Marine Tells Me They Do Not Carry Their Sidearms Loaded?

[steveincowtown]

We had a really nice July 4th party at our house on Wednesday and were fortunate to have a Marine stop by that had just returned from Afghanistan. He is a gun guy and so we had a lengthy discussion about his service, weapons used, etc.

I never served, and don't know many folks that have, so forgive me if I butcher the Marine "speak", but this is what he told me. He was a driver for Lt. Col/Col on base. Frequently they would take armored vehicles to move these guys around in some of the less "hot" areas. He told me the do not carry with one in the chamber, as they do not want a round going off and bouncing around inside the vehicle if they get hit by in IED or anything of the sort. Because he was in the vehicle with the highest ranking Officer in the convoy his job was to move, not fight. If they ran into trouble he was not to get out of the vehicle unless the situation became dire. If he did leave the vehicle only than was he allowed to chamber a round.

Can this be true, and if so do you agree with the implication that a round could go off due to the vehicle taking a heavy it?

[MeMelYup]

There is an old saying in the Military. “There is the right way, the wrong way, and the Military way.” That happens to be the Military way.

[MoJo]

You only put a magazine in your weapon if you are going outside the compound. You only chamber a round if you are in danger of being shot at. The military way is locked and unloaded unless in combat. Gosh I sure miss all those dumb rules. NOT!

[threoh8]

There are more hoplophobes in the military than one might think.

The commander of one compound I visited during Desert Storm required surrender of magazines when entering the compound.

One compound I lived in for a while was guarded by soldiers with no magazines in the rifles and no belts in the M60's. They made a show of inspecting vehicles' undercarriages with a mirror on a stick, but waved the local contract SST (err ... Stuff Sucking Truck - it emptied the latrines) right on through. When I asked about this and related security issues, and mentioned Beirut, I was effectively told to shut up.

I may have violated a few of the local commander's rules regarding carry conditions. I kept Cooper's basic four rules, and carried Condition One (I was issued a .45) when I could. I also often had a rifle nearby.

As far as loaded weapons in a vehicle: If you take a hit heavy enough to set off weapons inside the vehicle, you have more to worry about than pistol rounds. Military vehicles in combat zones are full of hard spots, sharp edges, and assorted loose gear.

[MadMonkey]

You only put a magazine in your weapon if you are going outside the compound.

Depends on where you are. Every soldier on this FOB keeps a mag in.

[3dfxMM]

A lot depends on what type of unit you are talking about also. My son tells me everything they carried was ready to go. Their M9s were decocked, safety off. I know that they kept their M4s in semi-auto mode and rarely switched them to auto, but I don't know about chambered rounds or safeties.

[psijac]

It makes sense when you see how stupid young marines get with live ammunition. Look up the trust game

[C-dub]

There is an old saying in the Military. “There is the right way, the wrong way, and the Military way.” That happens to be the Military way.

and each CO can make their own rules.

[tbrown]

In the weeks and months after 9/11 there were a lot of guys in cammie-jammies carrying obviously unloaded guns at airports. Maybe it was supposed to be a deterrent for terrorists who couldn't tell the difference.

[74novaman]

There is an old saying in the Military. “There is the right way, the wrong way, and the Military way.” That happens to be the Military way.

I like that.

[philip964]

As far as loaded weapons in a vehicle: If you take a hit heavy enough to set off weapons inside the vehicle, you have more to worry about than pistol rounds. Military vehicles in combat zones are full of hard spots, sharp edges, and assorted loose gear.

Knowing nothing about the subject, this would seem to be absolutely correct.

[74novaman]

As far as loaded weapons in a vehicle: If you take a hit heavy enough to set off weapons inside the vehicle, you have more to worry about than pistol rounds. Military vehicles in combat zones are full of hard spots, sharp edges, and assorted loose gear.

Knowing nothing about the subject, this would seem to be absolutely correct.

Wasn't there a mythbusters where they did a bunch of stuff to a loaded SKS and couldn't get it to go off without pulling the trigger?

[The Annoyed Man]

As far as loaded weapons in a vehicle: If you take a hit heavy enough to set off weapons inside the vehicle, you have more to worry about than pistol rounds. Military vehicles in combat zones are full of hard spots, sharp edges, and assorted loose gear.

Knowing nothing about the subject, this would seem to be absolutely correct.

Wasn't there a mythbusters where they did a bunch of stuff to a loaded SKS and couldn't get it to go off without pulling the trigger?

Did they put it inside a Stryker vehicle and then drive the Stryker over an IED composed of 4 daisy-chained 155mm Howitzer projectiles?

[74novaman]

Did they put it inside a Stryker vehicle and then drive the Stryker over an IED composed of 4 daisy-chained 155mm Howitzer projectiles?

No, but I'm pretty sure they at least blew it up.