SMLE
Member
Rifle Combat Optic
http://www.2ndbn5thmar.com/oif/rifle combat optic.htm
by Gunner J.L. Eby
Marines in the combat arms are being fielded Rifle Combat Optics in an effort to enhance our combat capability. This is a four-power scope, currently made by Trijicon, mounted on an M16A4. The primary difference from M16A2 to M16A4 is that the A4 has 1913 Military Standard mounting rails in place of handguards (with handguard covers available) and the carrying handle can be removed to be replaced with a variety of optics.
This item was a major combat multiplier during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Regimental Combat Team-7 was issued eighty-one of these weapons during our stay in Kuwait three weeks prior to crossing the line of departure. Where the rest of us had to identify potential targets with binoculars, then transfer to the rifle for the engagement, the individuals armed with the rifle combat optic had the benefit of identifying targets and the weapons they carried followed by the simplicity of pulling the trigger as their cross hair remained on the newly identified target.
Another advantage was clarity of the target in relation to the old “ghost ring and post†system on the M16A2. Instead of having to align the front post in the center of a ghost ring, and then center it on a blurry target, the shooters with optics simply located their targets with enhanced vision, placed the chevron aiming system on the target and pulled the trigger. No longer is the target blurry while focusing on the aiming system. Future Marines will be able to locate their target while he is blending into his background. Marines will be able to clearly see the surroundings of the target, and will have no doubt that their crosshair is on the target they’ve selected. Peripheral vision may be reduced in relation to the naked eye view, but this is lost when focusing on the front sight tip anyway. Instead, due to the clarity of the target area, maneuver elements approaching the gun target line will be safer, now that the Marine armed with enhanced vision can see and identify the elements maneuvering.
Many shoot/no-shoot engagements were based on the enhanced ability of the shooter with a rifle combat optic to see and identify the target. Those not equipped with magnified optics were reliant on information provided by those who were. Not only did the optic enhance marksmanship, reduce enemy positions faster and save Marine lives, it reinforced the rules of engagement by allowing only combatants to come under fire by those equipped with this ability to discern what was in the hands of the civilian dressed individuals near Marine positions.
The days of our opponents wearing distinctive uniforms to assist us in identifying him may well be long gone. Everyone looks alike at ranges beyond 150 meters and weapons are not nearly as distinctive in urban environments as you would expect. Had every Marine had the ability to focus in on the hands of the individual in civilian attire, far fewer non-combatants would have been engaged. The distance, however slight, was too far to identify which civilian clad individuals were armed and which were not.
It is the intent of the Marine Corps to arm every rifleman in combat arms units with the rifle combat optic. The next step would be to conduct annual qualification while using this magnified optic, followed by fielding the weapon to every Marine currently armed with an M16A2.
Some concern for the near range engagement has been expressed due to the four power magnification causing a loss of “field of viewâ€, but the trijicon sight is a sight that uses a two eye open technique, allowing the shooter to maintain peripheral vision at all times. During those really rapid engagements, the technique of “flash, front sight, press†would still be as valid with the Rifle Combat Optic as it is with iron sights. This is a truly magnificent concept, but one that flies in the face of Marine Corps tradition, so therefore will be difficult to infuse into our minds.
We speak often of leveraging technology, yet we keep limiting ourselves to the most basic of sighting systems, preventing our enhanced combat ability, forcing rules of engagement challenges and making life difficult for the combat Marine not armed with optics.
We not only have to accept the advantages technology has to offer, but we have to let go of the old ways when those ways no longer work or are not needed. We will have to separate our marksmanship training in preparation for war from our marksmanship attempting to win medals and glory. The medals and glory have been awesome, but they cannot continue to be the focus of our efforts towards marksmanship if we are truly to gain a fighting edge from technology.
http://www.2ndbn5thmar.com/oif/rifle combat optic.htm
by Gunner J.L. Eby
Marines in the combat arms are being fielded Rifle Combat Optics in an effort to enhance our combat capability. This is a four-power scope, currently made by Trijicon, mounted on an M16A4. The primary difference from M16A2 to M16A4 is that the A4 has 1913 Military Standard mounting rails in place of handguards (with handguard covers available) and the carrying handle can be removed to be replaced with a variety of optics.
This item was a major combat multiplier during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Regimental Combat Team-7 was issued eighty-one of these weapons during our stay in Kuwait three weeks prior to crossing the line of departure. Where the rest of us had to identify potential targets with binoculars, then transfer to the rifle for the engagement, the individuals armed with the rifle combat optic had the benefit of identifying targets and the weapons they carried followed by the simplicity of pulling the trigger as their cross hair remained on the newly identified target.
Another advantage was clarity of the target in relation to the old “ghost ring and post†system on the M16A2. Instead of having to align the front post in the center of a ghost ring, and then center it on a blurry target, the shooters with optics simply located their targets with enhanced vision, placed the chevron aiming system on the target and pulled the trigger. No longer is the target blurry while focusing on the aiming system. Future Marines will be able to locate their target while he is blending into his background. Marines will be able to clearly see the surroundings of the target, and will have no doubt that their crosshair is on the target they’ve selected. Peripheral vision may be reduced in relation to the naked eye view, but this is lost when focusing on the front sight tip anyway. Instead, due to the clarity of the target area, maneuver elements approaching the gun target line will be safer, now that the Marine armed with enhanced vision can see and identify the elements maneuvering.
Many shoot/no-shoot engagements were based on the enhanced ability of the shooter with a rifle combat optic to see and identify the target. Those not equipped with magnified optics were reliant on information provided by those who were. Not only did the optic enhance marksmanship, reduce enemy positions faster and save Marine lives, it reinforced the rules of engagement by allowing only combatants to come under fire by those equipped with this ability to discern what was in the hands of the civilian dressed individuals near Marine positions.
The days of our opponents wearing distinctive uniforms to assist us in identifying him may well be long gone. Everyone looks alike at ranges beyond 150 meters and weapons are not nearly as distinctive in urban environments as you would expect. Had every Marine had the ability to focus in on the hands of the individual in civilian attire, far fewer non-combatants would have been engaged. The distance, however slight, was too far to identify which civilian clad individuals were armed and which were not.
It is the intent of the Marine Corps to arm every rifleman in combat arms units with the rifle combat optic. The next step would be to conduct annual qualification while using this magnified optic, followed by fielding the weapon to every Marine currently armed with an M16A2.
Some concern for the near range engagement has been expressed due to the four power magnification causing a loss of “field of viewâ€, but the trijicon sight is a sight that uses a two eye open technique, allowing the shooter to maintain peripheral vision at all times. During those really rapid engagements, the technique of “flash, front sight, press†would still be as valid with the Rifle Combat Optic as it is with iron sights. This is a truly magnificent concept, but one that flies in the face of Marine Corps tradition, so therefore will be difficult to infuse into our minds.
We speak often of leveraging technology, yet we keep limiting ourselves to the most basic of sighting systems, preventing our enhanced combat ability, forcing rules of engagement challenges and making life difficult for the combat Marine not armed with optics.
We not only have to accept the advantages technology has to offer, but we have to let go of the old ways when those ways no longer work or are not needed. We will have to separate our marksmanship training in preparation for war from our marksmanship attempting to win medals and glory. The medals and glory have been awesome, but they cannot continue to be the focus of our efforts towards marksmanship if we are truly to gain a fighting edge from technology.
