Glad this is a fact finding thread. Is there anyone we should write to and let them know the Marines use bayonets? And that Specop guys occasionally need to have a horse? Maybe they are members here and will find out on their own......
Bayonet Question Regarding Today's American Military
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BLACKHAWKNJ
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I had bayonet training when I went through BCT at Fort Dix in 1967, 10 years later when I wasn an officer in the National Guard conducting civil disturbance training I had to give the troops a crash course in handling the baton as they had not received bayonet training in Basic. From what I have seen today's Army doesn't even teach marksmanship. And a number of recent veterans have told me the knife aficionado is viewed with as much suspicion as the firearms enthusiast.
jlrhiner
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41RF
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Had lunch with a Special Forces Captain a week after the Kent State shootings. He was saddened that the troops involved had not been handled better, eg. fix bayonets in unison with plenty of noise, then advance a step at a time towards the demonstrators. Would have gotten my attention at least, had I been there. I think there is still a place for the bayonet....
Dennis The B
US Veteran
A number of years ago, there was a civil disturbance in suburban Louisville, when court-ordered busing began. Some of the demonstrations against got out of hand, and a local county police officer lost an eye when struck with a lead fishing weight. The next day, the governor sent Kentucky National Guard soldiers to back up the police. The guardsmen formed a riot line, and advanced with fixed bayonets on some of the miscreants. My friend, who was a guardsman, said that when they approached the rioters with the cold steel, the crowd virtually melted away. No one wants a bayonet pointed at the chest or throat.
Easy fella's! This thread is about Bayonets and Horses, ONLY. NOT who said anything! 
DeathGrip
US Veteran
Horses, I'm sure the Navy could teach them to use a bayonet on the flight line of a sub.
JcMack
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So nobody cares about them stupid bayonet lugs no more right?
As an SF Medic I wasn't issued a bayonet... everyone else was and I was jealous so I "acquired" my own.
De Oppresso Liber
De Oppresso Liber
DeathGrip
US Veteran
Nothing stupid about a bayonet lug.
In 1968 I was in Army ROTC. We had bayonet training with M-14's. Before we engaged, the sergeant would yell, "What's the spirit of the bayonet?" We were to kiss the bayonet and scream "Kill!" and engage. Today with the shorty AR's I think if I was out of ammo I believe I would rather use a sharpened E-tool, although it won't fit on the end of an M-4. I would still want one issued though.
My understanding is that the Army no longer does bayonet training, while the USMC still recognizes the bayonets value and continues to train recruits in it's use.
The British did in fact use bayonets in Basra, Iraq in May 2004. Quite well in fact as when the ran low on ammunition while trapped in an ambush they fixed bayonets and charged the insurgents. 20 or so of whom died as a result. The last British bayonet charge before that was during the Falklands Islands war in the mid 1980s.
The British do love their bayonets and well into the 19th century the musket or rifle was used primarily to hang a bayonet from. Rate of fire and accuracy made sustained fire impractical, so the British would close with the enemy and use their bayonets.
In case you're also interested, the US Army last rode into battle on horses in Afghanistan in 2001. Special Forces soldiers fighting with Northern Alliance forces rode with them and fought the Taliban.
The British did in fact use bayonets in Basra, Iraq in May 2004. Quite well in fact as when the ran low on ammunition while trapped in an ambush they fixed bayonets and charged the insurgents. 20 or so of whom died as a result. The last British bayonet charge before that was during the Falklands Islands war in the mid 1980s.
The British do love their bayonets and well into the 19th century the musket or rifle was used primarily to hang a bayonet from. Rate of fire and accuracy made sustained fire impractical, so the British would close with the enemy and use their bayonets.
In case you're also interested, the US Army last rode into battle on horses in Afghanistan in 2001. Special Forces soldiers fighting with Northern Alliance forces rode with them and fought the Taliban.
New Zealand follows Australia's lead in small arms. Their official weapon is the Steyr AUG (awfully ugly gun), but they may have other rifles as well.
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I see more utilities knifes carried daily. I got a funny story for ya'll. The vehicle shelter that my computers mounted has a one drawer safe. In Iraq, a squad leader stored all of the sensitive items in the safe, including the bayonets. They were HQ troops, did not need them. At the end of the tour they had to open the safe to conduct an inventory but it would not open. So out comes the welding torch and they cut it open.
Out comes the bayonets, though the hole, slightly scorched scabbards plus 10 hand grenades!! The welder turned pale when he saw those come out and said "At least we would of gone out with a BANG"!! Of course no one recalled getting the grenades, or recalled putting them into the safe.
Out comes the bayonets, though the hole, slightly scorched scabbards plus 10 hand grenades!! The welder turned pale when he saw those come out and said "At least we would of gone out with a BANG"!! Of course no one recalled getting the grenades, or recalled putting them into the safe.
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mc5aw
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Doesn't the USN employ sea horses for water-based equine maneuvers?
JcMack
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I asked my Combat Engineers from the New York national guard that question, they had no bayonets issued prior to coming into theater. Then they all whipped out their utility knifes!! Spyderco, Gerber, and Benchmade were all represented.
If you watch closely in the series The War you will see a sailor standing guard Stateside holding a M37 Winchester with M1917 bayonet mounted. A nephew spends some time as a Navy prisoner escort and he told me recently that in his experience the threat of a bayonet was more effective than the threat of shooting when it came to hostile prisoners. Most prisoners understood that he was more likely to cut them than shoot them because of administrative paperwork.
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