Any unit that deploys can write an ONS for anything they think they can use, such as "dazzlers", search wands, or megaphones.
The long range ambush tactics the bad guys use in Afghanistan dictate long distance engagements. There aren't enough M110s to give to every SDM (a rifle that at least looks cosmetically like an M16) and so there really was no other viable option but to issue M14s. Heck there aren't enough of any one system to really do the job.
But having a capability doesn't mean you will use it well. Soviet infantry doctrine gives one sniper per platoon (we have no US equivalent, and only Stryker companies have dedicated snipers) armed with an SVD. But having that capability didn't win the war in Afghanistan for the Soviets.
But that is the nature of evolving warfare. Twelve years ago the acronyms "SDM", "MRAP", or "IED" meant nothing to me. Now they are just part of the problem set I have to deal with.
Jimro
The long range ambush tactics the bad guys use in Afghanistan dictate long distance engagements. There aren't enough M110s to give to every SDM (a rifle that at least looks cosmetically like an M16) and so there really was no other viable option but to issue M14s. Heck there aren't enough of any one system to really do the job.
But having a capability doesn't mean you will use it well. Soviet infantry doctrine gives one sniper per platoon (we have no US equivalent, and only Stryker companies have dedicated snipers) armed with an SVD. But having that capability didn't win the war in Afghanistan for the Soviets.
But that is the nature of evolving warfare. Twelve years ago the acronyms "SDM", "MRAP", or "IED" meant nothing to me. Now they are just part of the problem set I have to deal with.
Jimro