I'm active duty Navy, have been for 17 years. I'm stationed in the Tidewater area of VA.
I'm not in small arms professionally, I'm in aviation. Like every branch of the service, we test things all the time, usually because some manufacturer provided the parts and service and asked us to evaluate their product, free of charge, hoping for that BIG .mil contract.
We actually adopt and buy very little of what we test in the grand scheme of things. So they're shooting a few Beowulfs, the guys out here at Dam Neck have been shooting things for years that most normal humans only dream about. I was all hyped about my new .458 SOCOM a few years ago, and one of my shooting buddies (true operator) replied "ho hum!"
Photographers Mates usually are only called in for feel good PR. They ALL like to think that they're combat camera men, but the reality is that almost 50% of them are in squadrons manning up the photo recon pods that we use on or aircraft, far, far away from any action! They jump at the chance to put on cammies and arm up their tactical Nikons!
Tom