"John Keeney" wrote in message
...

"Kevin Brooks" wrote in message
...

I know I posted on this before, but I'll repeat incase it got sucked
up in to the great bit bucket in the sky. Yes, at the very minimum
I can guaranty that one NYAG unit currently attached to the 1st ID
in Iraq have M-14s as issued equipment. They are issued to unit
"Marksmen" in addition to which ever flavor of M-16 / M-4 that
infantryman is issued. Marksmen are not rated snipers but provide
a bit of precision in a spray & pray world.

I'd be very surprised if they are carrying M14's. The M-14 offers danged
little in terms of "precision" versus the M16A2 in the likely ironsight
range fan (the A2 is plenty accurate oput to the 300 meter range).

Be surprised, be very surprised. I know this via an NCO who's got
them in his unit.
Oh, I checked the unit is carrying the M-4 version of the M-16.

Not surprised, disbelieveing (of the M-14 offering significantly greater
accuracy in the 300 meter and below range). Having fired both the M-14 and
the M-16 (A1 and A2 versions), the idea that the M-14 (sans telescopic
sight) is significantly more accurate in the hands of a rifleman in the
likely engagement range limits is just not very believable.


I guess they could have some old M-21's (which unlike the M-14 have
a telescopic sight)--

Variations on a theme. It could be an M-21, I fail to make the distinction
quite often and my source may be the same. Then again, he once defined
"HEDP" as "High Explosive Deep Penetrating." Yes, he was ashamed.

Question--is your source a truly knowledgable and reliable individual?
Having spend many years around troops, I can vouch for the fact that some,
just like their civilian counterparts, either get things wrong (like your
HEDP example), or worse can "overextend" themselves (i.e., verge into the
tall-tale arena).

As far as "variations on a theme" goes...only if you consider a specialized
development capable of reliably hitting a silouette at 600-800 meters (the
M-21) versus the 300-400 meters of the original (M-14 with iron sights--and
400 meters is definitely pushing that capability; just *seeing* the 300
meter target pop up is difficult enough on most ranges...) a "variation upon
a theme". What this guy may be referring to is a trickle-down supply of
M-21's resulting from the fielding of the M-24 to sniper elements (and as an
enhanced light brigade you can be assured the 27th got the M-24 in its
greedy little hands six-to-eight years ago, at least) to unit
marksmen--something I acknowledged was a possibility earlier in the thread.


but which combat unit of the NYARNG is attached to the 1st ID? ISTR
that the NYARNG 42nd ID(M) HQ is indeed deploying to Iraq later this
year
(or early next year?).

I don't know if I should call it the 27th Infantry Brigade or 42nd ID,
the guys went as the 27th & got taken in by the 1st ID but the part
that didn't has since been absorbed into the 42nd ID.

Based upon a quick check at DefenseLink, it is probably 1-108th Inf, one of
the three light infantry battalions assigned to the 27th SIB(L) (Enhanced);
makes sense, as a battalion of light fighters provides a heavy division like
1st ID(M) with greater versatility and more "boots on the ground" combat
grunts. And in a (minor) effort to keep this somewhere near on-topic, at
least one of the companies of that battalion is designated as "air assault"
in the DoD release (though that is not an assurance of accuracy--DefenseLink
has been known to screw up unit ID's from time to time). The 27th SIB is
still shown as being a seperate brigade; as one of the 15 enhanced brigades
of the ARNG, it is extremely unlikely to have been "absorbed" into the 42nd
ID(M) (the ARNG state HQ's generally love having their enhanced units, and
would scream bloody murder at the thought of losing one because they result
in greater resource allocation to the state HQ). What may be happening is
that the 27th SIB(-) has been attached to the 42nd ID(-) for their upcoming
deployment to Iraq.

Brooks