#Marines

Hello and how are you on this Friday night? Did you enjoy reading about the Thermal Camo 2.0 test last Friday? Well, today we have a very rare and obscure thermal spotter, there CORAL-SD by El-Op which is a division of Elbit Systems.

Japan’s Acquisition, Technology & Logistics Agency (ATLA) showcased the Japan Ground Self Defense Force’s (JGSDF) latest standard-issue rifle, the Type 20 Howa at the DSEI Japan expo held in Chiba from 15 to 17 March. Overt Defense was able to speak with Howa’s Firearms and Ammunitions Department Deputy General Manager Kazuhiro Kimura, JGSDF light weapons instructor Master Sgt. Kentaro Ota, and with Engineer Yuichi Omote from Asahi-Seki’s Ammunition & Precision Engineering Division about the rifle. Asahi-Seiki is the company responsible for the new 5.56x45mm J3 cartridge which is fired by the rifle.

RFID (Radio-Frequency Identification) is a technology that practically permeates our modern lives. Everything from your passport, your keyfob at work, tags on the back of your equipment, and even your dog or cat probably has an RFID tag in it that contains important information. Guns are part of this equation too and it is being used predictably by some of the United States Armed Forces to keep track of weapons to prevent potential theft as well as help aid in weapon inventory tasks and distribution. However, recent research has revealed that RFID technology inside the military’s weapons poses a “significant” security risk according to the Department of Defense.

Keep the gun and gunpowder dry at all cost! Below is Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Christopher Walters, a hospital corpsman with 3d Medical Battalion, 3d Marine Logistics Group, as he conducts a rifle swim during the water survival advanced (WSA) course on Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, Okinawa, Japan, June 17, 2021.

Topic: Photo Of The Day

“Every Marine is, first and foremost, a rifleman. All other conditions are secondary.” When General Alfred M. Gray Jr. first spoke these words many years ago, he probably didn’t anticipate just how ubiquitous they would become for the Marines who were to follow. Prior to becoming the 29th Commandant of the Marine Corps in 1987, Gray used the experience and lessons learned from his time in Korea and Vietnam to oversee significant updates to USMC training, including the emphasis on marksmanship from whence his famous quote came. Although some infantry Marines scoff at the idea that their non-combat counterparts could be their equals when it comes to the art and science of the gun, in general, the “ every Marine a rifleman” idea has taken root over the last half-century or so.

The look in the eyes of these U.S. Marines is pretty interesting, and I can’t blame them! We’re sitting behind a screen looking at this Photo Of The Day, while they are trying to overcome what has to be one of the wettest and muddiest obstacle course ever. We see a team of marines as they navigate through an obstacle at the Jungle Warfare Training Center endurance course in Okinawa, Japan (2020).

In this Photo Of The Day, you can see Sgt. Charles Schilling, from Port Angeles, Washington, assigned to the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) Battalion Landing Team 2nd Battalion, 1st Marines, as he provides security on the bridge wing of the amphibious transport dock ship USS Green Bay (LPD 20) during a visit, board, search and seizure (VBSS) drill with the amphibious dock landing ship USS Ashland (LSD 48).

We previously covered the Marine Corps M27 in last weeks episode and will be really getting into the weeds here in terms of some of the issues and benefits the weapon system afforded to Infantry Marines. Topics such as the choice of magazines for the automatic rifle, why it was so accurate and reliable, even dummy-cording the Squad Day Optic (SDO) to the rifle so it doesn’t fall off while in the field. The current version of the M27 took care of some of these problems but left others intact.

At the 2018 SHOT Show, Geissele Automatics made fans very happy by bringing out 3 new and much-asked for products. First, the company released its new Remington 700 trigger line, which consists of a single SKU adjusted from the factory to two models: Single stage and two stage. The Geissele R700 trigger is three-way adjustable for pull, overtravel, and number of stages. As configured in the two stage mode at Industry Day at the Range, the R700 trigger is virtually identical to the Geissele SSA-E AR-15 trigger. In single stage mode, it is most similar to Geissele’s SSP single-stage version of the SSA-E, revealed at last year’s SHOT Show.

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Commemorative Firearms are a class of their own in that they can sometimes be seen as the wall plaques of small arms. Simple ones have a small engraving or something etched in the metal or wood while much more ornate ones can be gold plated and even diamond stuffed. In this case, Miles takes a look at some very specific examples of .45 ACP Kimber Custom IIs that were a result of a commemorative program run by Kimber. They had personal inscriptions in which Marines could have anything inserted into the limited amount of character space available.

The United States Marine Corps has finally officially announced its adoption of the 5.56mm M855A1 EPR round, developed in the late 2000s by the US Army, marking an important step towards ammunition commonality between the two services. Until now, the USMC has officially only used the legacy M855 round, and to a more limited extent the SOCOM-developed Mk. 318 SOST round, refusing to adopt the US Army’s new M855A1. The Marine Corps Times reports that the Corps’ Combat Development Command has begun procuring the round for stockpiles, with its official adoption coming in 2018:

There is a series of short videos made by the Marine’s. CW05 Gunner Wade covers topics pertinent to Marines. In this video he covers the simple decision to use semi auto fire versus full auto fire. They use an HKM27 for this demonstration.

When the subject is the future of infantry, the conversation inevitably turns to one thing: Powered, armored exoskeletons. Since the publication of Heinlein’s Starship Troopers in 1959, the concept of an armored suit with enhanced mobility from an internal power source has fascinated military futurists, quickly solidifying as a military fiction staple, and even appearing repeatedly in official “future soldier” concepts from armies and companies around the world.