I was told that only officers carry sidearms, however I believe this not to be true. So my question isabout how many soldiers(a lot very few etc) in the US military carry sidearms or what types of soldiers carry them? Does almost every soldier carry a sidearm?
Many service members carry them, not just officers. Machine gunners, radio operators, corpsmen, armorers, pilots, and air crew to name just a few.
no, only officers. oh and pilots. but i think that drivers and vehicle operators carry them to.
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Wrong to the above. MP’s carry sidearms as well as aviators.
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whoever told you that is a tool. medics carry pistols, pilots (officer and warrant officer), im a bradley commander i carry the m14, m4, and m9. it depends on what unit and how many they are alotted. there are officers who dont get to carry them.
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my uncles nephew was shipping out to iraq, and he bought his own handgun to carry because they didnt give him one.
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Many service members carry them, not just officers. Machine gunners, radio operators, corpsmen, armorers, pilots, and air crew to name just a few.
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military police. i think others might carry .45’s as back up weapons. knives are used by special forces or are at least portrayed as being used by that branch. also covert types are portrayed as using sound suppressors in pistols. there are even silenced machine guns. there are machine pistols that can be fitted with sound suppressors. the police also carry sidearms in holsters and also use shotguns and otherweapons if necessary. swat teams are called in as well the DEA has a special unit or equippment as well as the FBI
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will not say
Along with those mentioned, most with an MOS in communications carry them due to the heavy equipment they carry. They are also issued an assault weapon.
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It depends upon a variety of factors that most of the writers have collectively touched. A sidearm is carried by:
Commanders, Senior NCO’s in combat units, Other officers in various command and staff functions. Other positions that require a sidearm because of military duties that makes it difficult to carry a rifle or other weapon. Certain crew served and vehicular weapons types find side arms attached to the position. Aviators carry sidearms. I regret I cannot provide you with a list of all who carry. The list could be seemingly endless.
Equipment (to include sidearms) is prescribed by unit type and mission type. Assuming what I am about to say has not changed since I left the service, units are prescribed various Tables of Organization and Equipment (TO&E). The TO&E describes the sort of equipment a unit is authorized to carry. This includes weapons. There is the Modified TO&E that allows for variations based upon a unit’s mission and type. Finally, there exists the Table of Distribution and Allowances (TDA) that describes equipment for non-standard organizations. Within a unit, there might be standardization or a commander might have flexibility in assigning certain items of equipment.
Sorry to trouble you with a bunch of jargon. It surely makes for a boring answer. In part, one has to understand things like this if one is to understand how units are equipped, funded, trained, prioritized, etc.
Regards
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When my boyfriend was in the army he had secret security clearance, and was permitted to carry a sidearm if he chose to in order to protect himself in the event of attack or capture. He was an electrician (not an officer or a pilot or anything like that), but he worked on secret missile systems. So it depends on the soldier’s MOS and the situation he or she is put in.
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I was in the Navy and we were allowed to carry our personal sidearms when we were in proximity of armed combat or in hostile areas. We were never issued sidearms though. I have never seen an army soldier with a sidearm other than to qualify on the shooting range. A friend (retired marine) from WW II said all his buddies carried 45s during the war.
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Well, my son carried a "sidearm" a glock 9 mm. He’s Army SF. And any other weapon he could strap to his body.
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All Soldiers in Elite Groups carry a hand gun.
But are we talking over seas or in the U.S.
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Military Police, Aviators, Tankers, Medical, Officers, etc…..it all depends on what the unit has available, the unit’s individual mission and what the unit is allowed to have (it varies between units). Also, the standard sidearm is the 9mm Beretta or the Sig.
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ODA315 hit the nail on the head.
"…positions that require a sidearm because of military duties that makes it difficult to carry a rifle or other weapon."
I’ve carried a pistol while performing my duties before – it really depends on the mission and the situation, and of course if your unit maintains them.
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http://www.merchantcircle.com/business/US.Army.Recruiting.Office.877-830-0628
United States Military Weapons of War
Part 1: Weapons and Equipment of the Infantry and Special Ops (Page 2)
M-2 Machine Gun
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M-9 Handgun
Did you know that in combat, it’s mostly officers who carry handguns? Most enlisted don’t. Notable exceptions are military police, and special operations forces. The M-9 pistol is the primary sidearm for all of the military services. It entered the services in 1985 (1990 for the Army), pushing out the older M-1911A1 .45-caliber pistol, a weapon with an 80-year military history, and 4-inch-barrel, .38-caliber revolvers. The adoption of the M-9 pistol was the result of a congressional mandate to equip all U.S. services with a standard handgun.
The Colt-designed M-1911A1 served soldiers well in many wars; some older soldiers argued, why replace it? As with other Army weapons, competition proved the M-9 to be the best sidearm.
To get the nod, the M-9 had to meet strict requirements for functional reliability, speed of first shot, rapidity of fire, speed of reloading, range, penetration and accuracy to 50 yards. Also, the pistol’s components had to be interchangeable, so a working weapon could be pieced together from the parts of others.
The M-9 went through a series of rugged tests to evaluate its functionality. An extreme climatic test checked its ability to withstand temperatures between minus 40 and 140 degrees. A 10-day salt water immersion and humidity trial tested its resistance to corrosion. It tackled mud, sand, dirt and water to test its operation under adverse field conditions. A fully loaded weapon was dropped four feet onto a hard surface to test for accidental discharge.
To test the ability to swap pistol components, testers fired and then disassembled 10 weapons. The parts were randomly put back together, then the weapons were fired again with no problems. If needed, the parts of weapons can be cannibalized to create a working pistol from broken ones.
Type: Semiautomatic pistol
Entered Army service: 1990
Specifications:
Caliber: 9mm
Length: 217mm
Barrel length: 125mm
Weight: 850 g
Magazine capacity: 15 rounds
Range: 50 m
For your limited information:
Any professional carries a 40 mm mag, 44 mag, 357 mag semiauto pistol. The 9mm is a joke as it has no hitting disability, but allows officers, especially women, to think they are armed!
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WOLF: INTC, SpecOps, Commando, BlackWatch
I am Navy vet I did 20yrs as a Machinist Mate and I carried a couple of crome plated 3/4 combination wrenches with a lot of pride.
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