Once, during one of my periodic exiles into staff pukedom, I was asked if I wanted some old, discarded books and manuals. One binder contained the complete course curriculum for MACV's One-Zero School. THAT binder went home quickly. Most of it was dry Army prose. The Lessons Learned, however, was a goldmine of patrolling techniques probably known only to Vietnam Vets. Certainly not my Army of the early '80's. Lost in the mists of time. One lesson was a blinding flash of obvious, but so out of place in a peacetime Army. Patrol weapons were test fired/zero confirmed, then not cleaned, disassembled, adjusted, or fiddled with prior to insertion. Otherwise, it was back to the firing range. The idea was to ensure that the weapon worked--not just a function check, but a firing check, then not screw with it. And what's a little carbon between friends if the return is knowing that your weapon is working--not just should work because it has in the past and you know how to correctly assemble it--but is working right now as you hold it.
Do any of you follow a similar procedure with the weapon that you carry? Is a little carbon OK? Or is cleanliness next to Godliness?
Do any of you follow a similar procedure with the weapon that you carry? Is a little carbon OK? Or is cleanliness next to Godliness?