Back in '90-'91 when I was a Marine during the first Gulf War, my CO gave us an amnesty period right after we deployed on ship. If we had brought any personal firearms, we had to turn it in to the unit armorer who would store our guns and give it back to us at the end of the deployment. Otherwise, we would lose them if we got caught. I was going to bring my custom Essex .45 on the trip, but luckily, I decided to keep it stateside and avoided all the hassle.
Military- Personal Weapons for Deployment
- Thread starter bakon
- Start date
Listen everyone... Do not take Privately owned weapons into a combat zone. There are rules and actually we follow treaties that have been established a long time ago. If anyone is caught with a privately owned weapon in a combat zone... they are in trouble. The military issues everyone a weapon or two or three. The weapons that are issued are good. They do the job. There is absolutely no soldier, marine or airman that does not have adequate protection while deployed. If a personnal weapon does make it over there, it is not coming back and that person is going to be punished. First of all they do not need another weapon or ammo that is illegal for military personnel to have or fire. This may cause some of you to be upset. I have been to combat as an infantryman for 29 months so far. I have never needed anything other than what the military has provided. My soldiers have not either. Please don't say something stupid about never seeing combat or being a Fobbit from all of the Generals that play one on TV here. I have personnally picked up and sent 32 of my soldiers to aid stations for wounds. If you want to buy your son a gun... do it. That would be a great gift. Just keep it safe for him to shoot at the range with you when he gets back. He will appreciate that much more than you encouraging him to take it over there and spend time being nervous while his leadership decides how to punish him for disobeying rules and regulations. Thank you all for contributing to this great site.
The responses are appreciated, even the bath sandels.
Back during the cold war, (which we helped win , one beer at a time,)- we took what ever we owned to Germany. Used a range on an airforce base down the road.
But when the Berlin wall came down and we went on alert, there was plenty of 12 g shotguns and hunting rifles brought along. The Army would ship them in your household goods when you changed duty stations. You could even buy firearms on base. Back in the states the Outdoor Rec center had sign out sheets for hunting areas on base so it wouldnt be over crowded in the good spots. Trap and skeet along with rifle and pistol ranges. Dont remember too many guys having a pistol at all.
I wont let him take a firearm with him. Still thinking he could practice at the local range before he leaves. Shot expert pistol in Sep at MP school. But we practice monthly, think he could too.
What about a knife or flashlight? What size batteries are found? Brand or recommendations on either?
Back during the cold war, (which we helped win , one beer at a time,)- we took what ever we owned to Germany. Used a range on an airforce base down the road.
But when the Berlin wall came down and we went on alert, there was plenty of 12 g shotguns and hunting rifles brought along. The Army would ship them in your household goods when you changed duty stations. You could even buy firearms on base. Back in the states the Outdoor Rec center had sign out sheets for hunting areas on base so it wouldnt be over crowded in the good spots. Trap and skeet along with rifle and pistol ranges. Dont remember too many guys having a pistol at all.
I wont let him take a firearm with him. Still thinking he could practice at the local range before he leaves. Shot expert pistol in Sep at MP school. But we practice monthly, think he could too.
What about a knife or flashlight? What size batteries are found? Brand or recommendations on either?
Beretta686
New member
You get all sorts of hooah junk when you go down-range as your unit gets specific $$$ to spend on nick-nacks, knives, Oakleys (but they've quit issuing them as a standard issue), flashlights, hell I even got an ACU hatchet.
Quite honestly the best thing you can send is Copenhagen. Even if they don't dip, the stuff is like Gold & you can trade it for more practical things.
troy_mclure
New member
we had a hard time finding chocolate. reeses cups were priceless, even melted. beef jerky, and slim Jim's were also highly prized. as were cheese sticks. and things to make the water taste, like kool aid and stuff.
My son is over in Afghanistan right now and I've learned tons from him. A good knife is priceless, but since they issue them a decent one I got him a Wilson COP tool because they're great for prying, chiseling, breaking windows, etc. The only thing he really felt like he needed was quality mags for his M4, I sent him a bunch of Magpul PMAGS and he's been happy with those. Other than those things, the best stuff has been books/novels, an ipod, and Copenhagen long cut.
He did take his laptop and he's made good use of it, mostly for keeping in touch and entertainment. He orders other things he neeeds/wants online and has it shipped right to him - bodybuilding supplements, boots, clothing, etc. They're pretty self-sufficient. Before he left I also gave a Bean digital camera, it's reasonably priced and pretty rugged, with a built in hook thing so he can hang it on his gear and take it with him and not lose it or have it get in the way.
It's crazy how much stuff they issue these days, they even gave him a high speed watch with a compass, altimeter, and all kinds of other things built into it.
Forget about guns, ammo, alcohol, and girly magazines.
