10 Events We Can’t Figure Out From The Vietnam War 9. The M16 Controversy
In 1966, American soldiers in Vietnam were given a weapon that was supposed to revolutionize fighting: the M16. Unfortunately, it absolutely didn’t go as planned. When the weapon made it into the hands of those who were in the middle of combat, it failed spectacularly. Recently declassified army documents show that 80 percent of troops reported having issues with the weapon. Prone to a problem called “failure to extract,” spent shell casings would stay in the chamber after a shot was fired, forcing solders—who were often in the middle of close combat in completely inhospitable terrain—to physically unjam the gun by using a metal rod to pry out the spent shell casing. By 1967, Congressional subcommittees were exploring the issue further, wading through testing, memos, and red tape while the war continued.
Meanwhile, troops in the field were finding other problems with the rifle. When they received the new guns, the troops weren’t given cleaning equipment to maintain them. While manufacturers and the military insisted that the rifles didn’t need to be cleaned, men in the field were finding that the inside of the barrel not only wasn’t chrome-lined like previous models, but it was vulnerable to corrosion in the brutal Vietnam climate. Ultimately, the subcommittee investigation found that the army was at fault for failing to train troops on the new weapon and not performing proper testing of the weapon and ammunition before passing them along— bringing up some serious questions of responsibility within the system. It’s not known just how many soldiers died because of the faulty weapons; there are numerous reports of dead soldiers found with jammed M16 rifles that had left them all but defenseless while they tried in vain to get their weapons functioning.
Bizarrely, it’s a problem that’s not yet solved. The M16 is still being used, and it’s still being investigated for its lack of reliability, decades after the original controversy. Soldiers and their loved ones are left to wonder just why rifles that were historically as deadly to the men using them as they were to the enemy are still the military’s go-to weapon.
NN COMMENTS (in this space because it's more WYSIWIG): Gee, I can't figure out why this would happen. It's a total mystery! The USG and DOD have ALWAYS, EVERYWHERE seen to personnel's each and every basic need in the field -- right?
It's totally unthinkable and unheard-of that our politicians and our military brass would ever hang "our boys" and "our girls" out to dry in any way. They have NEVER done this before or since. They LOVE them -- and us!
It's simply not true that Kissinger called them "dumb, stupid animals to be used as pawns for foreign policy", nor does his tender, loving dominance of war policy through the 60s and 70s reflect imperfect respect for our troops in or out of uniform.
The politicians are not callous, smug, jaded, cynics in it for their own fame, adulation or enrichment. They are idealistic and altruistic, not atavistic. The M16 is not defective -- it's "the grea-test rifle you've ev-er seen!"
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Poster Comment:
1. George W. Bush’s Military Service
"For a year, Bush’s whereabouts seem to not be entirely accounted for. The accusation was that he had used his family connections to arrange for a pretty easy ride through an extremely bloody war. Earlier, in 1968, Bush’s military scores indicate that he barely qualified for much of anything, passing his pilot’s exam with the lowest grade required—a far cry from the exemplary, dedicated pilot that superior officers later referred to him as. His celebrity status, on the other hand, was well documented—right down to the commanding officer that arranged to have his picture taken with the young Bush."