[Newbomb Turk]

I don't buy it. No military unit I have ever been in would allow a non gov issued firearm. I am not saying it can't happen but color me skeptical.
Sound off current service members and retirees. Am I just misinformed. Everyone caries knives and other little surprizes though.

[patton]

LOL, your kidding, right?

We got into a "friendly fire" exhibition - in North Carolina! Everybody had a freekin' hideaway!

[Britton J Wingfield]

I'm sure they would not allow it. I operate under the assumption that it is a lot easier to get forgiveness than permission, though. I've heard from a few individuals that have had their ass saved by an technically-illegal backup piece.

Similarly, I've noticed some of the guys in my unit showing up with their own Trijjicon ACOG sights, especially the guys who've been called up already. God helps those who help themselves.

[Mulder]

No military unit I have ever been in would allow a non gov issued firearm.

It is my understanding that some of the members of special ops units carry whatever they want.

[Texican]

Newbomb:
When I was in the service 1942-1946 we went to the second hand stores in Los Angles and bought used guns, both automatic and the old six-shooter type, (bought clips to use rimless cartrages) We carried them to Guadacanal, Bouginville and Guam. There was just not enough 1911's for all the troups. Nobody that I know bought a rifle though.

Good evening and the very best to you and yours.

Semper Fi
Tommie

[AlabamaRebel]

Remember the article said "Special Ops". They can pretty much carry any thing they want.

[spectr17]

In USAF CCT we qualified with issue S&W .38 revolvers in the late 70s and mid 80s. Most carried goverment model .45s or Browning Hi-Powers in 9mm. .357 wheelguns were popular for backups and little single shot .22 derringers for hideouts.

[stumpy]

Back during the "Nam", everyone in my squad had "something special", for the last minutes, and we all carried (and shaved with) straight razors.

[stumpy]

Back during the "Nam", everyone in my squad had "something special", for the last minutes, and we all carried (and shaved with) straight razors.

[sneakypete]

I don't buy it. No military unit I have ever been in would allow a non gov issued firearm. I am not saying it can't happen but color me skeptical.

This may vary from service to service,but GENERALLY SPEAKING,people in Special Operations units carry whatever the hell they want to carry. The only SF guys I knew in VN who carried personal weapons they bought themselves were the guys who were magnum revolver freaks. Other than stuff like that,we could get pretty much anything we wanted by walking in the supply room and saying "gimme". I carried a Model 10 S&W loaded with tracers as backup. I also sometimes carried a M3 Greasegun with a silencer on it,or a Swedish K submachine gun. I even know a few guys who carried silenced Beretta handguns,and a couple who carried Luger's. LOTS of guys carried sawed-off M-79's with a cannister shot round in the chamber. We never signed for any of that stuff,either. We didn't even sign for our M-16's or CAR-15's.

From what I understand of how it works today,privately-owned weapons are frowned on,even in SF. Some guys most likely carry them,but they keep it quiet. I know that if I were still on AD and being deployed today,I'd have a Para-Ordinance with the 15 shot mag stuck in my belt.

[tortoise]

I don't buy it. No military unit I have ever been in would allow a non gov issued firearm. I am not saying it can't happen but color me skeptical.

Officially, you are not supposed to. Unofficially, it is tolerated, particularly in line units. If you are a rear echelon or support unit, don't bother. If you are a combat unit in a forward position it is well-known that many people carry backup pistols, since pistols are not generally issued to many line units, and the selection given when they are available often doesn't really suit the intended purpose.

So yeah, we had a number of guys packing their own pistols, and almost everyone brought a little 5.56 for the interim time until they got their GI ammo. You kept it mostly out of sight when senior brass from who-knows-where was poking around, but it was one of those many things in the military that were officially looked down upon to keep up appearances but unofficially tolerated and almost encouraged if you were a groundpounder. I don't know too many guys who spent any amount of time in the light infantry units who didn't have a lot of non-standard gear in their field rig. Naturally, you kept a rig in a locker that was pure GI for when some REMF came around for an inspection, but you went out to the field with your own customized version of a combat load.

[semaj]

"No military unit I have ever been in would allow a non gov issued firearm."

Some regs are meant to be broken. I served in Hawk missile battalions and the techs and system operators were issued service rifles. Some of us liked having side arms that weren't on the official LOE. Just in case.

[tpaine]

In Germany 56/58, we were allowed to register & keep a personal sidearm in the company arms room, to be issued at the discression of the nco in charge.
For quite some time I kept a beat up old blackmarket 1911 Colt & used it for 'qualifying jumps', where we had the option to carry any type of issued weapon. - There was such a demand for .45's that I was able to rent it out on occasion.

[DoSomethingAboutIt]

You are right. There may be different rules for special forces, but there is no way this is applying to regular troops. Soldiers here have been told not only can they not carry their own weapons, they cannot carry any knife longer than 3 inches, or even take a non-issued baton to deal with POW's. You are searched prior to coming back for anything that was not issued to you weapon wise. I am told people were not allowed to even bring back jars of sand from the first Desert Storm. There are being told they will be court martialed if they have a weapon they weren't issued.

Like I said, special forces could very well be different and earlier wars may have been different, but as of Desert Storm I noone is bringing their own stuff.

[PatrioticAmerican]

312 - Many units allow personal weapons, as approved by the CO, and many CO's allow them. Of course, not many supply, admin, or hospital CO would.