Marine: A Guided Tour of a Marine Expeditionary Unit tcml-4

by Tom Clancy

  U.S. MARINE CORPS

  In the late 1960s, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) standardized upon a smaller lightweight cartridge for future small arms, allowing more rounds to be carried by an infantrymen. Though this high-velocity 5.56mm/.223-inch round provided lethal hitting power (engineers use the gruesome term "wound ballistics"), there was strong resistance in the U.S. military to switching over to a new weapon firing it. What convinced the U.S. military to accept the new caliber was the Armalite AR-15, an automatic rifle designed by the brilliant Eugene Stoner in the late 1950s. Lighter and easier to fire accurately than the M 14, the AR-15 was a revolutionary weapon. It caused such a stir that Colt Manufacturing Company of Hartford, Connecticut, arranged a license to produce it as the CAR-15. Military and government agencies including the Air Force Security Police, Secret Service, and FBI bought CAR-15s commercially. The CAR-15's popularity put pressure on the Army and Marines to adopt it as well. By 1966, Colt produced an Army version, the M 16, which was quickly issued to Army and Marine Corps units. It was a mistake.

  The first troops to receive the new weapons were already embroiled in the jungle war of Southeast Asia. But the M16 had a troubled start there, being both loved and despised by the troops. On the plus side, the M 16 was 1.2 Ib/.55 kg lighter than the M 14, and soldiers could carry more ammunition. Troops also liked having "personal machine guns," and developed the habit of using full-automatic suppressive fire in the close confines of the Vietnamese jungles. This was gratifying-when it worked. But then there was the down side: Almost as soon as the troops switched to the new weapon, they found that the M 16 was prone to jamming and fouling, particularly in the muddy lowlands of South Vietnam. This was not just a minor annoyance. In combat, a jammed weapon will get you killed. Rumors spread among the troops that this was a common occurrence. It was the start of one of the worst ordnance scandals in U.S. military history.

  Congressional investigators later found that the reliability problems resulted both from the way the Army redesigned the CAR-15 into the M 16, and from the way the troops had been trained to maintain it. Against Stoner's advice and Colt's specifications, the Army had substituted a lower-than-recommended grade of propellant in the 5.56mm cartridge used by the M16. This led to fouling and internal corrosion of the weapon. There were also reliability problems with the cartridge primers (the tiny explosive charge struck by the firing pin). The Army had accepted lower-quality standards in machining weapons parts, and it showed. Finally, due to shortages of cleaning kits and lubricants, at least some troops in the field were told, incorrectly, that the M 16 was a "self cleaning" weapon. In fact, the M 16 is a precision machine, requiring regular inspection and cleaning. As a result of Army mismanagement and inept fielding, the reputation of the M 16 was seriously tainted. For a time, Marines in Southeast Asia were reissued their old M 14s, until the Army could fix the M 16.

  Meanwhile, a clean-burning powder was substituted for the inferior propellant, and more reliable primers were produced. In addition, the Army had Colt modify the basic M16 to the M16A1 configuration with a chrome-plated chamber (to avoid fouling) and a stiffer buffer spring to decrease and stabilize the automatic firing rate. The extractor mechanism was also modified, to keep fired cartridges from jamming. And a program of intense training taught troops deployed in the field to properly clean, lubricate, and maintain their M16s. In consequence, the reliability of the M16 improved dramatically, along with the attitude of the soldiers and Marines using it. Eventually, the M16A1 became the standard combat rifle for the U.S. Army and Marine Corps and many allied countries during the late 1960s and 1970s. After its early problems were resolved, the M16A1 developed a solid reputation for performance and reliability. It may not have had the glamor of combat rifles like the H&K-91 or the Israeli Galil, but the M 16A1 did the job during the lean years after Vietnam.

  In the late 1970s the Army began a major update on the M 16. Topping the wish list were a better forward grip, more accurate sights, and an automatic burst limiter to conserve ammunition. Introduced in 1983, the M 16A2 is in use by the U.S. armed forces today. The features added to the A2 were:

  • A heavier and stiffer barrel, for improved accuracy and reduced wear. In addition, the rifling on the barrel has been optimized for new NATO standard M855/SS 109-type 5.56mm (.223-in.) ammunition used by the M249 Squad Automatic Weapon (SAW). It can also fire earlier M193 5.56mm/.223-in. ammunition without modification to the weapon.

