THE COMPLETE HISTORY OF THE AR-15 RIFLE

[lysanderxiii]

My battalion was transitioning from a separate Engineer brigade (construction) to a Divisional Combat Engineer Bn. We were assigned to 8th Infantry Division which was also in the process of reflagging to 1st Armored Division at the time. I arrived in Baumholder in Jan 1992 and yes we had the A2 rifles at the time. But a lot of the other assigned weapons were not up to date compared to the infantry and armor units we supported. The 40th Eng Bn kept the 1911A1 pistols and M3A1 SMGs until late 92/early 93. We even had older Recoilless Rifles assigned to us. We also did not get any M249s until late 93/early 94

The first M16A2 I was ever assigned was when I got to Baumholder in Jan 1992. Before that I was either assigned to training units or Reserve units which were still using the A1 rifles. I even saw at least 1 NG unit deploy to Saudi with M14 rifles.

And what you saw the Air Force guys carrying were the GAU-5/A or GAU-5A/A. While similar to the XM177E2, they were not the same carbines. The AF always did their own thing with rifles and carbines, one would see a lot of mix matched uppers and lowers.

USAEUR was the last place to phase out the M1911A1. The M3A1, and the occasional M3, were not phased out until the M4 came along.

1992 or 93 the Corps support units for XVIII Airborne started to transition to the A2. I remember starting with an A1 in basic, going to the A2 in Germany, then back to an A1 in Ft Rucker.

 

[12Bravo20]

The M3A1, and the occasional M3, were not phased out until the M4 came along.

The M3A1 was most definitely phased out before we got any M4 carbines. We had to turn in our 1911s and M3A1s in late 92 early 93. As of Christmas 1994 when I ETS'd back to the states, we still had not received any M4 Carbines. I was assigned to 40th Eng Bn, 2nd Brigade, 1st AD and we were designated as the rapid reaction force for Germany and ESAEUR at that time, plus we were also on alert for the Bosnia peace keeping mission at that time. One would think that we would have gotten the M4s right away. But that didn't happen. My next duty station ws NTC/Ft Irwin. Again I was suppose to be issued a M4 but still did not receive one when I medically retired in Feb 1996.

 

[tark]

Both articles are ridiculous. When I was stationed in Germany we had M-14's. I had M-16 training twice before I went to Nam.

Same here. Being a REMF I never had a 16 in Nam, either. Never saw one at all in Germany. This was 67-70.