[cincymarsdad]

Thanks for the clarity. My son said they were somehow supposed to carry the M-16 also, but few SAW gunners did. We talked about whether it would make more sense for them to carry the Beretta 9 mm as an emergency sidearm if that were needed. He liked the idea but he likes handguns. He did say the corpman carried his M-16; I didn't ask if that meant he carried two weapons himself (?).

I'm learning these minute details myself but I'm obviously interested in trying to have some glimmer of an understanding of what he's going through. He told me that in his young opinion that his unit was "very well trained and the insurgents should not mess with us...".

If they had us old men fight instead of our kids, wars would end a lot sooner ...