They get in trouble for all that stuff. Well, maybe not the magaziines so much but they're on the forbidden list. You won't get in trouble but the recipient will.
He did take his laptop and he's made good use of it, mostly for keeping in touch and entertainment. He orders other things he neeeds/wants online and has it shipped right to him - bodybuilding supplements, boots, clothing, etc. They're pretty self-sufficient. Before he left I also gave a Bean digital camera, it's reasonably priced and pretty rugged, with a built in hook thing so he can hang it on his gear and take it with him and not lose it or have it get in the way.
It's crazy how much stuff they issue these days, they even gave him a high speed watch with a compass, altimeter, and all kinds of other things built into it.
Forget about guns, ammo, alcohol, and girly magazines.
They get in trouble for all that stuff. Well, maybe not the magaziines so much but they're on the forbidden list. You won't get in trouble but the recipient will.
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Yeah, I forgot you're not allowed to smoke anymore. Smokeless tobacco products would be a good comfort/barter item.
What about some Dr. Scholl's inserts for their boots?
M&M's, the hot weather GI's official candy since the Pacific Theater. Melts in your mouth not in the sand.
No girlie mags. Really? Maybe we can petition the USO to have "The Girls Next
Door" to go over and "entertain" some of our fine (unmarried, of course) troops.
What about some Dr. Scholl's inserts for their boots?
M&M's, the hot weather GI's official candy since the Pacific Theater. Melts in your mouth not in the sand.
No girlie mags. Really? Maybe we can petition the USO to have "The Girls Next
Door" to go over and "entertain" some of our fine (unmarried, of course) troops.
On the weapons end of things, I think sending quality magazines (Beretta Factory for the M9 and Magpuls for the M16/M4) and some replacement Wolff springs would seem like the wisest idea. Most of the reliability issues that I've heard of with issue weapons seem to revolve around use of substandard magazines.
Madcap_Magician
New member
Magazines are better than guns.
Personal firearms are forbidden under General Order 1 in CENTCOM.
Most knives and tools are fine.
Personal firearms are forbidden under General Order 1 in CENTCOM.
Most knives and tools are fine.
When my son was there as a tank crewman, among things he asked for not mentioned already was cleaning implements, like a bore snake, but he came back with two or three different sets of weapon cleaning gear, all issue except for the bore snake. He had also wanted canned air but we couldn't mail that (everything went by mail). He also asked for lots of treat-type stuff, specifically by name. He acquired a multi-tool somewhere. There are so many, I would have picked out one he didn't like. He said they all carried one.
As far as weapons go, he said they had so much, they were turning them back in or passing them on to other units. Optics were also widely issued, too. He sent a photo of his favorite gun before leaving Germany to be deployed: an M240 on a funny little tripod that I'd never seen before. I've never heard anything from him that suggested pistols impressed him very much but they were never without their carbines.
As far as weapons go, he said they had so much, they were turning them back in or passing them on to other units. Optics were also widely issued, too. He sent a photo of his favorite gun before leaving Germany to be deployed: an M240 on a funny little tripod that I'd never seen before. I've never heard anything from him that suggested pistols impressed him very much but they were never without their carbines.
alienbogey
New member
It's rapidly becoming ancient history, but I carried a personal weapon in the Gulf War and brought it home.
I was on Japan-based USS Midway, the Navy issue 5 shot 38 Special snubbies were a joke, and most of the guys in our air wing ordered personal Ruger P85's through a guy whose sister worked for a distributor. They all came within a couple weeks and guys were constantly out on the fantail practicing. The ship's armory didn't want to fool with them so we kept them in our staterooms with the ship's blessing.
On shore in Japan they were kept in the base armory, then returned to us when we went to sea. When I rotated stateside all the paperwork was ready to fill out and it shipped home with my household goods. It's in my safe now.
Just a story, FWIW, that there have been personally owned weapons allowed in at least one case fairly recently.
I was on Japan-based USS Midway, the Navy issue 5 shot 38 Special snubbies were a joke, and most of the guys in our air wing ordered personal Ruger P85's through a guy whose sister worked for a distributor. They all came within a couple weeks and guys were constantly out on the fantail practicing. The ship's armory didn't want to fool with them so we kept them in our staterooms with the ship's blessing.
On shore in Japan they were kept in the base armory, then returned to us when we went to sea. When I rotated stateside all the paperwork was ready to fill out and it shipped home with my household goods. It's in my safe now.
Just a story, FWIW, that there have been personally owned weapons allowed in at least one case fairly recently.
Madcap_Magician
New member
It's kind of like the rest of General Order 1.
No ****. Guarantee you can find it in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Likewise alcohol.
Personal guns probably exist in a few units, with the tacit approval of the chain of command.
No ****. Guarantee you can find it in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Likewise alcohol.
Personal guns probably exist in a few units, with the tacit approval of the chain of command.