  • A three-round burst limiter, which restricts "automatic" firing to only three shots per trigger pull.

  • A muzzle compensator designed to reduce barrel rise and displacement during automatic firing.

  • A plastic handgrip with a round contour which is tougher and easier to grip.

  • A plastic buttstock that is lighter and tougher than that on the Al model.

  • An improved rear sight deck, with adjustments for range and windage.

  • A modified upper receiver assembly which can be easily adapted to deflect ejected cartridges away from the face of left-handed shooters.

  • Fittings for the new combat bayonet.

  For $624.00 per unit, the M 16A2 is quite a bargain for the American taxpayer, as results from Desert Storm proved.

  The first time you pick up an M 16A2, you are struck with the feeling that you are holding a serious piece of machinery. Weighing 8.8 lb/4 kg, the M16A2 feels good in your hands — well balanced and deadly. It is 39.6 in./100.7 cm long, and consists of four major assemblies:

  • Lower receiver and buttstock.

  • 5.56mm/.223-in. bolt carrier.

  • Upper receiver and sight.

  • Barrel and forward grip.

  The four assemblies break down quickly for cleaning and maintenance. This is easy to learn, even in the dark with your eyes closed. Keeping the M16A2 clean is vitally important, because the components fit very tightly, and any grit or dirt can easily jam or foul the weapon. The Marine Corps is lavish in supplying cleaning kits, pads, and CLP lubricant/cleaner. You can always tell a seasoned combat Marine, because he will be the one in the group who cleans and lubricates his weapon, even before he eats or sleeps.

  The 5.56mm/.223-in. ammunition feeds from a reusable spring-loaded magazine which is loaded from the bottom of the lower receiver/buttstock assembly. Today, thirty-round units are the standard, but twenty-round magazines are also used. The usual load for a Marine might vary from ten to sixteen of these, though the combat vest only has room for six ready thirty-round magazines. To reload empty magazines you take a supply of 5.56mm/.223-in. ammunition (called "ball rounds"), and methodically insert them one after another into the magazine, being careful not to scratch the cartridges or bend the springs. Snap the magazine into the bottom of the M16A2, and you are ready to go.

  Firing the M 16A2 is very simple. When you're ready to fire, you pull back the T-shaped cocking handle to load the first round into the chamber. Once this is done, you move the firing selector from the Safety position to either the Semi or Auto positions. At this point, you have a live weapon with a round in the chamber. Take aim on the target and pull the trigger. In the Semi setting, you fire one round for every pull of the trigger. If you are using the Auto setting, the M 16A2 will fire a three-round burst every time you squeeze the trigger. The burst limiter was developed after Army researchers found that accuracy fell off rapidly when more than three shots were fired. Also, the tendency for troops to hold down the trigger in "rock and roll" bursts was wasteful of ammunition. Once a magazine is empty, you push the release button to eject the expended magazine, snap another into its place, and are ready to fire again.

  Firing is one thing, but hitting the target is another. The Marine Corps has always prided itself on a tradition of marksmanship, and that tradition continues today with the M16A2. Two new features of the weapon improve its accuracy. The first is a ribbed tubular foregrip (replacing the "Mattel Toy" grips of earlier models). The second is a new sight deck and sight, which makes it easie
r to put rounds onto a target. You simply turn a dial to the required range setting, align the forward bead with the rear sights, and fire. If you have properly compensated for wind or temperature variations (which they teach you), the rounds should be hitting the targets with regularity. The Corps requires that Marines be able to hit targets with accuracy (50 % or more of the rounds fired for hits) at 200, 300, and 500 yards/ 182.9, 274.3, and 457.25 meters, from a variety of firing position and postures. By comparison, the U.S. Army qualifies basic recruits at 100 yards only. Take it from me. Hitting targets at 100 yards/91.4 meters is easy. Although Marine recruits are taught to fire automatic, three-round bursts, single-shot firing is emphasized. Economy of ammunition is a key factor. When you fire in the burst mode, the muzzle tends to climb up, due to recoil, so only your first and second rounds will usually be on target. One way to avoid this is to steady the weapon against a tree or rock.

