make sure ALL my soliders are properly equipped and have all their gear in check. An NCO that can't even get time for their soldiers zero their weapon should be tossed into a shit pile and sent home. I was only in theater for a few weeks doing medivacs but I sure as hell made sure all my soldiers had their shit together.

Bad NCO's is what it comes down to, it is worse yet since the Army is just giving ranks away nowadays. The next moron who haven't got court martialed or fuck up too bad get stripes handed to them.

Quoted: This story is another illustration of a few facts.   First, optics should be on QD mounts so they can be ditsched at a moments notice if they no longer serve ther purpose. Second, a BUIS should be available.  A fixed or flip rear right above the charging handle is of course optimal. Third, you should be prepared to fire without a rear sight.  An M68 makes a great ghost ring and the front sight will get you decent hits if you shoot enough (a little practice and a lot of ammo).  Hey, it's better than quitting.

I'm not clear on whether the electronics just crapped out on the Eotech or perhaps it was disembowled or something.  

When ASU said "ghost ring" the first that came to mind was an odd figure 8 shape after shrapnel hitting it!

That's awesome, I'd definitely like to get a final answer on that myself.  I like the Matech a lot, and after I used one for a while on deployment I went looking for one for my civvie rifles, but all I could find were Ebay specials and such.  The agreement among "gun guys" in my unit seemed to be that they are .mil-only, but that could just be the conventional wisdom, which as we all know is often wrong.  If we can get a straight answer on this that would put a lot of people's minds at ease one way or another I think.

Quoted: Quoted: This story is another illustration of a few facts.   First, optics should be on QD mounts so they can be ditsched at a moments notice if they no longer serve ther purpose. Second, a BUIS should be available.  A fixed or flip rear right above the charging handle is of course optimal. Third, you should be prepared to fire without a rear sight.  An M68 makes a great ghost ring and the front sight will get you decent hits if you shoot enough (a little practice and a lot of ammo).  Hey, it's better than quitting. I'm not clear on whether the electronics just crapped out on the Eotech or perhaps it was disembowled or something.   When ASU said "ghost ring" the first that came to mind was an odd figure 8 shape after shrapnel hitting it!

The EOTech looked like a ghost "L", you could say, with one side severely deformed, and the opening close off to the point that you wouldn't be able to see the reticle.  I wish I had a picture but supply took it right when we got back.  I'll see if I can get a shot of it for posterity.

Quoted: Quoted: This story is another illustration of a few facts.   First, optics should be on QD mounts so they can be ditsched at a moments notice if they no longer serve ther purpose. Second, a BUIS should be available.  A fixed or flip rear right above the charging handle is of course optimal. Third, you should be prepared to fire without a rear sight.  An M68 makes a great ghost ring and the front sight will get you decent hits if you shoot enough (a little practice and a lot of ammo).  Hey, it's better than quitting. I'm not clear on whether the electronics just crapped out on the Eotech or perhaps it was disembowled or something.   When ASU said "ghost ring" the first that came to mind was an odd figure 8 shape after shrapnel hitting it!

Roger that.  I thought of that as well, but suppressive fire can be done quite well with nothing but a front sight.  I met some dudes who didn't run BUIi (the plural?) because the figured a front sight would get decent hits to 200M.  Not idle thought, either, they practiced it.  Not ideal, but when you have 210 rounds and the rest of your life to solve the problem...

Not to be an ass but why was he just sitting there instead of shooting anyway? If you were in a engagement he should still be dumping bullets downrange.  
Unless you were shooting at an enemy past 100 yards then he should have still been able to put at least one round some where on the body.

Not shooting because his sights are damaged is just leaving the rest of the team at risk.
Anyone with any amount of range time should still be able to point, pull and put a round somewhere on the enemy.

That is also no excuse for not having correct gear in a front line unit anyway. At least that lesson was not written in blood.
God bless you guys in getting through that day.

"I turned to my left and noticed that Caleb was not firing. It turns out that his EOTech had been literally destroyed in the explosion (he was driving). As rugged as the EOTechs are, an antitank mine is tougher! One might ask why he didn't just flip up his handy dandy MaTech BUIS and engage. Well folks, the fact is that he doesn't have one. The unit before us, who was supposed to pass on the MaTech units, didn't totally fulfill their obligation (shame on them and their supply guys). About 10 soldiers, rather than turning in their BUIS, decided to keep them and/or sell them. Result: guys in Iraq not having BUIS. Now granted, this is a fixable problem, but it is a problem that should not exist in the first place. "

That's not how supply is supposed to work.  Thank your ate-up supply sgt for not getting your unit the back-up sights.  

"All you people buying these military-only BUIS, I consider you enablers. I'm not going to go psycho on you, or post in all your threads about how horrible you are, because I know you're just guys trying to get the best gear, just like me. But I just want you to understand what happens down the line in the real world, when necessary gear is on your uber-1337 M4gery instead of on real weapons carried by real soldiers in real combat."

I really doubt the unit your soldier would have had has been sold on the internet.  It's probably still on a weapon with the unit in question that decided not to give you their issue - when they go back to Iraq it will probably still be with them.  It isn't a unit's obligation to hand over their issue to another unit.


"I keep my carry handle in a pouch on my IBA, and I tossed it to Caleb, who quickly replaced the ruined EOTech and got in the fight."

Caleb should have been point shooting, but I'm amazed you were able to stop fighting and have the presance of mind to throw him a plecebo [the irons] so he could start firing.  I carried three full mags of tracers over there and sight or not I could hit what I needed to hit.  Another plus is that tracers have a phsycological effect- they scare rags.


"Result: a few cuts and bruises, some tinnitus, a ruined HMMWV, a destroyed EOTech, and five dead terrorists. You may all congratulate me on my tenth and eleventh confirmed kills."

That's good to hear.  The rags didn't get to take any American lives.  I hate those fuckers good job making them into "good ragheads", that sucks about the hearing loss and constant ringing.

I worked in military law enforcement when I was in the Army years ago (got out in 88) and one thing I think some of us may have overlooked is the theft that happens at the huge depots.  Hundreds of civilians work at these places and theft, as well as drinking while working, is legion.  IF there is stolen military gear being sold on Ebay or elsewhere it could as easily - or more easily - have come from a depot and stolen by a civilian employee.  Given how small they are this is very possible.  I’m not going to pretend that a soldier never lifts something, but theft on a big scale is from the depot.  I’m just suggesting another possibility.  

As for the enabling part, I agree that people who knowingly purchase stolen items are enabling the problem.  It’s the same way in narcotics.  Without the customers, there are no dealers.  Drugs and theft have the potential to destroy the readiness and moral of any unit and are (or used to be) dealt with pretty severely compared to the civilian world.  

I am not prepared to criticize the soldier who was driving in any way.  I have never been under that level of stress and anything could have happened.  He had just had his optics blown off his weapon; this alone can ruin your whole day, let alone the firefight!  As for the NCOs failing their people, IF this is true then means there is an officer failing the NCO and the soldiers subordinate to that NCO.  But let’s cut these guys some slack.  As in anything, things are occasionally overlooked.  No one really believes that their optics are going to get blown off their weapon.  Yes, they should, but things happen and they will learn from this event.  They are human.  It’s very easy for most of us to sit behind our keyboards and offer our opinions, whether they be about soldiers who may have taken a BUIS home or another who didn’t think to carry or connect his carry handle.

I just want to thank them and wish them the best for their, and our, future.  Good hunting guys!