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John H.[_5_]

On Sun, 29 Jul 2012 13:34:28 -0400, wrote:

On Sun, 29 Jul 2012 12:32:38 -0400, X ` Man
wrote:

On 7/29/12 12:15 PM, wrote:
On Sun, 29 Jul 2012 07:42:55 -0400, X ` Man
wrote:

Surprised you don't know this, since you "qualified" with a pistol
"about a dozen times." What was your qualification about? Didn't it
include safe handling?

The side arm was never much of a priority in most military training.
Your regular soldier was not going to get one anyway. They were just
for people who would not usually have a rifle.

If you are an MP or SP you should get extra training and I assume
officers get some training but from my experience the officer's
training is somewhat superficial too.
I was in ordinance, working for a CPO who was on the USCG pistol team
for a while so we all got more than the usual pistol training. I
sought out as much as I could get and actually got a lot of range
time. I also wanted to know how to maintain everything in the armory.

I would have thought that proper "safety training" would have been a
priority. When I took my training, I spent the first few hours in class
with an instructor who showed us a safety video or two, and then spent
the rest of the time showing us how to handle the firearm, how to field
strip it, how to unjam it, how to remove stovepipes, how to store it, et
cetera. We didn't even get to the range until halfway through the second
lesson.

The safety training is more range safety than anything else from what
I saw and unless you actually get tactical training, you will not get
formal training in clearing jams and such. Fortunately a hardball .45
doesn't really jam that much.
Guys who get issued a sidearm that they are expected to use (guards,
SPs and MPs) will get better training.
The officers I knew did not really know much about the pistol and they
really didn't have one unless they were in combat. We only had 6 or 7
on the ships I was on and the captain was the only one who had one out
of the armory.
As I said, side arms were really not a priority back in the olden
days. Your average GI did not get a lot of pistol training, nor did
they actually get a pistol.
The basic safety rules are going to be the same as the service rifle
so they do get trained somewhat if you are army/marines.
The Air Force, Navy and Coast Guard are less likely to actually train
everyone on small arms in any meaningful way. It is a need to know
skill. These days I imagine the drug war has increased the need to
know for the coasties.

Harry keeps looking for the negative spin. What you've said above is basically accurate. The
military, except for certain specialties, doesn't issue concealed carry permits. For most, the
firing is done on the range or in a combat situation.