  The M16A2 is probably the most accurate combat rifle in general service today. In fact, the Army competition shooting team recently moved from the M 14 to a modified M 16. One variant being procured today is the M-4 short-barreled carbine, with a folding stock. This weapon, identical to the M 16A2 in performance, but smaller and lighter, is issued to vehicle and helicopter crews and support and service units, where space and weight are at a premium. The shorter barrel creates louder noise and a slightly different balance. The Marines are procuring over ten thousand of these handy little weapons from Colt. New kinds of ammunition being considered include a tungsten-cored armor piercing 5.56mm/.223-in. round from Sweden. In 1996, the M 16 entered its third decade as the primary combat rifle of the U.S. armed forces. Continuous improvements and variants will keep this classic weapon lethal into the 21st century.

  Another major development is night sights, to make the M16 more capable in darkness or bad weather. The Marines already have the AN/PVS-4 light-intensification sight for the M16, but they are rapidly developing and fielding newer systems. For instance, a new night fighting/spotting system, the PAC-4C, utilizes a special shoulder sling and red laser dot. But what Marines (especially reconnaissance and scouting units) really want is a thermal-imaging sight. The Marines have already adapted the thermal-imaging sight from the man-portable Stinger surface-to-air missile (SAM), though it is a bulky, expensive device which drains batteries rapidly. Both the Marine Corps and the Army are evaluating the NiteSight, a miniature thermal sight from Texas Instruments (TI). Small and lightweight, it draws much less power than earlier thermal sights. The key is a TI-designed imaging system. Unlike most thermal sights, it does not have to be chilled far below zero. Because it functions at 70deg F/21 C, size and cost are greatly reduced. TI has plans to adapt NiteSight for motor vehicles and commercial aircraft.

  MP-5N Submachine Gun

  Okay, I'll admit it. When we visited the Weapons Battalion, my mouth really started to water when I saw it at the firing range, with as many loaded 9mm magazines as I wanted to blow off. It is the Heckler & Koch (H&K) Machine Pistol-5 Navy (MP-5N), the world's finest submachine gun. If you enjoy shooting, then the MP-5 is your dream weapon. Considering that a submachine gun is designed to spray an area with bullets, it's lightweight, deadly, and surprisingly accurate. The MP-5N derives from the German machine pistols feared and respected by opponents during the Second World War. These early machine pistols, called "burp guns" by Allied soldiers, were lightweight, simple, and deadly, particularly in street fighting or inside buildings. Since the end of World War II, many nations and companies have tried to produce their own machine pistols, with varying success. The U.S. M-9 "Grease Gun" was wildly inaccurate and only marginally reliable. The little Israeli Uzi is a worldwide best-seller, favored by VIP bodyguards, because it can easily be concealed under a jacket. But H&K has produced the world's finest submachine gun: the MP-5N.

  The Marine Corps bought the MP-5N for what it calls close-quarters battle (CQB). This includes actions by units in MEU (SOC)s, Force Recon, and Base Security, as well as the various USMC Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) teams that they maintain. The need is simple: to get in close, then rapidly and accurately put a 9mm round through a target before the other guy can return the favor. The MP- 5N has been adopted by law enforcement and special operations units around the world. Elite military hostage rescue units (like the SEALs, Delta Force, GSG-9, SAS) and police SWAT teams (FBI Hostage Rescue, German Police, New Scotland Yard Special Branch, etc.) make the MP-5 their close-combat weapon. The MP-5N is just that good. Let's fire one and see why.

  When you pick up an MP-5N, you can feel German quality and engineering (you get the same kind of feeling when you drive a Mercedes Benz sedan). As you would expect from some of the best firearms engineers in the world, everything about the MP-5N has a function, yet there is a comfort and elegance to the whole thing. The basic weapon is 19.3 in./49 cm long with the stock folded (26 in./66 cm with it extended), and weighs about 7.4 lb/3.4 kg with a thirty-round magazine loaded. In addition, there are fittings for a flashlight (for use in night fighting) and a flash/noise suppressor (this adds about a foot to the overall length of the weapon).

  A Quantico instructor holds an MP-5N submachine gun. This weapon is used by the Marines for close-quarters combat.

