USMC and Army NG Vets, help me call BS on someone....

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[ARCHIVED THREAD] - USMC and Army NG Vets, help me call BS on someone....

Posted: 12/20/2009 6:07:24 AM EDT

I came across someone professionally, who claimed to have served 4+ years in the USMC and Army NG during the 80's (pre-M9) and didn't recognize the M1911 platform as a "1911" when I referred to it as such (said "we carried 45's," but didn't know what I was talking about when I said "1911?"). Also this individual owns an HK 416 (piston variant of the AR15/M16) and didn't know that this weapon was related to the AR15/16. Would it be possible that someone that served in the Army in the 80's would miss this? Think I sniffed out a con-man, a second (3,4,5th) opinion..His own words: "a United States Marine Corps Veteran and United States Army National Guard Veteran."

Posted: 12/20/2009 6:11:36 AM EDT

[#1]

Possible, there are stupid people everywhere.

Posted: 12/20/2009 6:18:35 AM EDT

[#2]

I kinda get the impression its resume-padding, and he got caught short on the weapons issue.

Posted: 12/20/2009 6:19:07 AM EDT

[#3]

There are people that call every plastic weapon they see a Glock

There are people that call every AR-15 they see an M-16

There are a multitude of people in the military that touch a weapon once or twice a year and think its cool to shoot the guns

They have their brain housing group set on "this is cool" rather than on the structured learning and as a result the 1911 becomes the .45 as a generic term.

Was the guy pulling your chain, who knows? There are a lot of uninformed dumb asses in the world.

Posted: 12/20/2009 6:32:38 AM EDT

[#4]

Many Soldiers don't carry a sidearm, and before I got involved in firearms, I had very little knowledge of handguns. The only thing I might've identified correctly was a Colt Woodsman, since my dad had one.

The variants of the AR15/M16? If he's not into firearms, it's reasonable to accept he doesn't know anything about them.

Serving in the military does not mean the person has extensive knowledge of guns. I can confidently say quite a few Soldiers would only know the M9 as the gun the commander carries in the field.

Since it wasn't their assigned weapon, it never got more than passing interest and then only because they wanted to tote that rather than their M16/M4.

Posted: 12/20/2009 6:35:51 AM EDT

[#5]

Ya, just wanted to hear it from you guys, whether the term "1911" was the universal military nomenclature for the .45 pistol.. Guess I'm more perplexed that he didn't recognize the HK416 he owns as a close relative of the m16, we're security services contractors.....

Posted: 12/20/2009 6:39:47 AM EDT

[#6]

Lots of Service Members never touched a 1911/A1 the entire time they were in, especially in that time period. I doubt many were issued them and if they did shoot them, it was just once in basic and maybe for qualifying.

Posted: 12/20/2009 6:46:26 AM EDT

[#7]

I knew I would get some good, mature opinions over here. Thanks for the replies, and thanks for your service to our great nation.

Posted: 12/20/2009 6:54:50 AM EDT

[#8]

Quoted:
Lots of Service Members never touched a 1911/A1 the entire time they were in, especially in that time period. I doubt many were issued them and if they did shoot them, it was just once in basic and maybe for qualifying.

This. For the most part, only officers and crewmen, like tankers for example, were issued sidearms.

Plus, and I was in the Marines during the time frame you mentioned, in general conversation we never called it the 1911––we called it the 45.

Posted: 12/20/2009 6:58:44 AM EDT

[#9]

The USMC provided very intense training on the M16 rifle to all enlisted personnel in boot camp in the 80's. There is really no way that a USMC veteran could not instantly recognize an HK416 as an M16/AR15 variant

Posted: 12/20/2009 7:03:28 AM EDT

[#10]

Quartermaster ?

Posted: 12/20/2009 7:03:44 AM EDT

[#11]

Quoted:
The USMC provided very intense training on the M16 rifle to all enlisted personnel in boot camp in the 80's. There is really no way that a USMC veteran could not instantly recognize an HK416 as an M16/AR15 variant

Until this incident, I have never worked with any former service members/vets (sorry to the USMC for using former) that were not intimate with the ar15/m16 platform......that's where my suspicions started.

Posted: 12/20/2009 7:54:46 AM EDT

[#12]

The 1911 issue wouldn't bother me at all. Many folks just call them .45's, and especially in the NG they never existed except for certain duty billets or for officers. I know when I was in an FA battery, the entire unit only had one M9. So up until we went to Iraq as SECFOR, nobody had any training or time with an M9.

The M16 thing might bug me a bit... dunno?

