Marine Corps Preference for 20" M16A4 Vindicated in Afghanistan - Interview With CMC

[ChuckMK23]

Great article over at the Kit Up Blog - interview with Commandant of the Marine Corps, Gen. James Conway on the choice of the M16A4 as the standard infrantry weapon - it's effectiveness in the 500 meter engagements in Afghanistan is proving out over the smaller, sexier M4A1.

So the Marine Corps had it right all along.

Read here:

http://kitup.military.com/2010/03/top-marine-glad-to-have-m16a4-standard.html

 

[usmarinemike]

My favorite is in the comments section..."This is like yelling WOOT because you have a hammer and after a series of bolts, screws and washers you finally chanced upon a nail."

The way I see it, if we can spend such obscene amounts of money on the air wing, then we can drop a few nickels and dimes (comparatively) to give unit commanders a choice of what their unit will carry based on their mission analysis.

 

[Pepe]

The way I see it, if we can spend such obscene amounts of money on the Air Force, then we can drop a few nickels and dimes (comparatively) to give unit commanders a choice of what their unit will carry based on their mission analysis.

Fixed it for you.

 

[sodajones]

A Clock is right twice a day. The difference in performance between the A4 and M4 is negligible, especially when taking into consideration the realistic abilities of the shooters in a combat situation. The A4 is good for one scenario, the M4 is good for multiple scenarios. It really should be mission dependent.

 

[phrogdriver]

A Clock is right twice a day. The difference in performance between the A4 and M4 is negligible, especially when taking into consideration the realistic abilities of the shooters in a combat situation. The A4 is good for one scenario, the M4 is good for multiple scenarios. It really should be mission dependent.

You could actually say the reverse, too. Unless you're fighting in a phonebooth, the longer barrel is probably a better and more flexible asset than the shorter one.

The short/long barrel debate has not quite reached the levels of insanity that the 5.56/7.62 debate has, but it probably will. People need to come to grips that except for specialized small units, an M-16 variant firing a 5.56 will be the weapon of choice for a long time. Probably until a next-gen round and rifle to fire it come out.