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.
Roger - this is a goofy article. I agree Kali is The Devil, but arguing that our SOCOM troopers are somehow in grave danger because they don't have enough personal firepower is just misguided.
No SFDET commander would officially permit private weapons - not to say it doesn't happen, but the idea our soldiers -spec ops or otherwise- need to arm up at the local pawn shop is *bass ackwards*.
If they need *more guns* they will get them as the mission requires, complete with 30 round magazines and full auto selector.