Posted: 12/20/2009 8:00:37 AM EDT

[#13]

Quoted:
The 1911 issue wouldn't bother me at all. Many folks just call them .45's,

I have to agree with this. When I was growing up, all of the WWII and Vietnam vets that I knew refereed to the 1911 as the .45 or the .45 automatic. It wasn't until I fam fired one in boot camp that I heard it refereed to as a 1911. I can't recall ever hearing it refereed to as a 1911 afterward until I had been out of the service for a long time.

Posted: 12/20/2009 8:05:40 AM EDT

[#14]

When I was in Basic training back in 77, every recruit had to know how to field strip and reassemble a 1911 - in the dark. that was the Navy but I can't imagine that a USMC boot would not be very familiar with the AR platform and wouldn't know what a 1911 is -

He's FOS - you need to out him.

Posted: 12/20/2009 8:49:39 AM EDT

[#15]

Quoted:
When I was in Basic training back in 77, every recruit had to know how to field strip and reassemble a 1911 - in the dark. that was the Navy but I can't imagine that a USMC boot would not be very familiar with the AR platform and wouldn't know what a 1911 is -

He's FOS - you need to out him.

My best friend and my cuz was in in the early 80s, one shot one ONCE and the other one never did. Even their rifle practice was just familiarization once a year and my friend said that wasn't very many rounds.

Posted: 12/20/2009 9:26:01 AM EDT

[#16]

My father was in the AF for ten years and always refers to the 1911 he carried for his duties as a ".45" he also says he was taught in basic training that M16 rounds break into pieces when they hit the target and tumble throughout.

he served from the early 70's to the early 80's.

Posted: 12/20/2009 10:21:49 AM EDT

[#17]

I knew guys that dumb. The 80's had a bunch of Catagory 4 folks who couldn't tie their own shoes. Also there are a lot of MOS's that folks don't ever get anything but rudimantary firearms training but much MOS training. Yes not knowing a 1911 or having expereince with an M-16 is very possible. Ask his MOS, where he went to basic, where he went to AIT and a bunch of us here an tell you.

Posted: 12/21/2009 1:03:36 AM EDT

[#18]

I've always asked somebody who I thought was a poser was, "Whats your last four?" If I get a a "Huh?" Then theres a good chance they are full of shit. Or I ask other very basic questions such as, what unit or what their MOS was. Easy shit can trip people up. Generally it's easy to tell when people are genuine.

However not all is what it seems with people. I had a guy do some work on my Moms place who said he was a Huey pilot in Vietnam. This guy looked like a skid row bum. When he told me what he did in the army, I evidently showed some form of disbelief on my face. Well the next day he came back to work with a good deal of evidence including the Distinguished Flying Cross he won. I guess people take all kinds of paths in life.

Posted: 12/21/2009 6:48:09 AM EDT

[#19]

I know a lot of veterans from a lot of different eras. Nobody ever called it a 1911. Always 45.

Posted: 12/21/2009 6:52:33 AM EDT

[#20]

OP....

GET A LIFE.

Posted: 12/21/2009 8:15:24 AM EDT

[#21]

FWIW, most of the Marines I served with weren't "gun enthusiasts" like we on arfcom.

Most Marines considered their weapons as tools and didn't really learn much more about them than they were trained. Remember we weren't at war in the 80s.

It is likely that your friend never handled a 1911 and only qualified with his M16 once a year...depends on his MOS. Maybe he became an enthusiast later in life.

Posted: 12/21/2009 3:39:06 PM EDT

[#22]

I served in the Marine Corps and the NG in Indiana during the years of 83-91. I was only issued a sidearm twice. I carried a pistol more in the Coast Guard doing boardings than I ever did in the Marines or NG. I did love my A2 though.

Posted: 12/21/2009 3:46:57 PM EDT

[#23]

Quoted:

There are people that call every plastic weapon they see a Glock

There are people that call every AR-15 they see an M-16

There are a multitude of people in the military that touch a weapon once or twice a year and think its cool to shoot the guns

They have their brain housing group set on "this is cool" rather than on the structured learning and as a result the 1911 becomes the .45 as a generic term.

Was the guy pulling your chain, who knows? There are a lot of uninformed dumb asses in the world.

This.

Back before I joined the Army, I had a car stolen with a gun in it (locked in the glovebox - but the thieves stole the keys)....

The cops didn't know what a 1911 was...

I then said '.45' and they said 'Oh, OK'

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - USMC and Army NG Vets, help me call BS on someone....

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