Did I hear this right? "Army drops Bayonets in Training Revamp"!!!

[redisburning]

However I sure wouldn't want to be the guy who stopped the use of bayonets only to learn that two weeks later a soldiers M4 carbine jammed and didn't have time to grab his holsterd side arm and was stabbed to death.

I dont think soldiers go around by themselves a whole lot.

I would suggest that a soldier who has a jammed rifle has a 7lb impact device. If the supposed bad guy has a knife and wants to use that instead of his rifle/shotgun, I dont think he would be the one to win that particular fight unless he got one hell of a drop on said soldier in which case there isnt even really a discussion.

Also, I believe that when bayonets were standard issue they were really kept on the rifle, were they?

 

[Dan K]

After having served 2.5 tours in RVN, I've got to say it's a good idea. The shooters those people are packing are virtually useless as a spear. An M1 G. was usable for that function, but your basic M16 platform is not. The article mentioned weapon improvisation, which would include using the basic poking techniques involved in bayonet/spear practice.

Further more, these people are packing an unbelievable amount of weight as it is without dragging extra stuff that they are not going to use. The only real use a patrol member would have for a blade like that would be to probe a mine, but that would be about it. As knife use is concerned over there a good Spyderco, SAK, and a Letherman will do just fine.
Some people around here need to forget about the War of Northern Aggression and get on with life in the real world.
Dan K

 

[J_Curd]

Again....

This is being covered in Prac Tac. It's a much more factual and less inflammatory discussion. Wander over.

 

[citizensoldierNY]

I can honestly say in the time of spent in the military including a visit to a certain country ending in Stan, I never saw anyone carry a bayonet much less fix one to a rifle to engage an enemy. On the other hand the training was a blast , definitely one of the more memorable blocks of instruction and great for teaching aggression. I'll never forget to this day what makes the green grass grow, or running the lanes and buttstroking, the rubber tire dummies and getting smacked in the face by the spring loaded one. Was so focused on killing the dummies getting the lane done, I didn't even notice I was bleeding till the end. I for one say keep the bayonet training, tradition alone dictates it, oh yeah and it is a pretty good tool for teaching you how to kill your enemy at close quarters. BTW for all concerned when I did it we were also taught to how use the whole rifle as a weapon i.e. buttstroke series to the head etc.

 

[Limeyfellow]

They exchange bayonet training for core muscle training because:
"They also want to toughen recruits who are often more familiar with Facebook than fistfights. "

I don't think a modern Soldier even has or at least uses his bajonet for fighting.
So in my opinion it is a smart move, even decades to late.

They been used in Afghanistan in combat a few times and in Iraq at least once but that was by Scottish regiments and they don't count because they are a bit nuts anyway. The most famous of the incidents is probably the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders attack on Iraqi insurgents back in 2004 were they charged a force five times their size and killed 35 fighters. Then there was that attack in Afghanistan were they ran out of bullets and affixed bayonets to take out the enemy machine gunner.

I don't know of anyone but Scots getting involved in the stuff in the past decade. Last decade it got used a little more.

 

[Esav Benyamin]

This thread is a disgrace. I am closing it.

It's in the wrong forum, filled with personal attacks and vulgar language, and I won't move it to Practical Tactical to pollute their discussion environment also.

Those of you interested in the topic can go to U.S. Army drops Bayonet training to continue there.

Keep it polite.