A woman I work with has a son who is a LCpl in the USMC Force Recon. He leaves for Iraq on Thursday. Despite what I've heard about the Marines abhorring optics he told me a month ago that they would be deploying with EOTechs and ACOGs. Well this weekend he came home one last time before deployment and told me that they were made to assimilate some Reserve Recon guys and had to divvy up their good shit amongst everyone. He was going to be issued an ACOG since they gave his EOTech to a reservist. He was a little wary of "kicking doors" with the ACOG as he was usually his team's point man. He wanted something a little more CQB oriented. I've got an Aimpoint, EOTech, and ACOG myself so I offered to let him borrow my Aimpoint and QR mount as well as my ARMS #40 BUIS for his M4.

He was interested, to say the least! Although I didn't ask he offered to let me "hold" his Springfield XD-40 as a sort of collateral until he gets home in @ 8 months. We shot the XD today as well as my M4 with ACOG. He was into it and when I left I shook his hand and told him to watch his ass and come home in one piece. All I asked of him was to be able to tell me that he used the Aimpoint to help at least one of those cocksuckers meet Allah!!! He'll be in Camp Fallujah sometime next week. Hope that Aimpoint comes in handy!

BTW I think it's pathetic that they have to buy or scrounge shit like optics and BUIS's because the .gov won't do it. He's already spent something like $1700 on various tactical shit in the last few months getting ready for deployment.

Although my background is Army Airborne I'll give this kid a rousing SEMPER FI!!!  

good job

Good job, Bro!!

Good on you and him

fighting men have been buying their own high speed equipment since the beginning of time.
The .Gov cant provide every piece of high speed gear to every soldier.
i dont like it either, but thats the way it is.
im suprised they issued him an acog, and an eotech.
I havent heard of anyone being issued both.

Semper Fi brother ABNAK, we are all on the same team and that was a very cool action on your part.

Your contribution may seem small to you, but I'd be willing to bet the Marine doesn't think so.
Apparently our fighting men are still going into harms way without the best possible equipment, and that should never happen.
I guess some things will never change, however, by the same token one of the best weapons in the world is a Marine and his rifle.

With the addition of an Aimpoint, the rifle becomes even more deadly in his hands while giving him an advantage over the enemy scum he will kill while using it.

That makes it an even bigger contribution than you can imagine! Thanks for looking out.

You need to ask how many guys who don't run patrols have their weapons maxed out with the best equipment, at the expense of the front line.  I don't know how it is right now (different times) but in the past it has been a consistent problem that those with the access to the equipment always have a good set.  Especially if they don't need it.

IIRC, in the Italian campaign there was a new issue of boots, instead of shoes with  . . . . uh . . .  the shin covers, can't recall the name . . . and the boots were common behind the lines, but were prime material once you got past the forward supply depots.  The frontline troops could not get enough issued for the number of troops they had.  The same could be said of cold weather gear in the same time frame.

Pilfering in the supply system has happened here recently, with a soldier (marine?) being convicted of stealing Interceptor body armor and selling it . . . on ebay.  Bright guy, that one.  Hope he gets stuck in the same cell with the homosexual rapist.

Quoted: fighting men have been buying their own high speed equipment since the beginning of time. The .Gov cant provide every piece of high speed gear to every soldier. i dont like it either, but thats the way it is. im suprised they issued him an acog, and an eotech. I havent heard of anyone being issued both.

He wasn't issued both. He originally had an EOTech but was made to give it to a reservist, I would assume so the part-timers didn't feel like red headed step children. Then they replaced his EOTech with an ACOG, which is cool as long as you're more in the open and not as preferable for kicking doors.

I also found it hard to believe that they didn't even explain the finer nuances of the ACOG to him, i.e. what specific weapon and round it was calibrated for, or that the stadia lines at the various ranges represented an 18 inch shoulder to shoulder measurement for a crude rangefinding capability. He's straight on it now though!  

Good work, Airborne.