Posted: 12/1/2011 11:54:35 AM EDT
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Does the Army consider this a crew served weapon? And if so, do you deploy as such? |
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Offically, yes there are 2 different LINs for the M249. One LIN is for the M249 Squad Automatic Weapon, this is an individual weapon. The other LIN is for the M249 LMG, this is a crew served weapon (this replaced the M60 in many units). Same weapon, the additional authorized items are different for each LIN. Which LIN happens to be on a MTOE and Property book depends on the type of unit you are in. HHC, CS, CSS units will have both the LMG LIN and the SAW LIN on thier MTOE more often. Combat Arms line companies are mostly just the SAW varient.
Now the real question is do leaders know the difference on the TOE and understand the difference in employment of the two different varients. |
| We (ARNG truck co) actually have both. The individual SAWs are meant to be mounted on trucks, the others for perimeter defense. When I first pointed out that going 5.56mm instead of 7.62mm when you are not worried about carrying the damn thing was kind of silly, I was told that we don't have line/TOE spots for M240's. |
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We (ARNG truck co) actually have both. The individual SAWs are meant to be mounted on trucks, the others for perimeter defense. When I first pointed out that going 5.56mm instead of 7.62mm when you are not worried about carrying the damn thing was kind of silly, I was told that we don't have line/TOE spots for M240's. That seems silly... We had so many beltfeds last tour I had a 240, 249 and an M4 assigned to me and I just used whichever was appropriate for the mission. |
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We (ARNG truck co) actually have both. The individual SAWs are meant to be mounted on trucks, the others for perimeter defense. When I first pointed out that going 5.56mm instead of 7.62mm when you are not worried about carrying the damn thing was kind of silly, I was told that we don't have line/TOE spots for M240's. That seems silly... We had so many beltfeds last tour I had a 240, 249 and an M4 assigned to me and I just used whichever was appropriate for the mission. I agree. Coming originally from an infantry background, my reaction to the M60/240 has always been a balancing act between how much I want the extra power versus how much weight I feel like carrying. The "hey we have trucks, don't worry about packing the bastard around" mentality hasn't totally sunk in yet. |
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We (ARNG truck co) actually have both. The individual SAWs are meant to be mounted on trucks, the others for perimeter defense. When I first pointed out that going 5.56mm instead of 7.62mm when you are not worried about carrying the damn thing was kind of silly, I was told that we don't have line/TOE spots for M240's. That seems silly... We had so many beltfeds last tour I had a 240, 249 and an M4 assigned to me and I just used whichever was appropriate for the mission. I agree. Coming originally from an infantry background, my reaction to the M60/240 has always been a balancing act between how much I want the extra power versus how much weight I feel like carrying. The "hey we have trucks, don't worry about packing the bastard around" mentality hasn't totally sunk in yet. What type of truck mounts do you have? My last contact with at Transportation Company was 5 rons with .50 Cal rings over the open cabs. |
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We (ARNG truck co) actually have both. The individual SAWs are meant to be mounted on trucks, the others for perimeter defense. When I first pointed out that going 5.56mm instead of 7.62mm when you are not worried about carrying the damn thing was kind of silly, I was told that we don't have line/TOE spots for M240's. That seems silly... We had so many beltfeds last tour I had a 240, 249 and an M4 assigned to me and I just used whichever was appropriate for the mission. I agree. Coming originally from an infantry background, my reaction to the M60/240 has always been a balancing act between how much I want the extra power versus how much weight I feel like carrying. The "hey we have trucks, don't worry about packing the bastard around" mentality hasn't totally sunk in yet. Pretty much most of the time i left the 240 up on the pintle with whoever was staying with the truck and if i had to set up an LP/OP i took the SAW. Walking patrols i brought my M4. |
| One interesting thing here is that what I remember about the SAW is that it was never meant to be an individual weapon. In IOBC in 1992, the NCO assigned to help train the platoon I was in always stressed the importance of never using a weapon that fed from the open bolt position if you were on the assault team of an ambush. He always said that chance of a misfire or jam was too great a chance when there are always plenty of closed bolt M16 rifles around. Does anyone remember the days back in the late 1970s before the SAW when there was one soldier assigned as the Automatic Rifleman to carry an M16A1 with a bipod? |
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Does the Army consider this a crew served weapon? And if so, do you deploy as such? I deployed the SAW as both crew served with an assistant gunner or by myself depending on the role of the unit and the weapon. When I manned the weapon alone it was a SAW with 2 200rnd belts in the bottom detachable box mags. When the weapon was crew served it was the SAW, with several 200rnd belts in ammo cans...assistant gunner had extra ammo cans, a tri-pod (better than the bi-pod in some setups), and possibly an extra barrel (or maybe I'm confusing that with the M2). Those things all start to blur when you had the M249, M242, and M2; but it has been over a decade since I've messed with them. |
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One interesting thing here is that what I remember about the SAW is that it was never meant to be an individual weapon. In IOBC in 1992, the NCO assigned to help train the platoon I was in always stressed the importance of never using a weapon that fed from the open bolt position if you were on the assault team of an ambush. He always said that chance of a misfire or jam was too great a chance when there are always plenty of closed bolt M16 rifles around. Does anyone remember the days back in the late 1970s before the SAW when there was one soldier assigned as the Automatic Rifleman to carry an M16A1 with a bipod? Did you see that LWCI made an open bolt M4A6 just to fill the role you are describing here? The weapon has a switch that switches it from regular closed bolt operation to open bolt configuration. With 100rnd beta mags it was supposed to replace the SAW in units that needed that type of weapon. The idea was for the soldier to be able to be on the assault team in closed bolt mode with regular mags. Then if they needed a squad weapon it could be flicked over to open bolt mode, bipod deployed, and beta mag inserted for suppressing fire. |
| They didn't teach that at IOBC in 1995. The SAW was an individual weapon. The instructors stressed being vey careful with it because of the open bolt. They also stressed properly employing it tactically (I.e. in a SBF, not on an assault team), it didn't exclude you from using one on an asault team, it just wasn't optimal. One of our NCO's had been a SAW gunner in Somalia and ran the "Mogadishu Mile". |
| I'm a current 11B deployed to Afghanistan. In our platoons we have 3 rifle squads and a weapons squad. The 3 rifle squads have a SAW for an Automatic Rifleman and a Mk48 for an Automatic Rifleman. Then in the Weapon squad there is 2 M240Ls and AG. We do not have enough personnel for Ammo bearers. |
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Here, M249, known as MiniMi, is an individual weapon...SAW shooter carry ammo boxes in web pouches (and another barrel in his backpack) and, if possible, each squad member will carry a pouch with a plastic box of 200rd in the same web pouch...I remember time when, designated as Minimi shooter during a field Ex, I used rifle mags to keep my machine gun firing when belts were expanded.... :-) It was really thrilling ! I miss to be 20yrs old with a Minimi and a squad of young infantry men around me !
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Here, M249, known as MiniMi, is an individual weapon...SAW shooter carry ammo boxes in web pouches (and another barrel in his backpack) and, if possible, each squad member will carry a pouch with a plastic box of 200rd in the same web pouch...I remember time when, designated as Minimi shooter during a field Ex, I used rifle mags to keep my machine gun firing when belts were expanded.... :-) It was really thrilling ! I miss to be 20yrs old with a Minimi and a squad of young infantry men around me ! That last part sounds dirty  
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