Newsgroups: sci.military Path: utzoo!utgpu!watserv1!watmath!att!att!cbnews!military From: rja@Eng.Sun.COM (Robert Allen) Subject: Re: Side arms for Fly boys. Organization: Sun Microsystems, Mt. View, Ca. Date: Fri, 19 Oct 90 03:28:50 GMT Approved: military@att.att.com Message-ID: <1990Oct19.032850.13386@cbnews.att.com> References: <1990Oct15.033827.12908@cbnews.att.com> <1990Oct16.011101.11588@cbnews.att.com> <1990Oct18.021131.6585@cbnews.att.com> Sender: military-request@att.att.com Lines: 36 From: rja@Eng.Sun.COM (Robert Allen) In article <1990Oct18.021131.6585@cbnews.att.com> henry@zoo.toronto.edu (Henry Spencer) writes: + + +From: henry@zoo.toronto.edu (Henry Spencer) +>From: Allan Bourdius +>... The Marines +>wanted an improved .45, because they didn't see any real problem with +>the exisitng pistol, except its age... + +Yet more proof that the Marines are the only US service with their heads +screwed on correctly... :-) (They fought an uphill battle in Congress to +get Harriers for close support, and gave up F-14s in exchange; their +close-support pilots are trained as infantrymen first; they're equipping +all their transport aircraft with defensive countermeasures; they're +pushing hard to get the Osprey into service; and now they turn out to +have common sense about pistols too... an impressive bunch.) That's because the Marines have the crappiest job, and the least to do it with. They only want something that works, period. They are also very good at developing their own stuff. I've seen them install IBM PC clones, and token ring lans, in their field encampments. I've seen them build their own command center tents while the Army had custom ones which cost up the wazoo. Finally, the Marines still carry the USMC combat knife, while I`ve seen Rangers carrying the BuckMaster piece of garbage. -- Robert Allen rja@sun.com DoD member #0204 Disclaimer: This is my opinion, not my company's. Your mileage may vary.