A division probably has a 40' CONEX for ALL of their small arm and crew served weapon spare parts. The armorers probably also stuffed it with booze and porn prior to stateside departure.Netpackrat wrote:As one with some amount of experience with 40' containers, I strongly suspect that the entire US military's total inventory of service pistols could fit into one 40' container, with room to spare.MarkD wrote:A Seal team can each carry whatever they want, and they can carry spare parts in a couple shoeboxes. An infantry division needs a 40' container for spare pistol parts even if they're all carrying the same pistol.
I think that the spare parts issue is overblown. In reality, the vast majority of the spare parts for damn near everything will come from either the states, or an Expeditionary Support Base. (It's almost like I used to do this for a living). An infantry division's spare pistol parts box is probably a Pelican case or two.
In reality, it should come down to:
1. If you NEED a pistol, you will be issued one. Tough cookies, it's brand ABC.
2. If you WANT a pistol, pick something smart in caliber X. Don't pick something dumb, like a Hi-Point, your seniors will supervise your decision.
With the official weapon of officers and SNCOs now being an M4, this issue should be dead. If you're a tanker and can't effectively keep an M4 with you, here's your M-whatever pistol. Everyone else could benefit much more from having an M4. I'm also the guy that thinks that the pogue weapon should be a 10-12" barreled M4 with a slightly shorter stock, like one of the LWRC ones. Easy to sling out of the way to do your job, enough range to put hurting on a bad guy.