  JOHN D. GRESHAM

  The MP-5N uses the same NATO Standard 9mm ammunition as the M9 Beretta handgun and many other automatic pistols. This ammunition has excellent stopping power at short ranges (less than two hundred yards/meters), and is readily available anywhere in the world. You load MP-5N in much the same way as the M 16A2. You insert a thirty-round magazine into the lower receiver until you feel (and hear) a satisfying "click." You then pull back the cocking handle, switch the firing selector from Safety to Single Shot or Automatic, aim, and fire away. With typical German efficiency, H&K stamps symbols on the side of the weapon for each mode, which makes it almost "idiot proof"!

  Single-shot firing is even easier than with the M16A2, and there is almost no barrel displacement when you fire. Out to about two hundred yards/meters, you just put the sights on the target, and then you hit it. Automatic fire is even better. The barrel rise, so common on automatic weapons, is almost non-existent on the MP-5N, and keeping the weapon on the target is easy. In fact, other than a heavy machine gun, nothing I've ever fired compares to the experience of automatic shooting on the MP-5N. While I was reloading the weapon with a fresh magazine (just press the release button and push in a new one), Colonel Nance came up behind me and said, "Go ahead, I'd do it too!" This said, I let loose with a thirty-round burst, emptying the magazine in less than 2.3 seconds. Astonishingly, about half of the rounds actually hit the target, about one hundred yards/meters downrange. While I was shooting, I could hear the sound of the bolt and slide cycling, but almost nothing from the actual firing of the 9mm rounds. It was a bizarre sensation until I realized that this was a result of the superb flash/noise suppressor screwed onto the muzzle of the MP-5N. It was amazing to pump out almost eight hundred rounds per minute and scarcely hear it!

  There are no current plans to replace the MP-5N. It is an almost perfect weapon for the CQB role, and will likely stay that way for years to come. If you want to know perfection in firearms, find a way to get some "trigger time" on an MP-5N. You will not be disappointed.

  M40A1 Sniper Rifle

  For decades, the Marine Corps has been famous for its sniper program. Sniping — to kill or disable enemy leaders — is an integral part of infantry combat. Since the first Marines climbed into the rigging of sailing ships to sweep the decks of enemy frigates with musket fire, the Corps has valued accurate shooting. But Marine historians tell us that systematic emphasis on marksmanship only began in the early 1900s under the influence of Commandant Heywood and under the direction of Captain William Harllee.

  The core of this capability today is the M40A1 sniper rifle. First fielded in the 1970s, this bolt-action heavy-barreled rifle fires a 7.62mm Match Grade round out to 1,000 yards/914 meters, with enough accuracy to hit a man-sized target in the he
ad. The M40A1 is built from stock parts by the armorers of the Weapons Training Battalion at Quantico. Based on the Remington Model 700 rifle, it is "accurized" to an almost unbelievable degree by adding:

  • A commercial competition-grade heavy barrel.

  • McMillan fiberglass stock and buttpad. Each stock is blasted in a glass bead machine at Quantico to improve accuracy.

  • A modified floorplate and trigger guard, as well as a lightened trigger.

  • A 10-power Unertl sniperscope.

  • A five-round magazine.

  A Marine sniper shows off an M40A1 sniper rifle. This weapon is used for long-range shooting by specially trained Marine personnel.

  JOHN D. GRESHAM

  With these features, the M40A1 can fire with an accuracy of less than one minute of arc. That's less than 1/60 of a degree. At 1,000 yards/914 meters, this means an error of less than 10 in./25.4 cm! With a little work, Colonel Nance's gun-smiths and armorers at Quantico usually get the error down to a third of that. Much of the technology that makes the M40A1 so accurate derives from the efforts of the USMC competition rifle team, which uses similar rifles and heavily modified M 14s in contests with the shooting teams of the Army, Navy, Coast Guard, Secret Service, DEA, and FBI.

  Sniping is an art of extremes, and just shooting well will not get you through the Scout/Sniper course. Land navigation, spotting, and concealment are just as important, but unfortunately beyond the scope of this book. I did get to fire the M40A1 to gain an appreciation of this arcane shooting science. As a rule, sniping is done from the prone position, with pairs of snipers working together. One sniper is "on the scope" as a shooter, with the other using an M49 spotter scope to pick out targets and monitor the tactical situation. About every half hour, the two trade off, to avoid fatigue on the shooter.