Quote:
Originally Posted by Harkrader
Texas Star:
Your comments reflect my experience. I was in Vietnam '69 - '70 and '70 - '71. We were issued the "USAF" marked 15s. I didn't know until I got there that we could have brought our own guns. Very few did, that I knew, and all were S&W .357 Magnums of one sort or another. Like some others, I got a .45 Government Model from an Army troop.
Our oldest son didn't listen to his father and took his expen$ive 5-yr degree in engineering and became a tactical USAF pilot, joining in July, 2001. Four deployments later . . .
As you said, he was forbidden to take his own gun. He said the Berettas they were issued were pretty worn, and most pilots couldn't hit their asses with both hands, or even handle them safely. My, how things have changed.
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I think a lot of pilots are elitists/techies who don't like to think about having to fight with handgun or knife, if shot down. Yes, they should evade, but they might NEED to kill someone or procure food with a pistol.
When Capt. Scott O'Grady's F-16 was shot down over Bosnia some years ago, he found that his M-9 rusted some during his evasion, which often involved some wet conditions. His survival knife also rusted, and he was glad that his Swiss Army knife didn't. He seems to be pretty small arms-savvy and has been an NRA Director. His book, "Return With Honor" is well worth finding.
I think, too, that many pilots are victims of our current indoctrination of the public against guns. And they receive little training with them.
I believe that O'Grady's Swiss Army knife was his own. But I think that all aircrew should be issued one and shown how to use knives effectively, not only for combat (including sentry removal) but for general survival utility. I agree with O'Grady about the issue survival knife, and if allowed to buy my own as a pilot, would select either the Randall Model 5 or the Fallkniven S-1, both with five-inch blades. The latter with optional black blade has been authorized for unit purchases. It has a National Stock Number.
You probably know about the USAF cop who killed an AK-47-wielding gunman at Fairchild AFB, WA some years ago. Drilled him dead at about 80 yards with one shot. Some airmen can shoot!
