Anyone currently in the Army?

[Eagle]

The daughter of a friend is enlisting in the Army. More accurately, she has enlisted, and will report for Basic Combat Training in July. Trying to get her a bit of a leg up on what to expect, but my BCT was 52 years ago, and I'm certain it's not the same now as it was then.

 

What weapon do they train with in BCT these days, M16 or M4? A2 open (peep) sights, or optics? If they use optics in BCT, what do they use, ACOG?

[Ωhm]

47 years ago for me, Feb 19th, funny how certain dates are chiseled in stone. Not sure on the new weaponry used today, but I'll bet they still holler at you.

[Jeep Driver]

 

[Eagle]

New questions:

 

1. Whether the rifle is an M16 or an M4, what type of sling is on it? Simple, 2-point sling, GI Loop Sling, or 3-point (or 1-point, depending on how you regard it) tactical sling?
2. When I enlisted in 1966, each Christian soldier was given a pocket-sized copy of the New Testament. Do they still do that?

[mjeff87]

^^^all I got in 1987 was "Roman Catholic" stamped on my dogtags.....

[coolwind57]

11 hours ago, Eagle said:

New questions:

 

1. Whether the rifle is an M16 or an M4, what type of sling is on it? Simple, 2-point sling, GI Loop Sling, or 3-point (or 1-point, depending on how you regard it) tactical sling?
2. When I enlisted in 1966, each Christian soldier was given a pocket-sized copy of the New Testament. Do they still do that?

i went in in 86 and retired 2006.  I began military life with an M-16 in the Air Force.  Full auto/Semi Auto selector switch.  Anyone here ever fired full auto via an M-16?  After three rounds, your weapon is pointing straight up in the air.  Ineffective, but pretty cool.  We also had no forward assist or chrome plating in the chamber and our handguards were triangular.  Anyhow, I recall even seeing crates of the elusive "green-stocked" M-16s that were never fired.  Probably early Curtis Lemay-era weapons.  They had green stocks and handguards, which was pretty different that the black that everyone now sees.  I wonder where they are now. 

 

I even went SWAT (The USAF called it EST) and we did a one-day sniper course during initial training using an M16 with a 4X scope.  That course overall kicked my butt, but the "sniper" portion was pretty lame.  the 5.56mm sucked as a sniper round.  But we went through the motions and got to piss all over ourselves as we layed silent and still in the San Antonio Texas sun all day. 

We finally began seeing M-16A2s just as I transferred to USMC 6-years later.  The Marine Corps had M-16A2s during my wild ride and I think they began transition to the M-4 as I left.  The US Army had already transitioned a few years earlier. 

 

i also remember when we finally dumped the XM-148s for the M-203 grenade launchers.  Both were mounted under the M-16 rifle.  The XM-148 had a stupid, clumsy trigger mechanism. 

 

During my time, USAF SWAT and Combat Controllers often used the GAU-5/A (or GUU-5/P), which was a shortened "CAR-15" or "Shorty M-16" essentially.  I don't recall seeing anything other than a standard-issue sling during my 20-year career, even in Special ops, but my memory is pretty bad these days.

 

You know, Eagle I think I do recall receiving a bible but I don't recall it being "issued".  If memory serves me right, I think they brought some folks in from a Christian organization and they officially passed them out to us, not Uncle Sam.

[outlaw star]

New questions:
 

1. Whether the rifle is an M16 or an M4, what type of sling is on it? Simple, 2-point sling, GI Loop Sling, or 3-point (or 1-point, depending on how you regard it) tactical sling?
2. When I enlisted in 1966, each Christian soldier was given a pocket-sized copy of the New Testament. Do they still do that?

M4 Carbine is the standard weapon. The M16A4 (last version) has been phased out. It's just the cheapest and simplest sling about 1" wide.

Yes, you can still recieve a pocket copy of the bible from the Chaplain as they do provide you with religious service on Sundays.

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