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Over the years we have seen civilians step up to the bar and send "care" packages
to our deserving military troops stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan. Food, beverages, any
and all sorts of creature comforts.

The US military was derelict in providing body armor for a while. Parents sent their sons and
daughters body armor.

My question is this: A ground pounder in the war zones will be equipped with a long weapon
by his chain of command. It doesn't seem that enlisted men carry pistols for the most part.
Correct me if I'm wrong.

Would civilians at home be able to privately buy a pistol here in the States, probably some
brand the soldier/Marine likes, in a caliber he can shoot, and be able to send it to him in the
war zone?

The floor is now open for discussion.

SIA

surprise_i'm_armed wrote:Over the years we have seen civilians step up to the bar and send "care" packages
to our deserving military troops stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan. Food, beverages, any
and all sorts of creature comforts.

The US military was derelict in providing body armor for a while. Parents sent their sons and
daughters body armor.

My question is this: A ground pounder in the war zones will be equipped with a long weapon
by his chain of command. It doesn't seem that enlisted men carry pistols for the most part.
Correct me if I'm wrong.

Would civilians at home be able to privately buy a pistol here in the States, probably some
brand the soldier/Marine likes, in a caliber he can shoot, and be able to send it to him in the
war zone?

The floor is now open for discussion.

SIA

Nope. The military will issue him what he needs. Besides, it is a big no no to carry a personal weapon in a war zone.

I suspect BATF might have something to say about exporting firearms.

Junior enlisted GENERALLY do not carry pistols, and as posted above, it is a big NO-NO to send firearms to servicemembers overseas. When they leave theater they will go through a customs inspection looking for exactly that.

From reading other sources, it seems to me that supplementing Uncle Sam's issue equipment (including weapons) in this war, just like others, been done regularly. I've read a number of accounts of soldiers and contractors adding Kalashnikovs (especially for vehicle defense), Glocks, and Hi-Powers to their personal arsenals. They don't bring them back to the US, just pass them on to the next guy. All are pretty common over there, and can be obtained through capture or on the market place. The rules about carrying such things seem to get more flexible the closer you are to getting shot at on a regular basis. So I wouldn't recommend trying to mail a pistol to your favorite soldier. If he wants or needs it, he will eventually find a way.

Other items tho, seem popular. Good quality Beretta 92 magazines for the M-9, certain kines of knives, camelbaks, glashlights/led head-mounted lights, etc etc. There are various web sites and gunny forums that make it practice to have contacts in theater and mail stuff to the troops.

No way. No. Never.

110%

surprise_i'm_armed wrote:
Would civilians at home be able to privately buy a pistol here in the States, probably some
brand the soldier/Marine likes, in a caliber he can shoot, and be able to send it to him in the
war zone?


SIA

Ok so you send him/her a non standard handgun in a non military caliber - - - if it breaks where will the servicemember get it repared? What about ammo? There aren't any Academy stores in Iraq. And last but not least what about you? Doing something like this could land you in Federal Prison.

When I was in Vietnam one of the guys got a .32 revolver that his wife and family mailed to him. The poor guy nearly went to the stockade over this. Good intentions, bad idea.

MoJo wrote: 110%

surprise_i'm_armed wrote:
Would civilians at home be able to privately buy a pistol here in the States, probably some
brand the soldier/Marine likes, in a caliber he can shoot, and be able to send it to him in the
war zone?


SIA

What about ammo? There aren't any Academy stores in Iraq..

And the ones here in Texas don't have ammo anyway.

ELB:
You've seen other sources that told of US military picking up Kalashnikov's, Glocks, and HiPowers.
I can understand the pistols for house clearing work. But why would a Kalashnikov be used for
vehicle protection when the soldier/Marine already has an M4? Maybe just to have an extra,
loaded weapon on board? Like a BUR (Back up rifle?)

Trivia factoid - AK-47's are so designated due to "A"utomatic Weapon,
K - Kalashnikov, the WWII Russian tanker who felt the Russian Army needed such a weapon.
47 - For 1947, its year of introduction.

SIA

surprise_i'm_armed wrote:ELB:
You've seen other sources that told of US military picking up Kalashnikov's, Glocks, and HiPowers.
I can understand the pistols for house clearing work. But why would a Kalashnikov be used for
vehicle protection when the soldier/Marine already has an M4? Maybe just to have an extra,
loaded weapon on board? Like a BUR (Back up rifle?)

Trivia factoid - AK-47's are so designated due to "A"utomatic Weapon,
K - Kalashnikov, the WWII Russian tanker who felt the Russian Army needed such a weapon.
47 - For 1947, its year of introduction.

SIA

I've read several accounts of AKs being kept as short range vehicle defense guns, for both tanks and other vehicles. I do not recall specifically, but I would guess they were probably with the folding stocks, which make a folded AK shorter than an M-4, even with the collapsible stock, and thus handier to store inside. Also AKs can be fitted with drum magazines that hold quite a few more rounds.

Most Automat Kalashnikovs seen these days are actually AKMs rather than AK-47s. The originals -47 version had milled receivers (altho some combined milled and stamped parts), the AKM or modernized versions have stamped receivers, along with some other minor changes. But of course now you can buy milled or stamped (semi-auto) receivers... When you start digging into it, there a LOT of variations on the basic Kalashnikov pattern.

There's a whole thread here on identifying one versus the other design: http://warriortalk.com/showthread.php?t=57316" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

ELB:
That makes sense why the AK's would be preferable to M4's in vehicles.

I'm not sure of the model number, but I believe there is a new Commie
machine gun, maybe an AK-104? that South American loudmouth Hugo Chavez
is manufacturing in large quantities.

SIA

The only reason I ever saw anyone using a backup gun such as an AK-47 was that they had "liberated" it from its previous owner. The minute it comes to the attention of any NCO/Officer that chooses to make an issue of it, that individual is in deep kimchee. Officially you can take trophy weapons home, but the paperwork drill involved is horrendous.
Please note that weapons from home are simply a no-no. Equipment, no problem. Weapons, big problem. You would simply be creating a nightmare for any servicemember in receipt of such.

Admittedly, it was a different time, with different laws, but the sidearm my dad carried into combat at Iwo Jima was a personally purchased 1911 Government model bought at a hardware store in Glendale, California. It was a common practice among junior officers, because NCOs and junior enlisted marines scarfed up all the available issue 1911s. Anyway, it wasn't a practice that was discouraged in application.

I was actually happy with getting care packages with clean, new skivvies...socks...t-shirts...

A friend of mine who usually didn't deploy with us, sent me a bottle(s) of Listerine (I did the same for him when he deployed, and I was stateside), the contents were strategically replaced with Jack D. (dark label), strictly for medicinal purposes of course...

The DoD usually kept us stocked with the 5"-54 stuff we needed to discourage the bad guys when the occasion arose...