We had backchannel ways of getting what we wanted.The need for a new suppressed weapon became so acute that we wanted a U.S. Mfgr.and a reliable supply.We talked with S&W for a suppressed Mod.39 9MM.147 gr.subsonic with a slide latch that could be engaged for no action sound.Bill Ruger made an intergally suppressed .22 Well,when we went to congress for the budget,We did not want to tell them what we wanted them for.Some genious came up with the idea that we needed them to silence the ubiquitious village dogs that would give our presence away.Congress bought this bull,we upgraded our inventory from the WW11 .45`s and H.S.,HD MIL`s,the .22 with the hammer.We also had suppressed Karl Gustave Mod.1945`s commonly known as the Swedish K.When the Swedish K`s ran out of parts,S&W ran a copy called the Mod.76.We called the new suppressed weapons'Hush Puppies",a continuing joke upon congress,which was not on our side.The heck with them,if they can`t take a joke. We would never have gotten them if the true purpose was public. You can`t steal from the govt.either,so long as your troops need the resources that are having redistributed or misappropriated and, it is not for personal gain. I aquired some Mod.1919 M2 Browning .50 cal MG`s.They reqire a go-no go headspace gauge to set up.These were unavailable through regular supply channels.I had some other business in Saigon so,I caught a bird and while there,illegally engaged in blackmarket activities by buying a half a dozen for 100 Piasters,"a buck U.S."a copy.What would have done?If you are good,you can fake the headspace and adjust the bbl.in or out depending upon what your ear tells you,but this is not the safest nor the best method.In combat you do what you need to do,and I`m here to tell you that the support that you have been mislead to expect is not there unless you take it. If we had won that fight and the bean counters came in,all of the good leaders would be in jail. I didn`t lie to my superior officers but,I didn`t tell them everything I knew either.Sometimes I couldn`t because they were not cleared and sometimes they would steer the conversation so that they wouldn`t hear what they didn`t want to hear. Ethical dilemas that would challange a Phd.and,teenagers had the power to call in an Arc light.Few American C.E.O.`s can spend that kind of money on their own authority.Six B-52`s from Guam?Not to mention our fast movers,gunships and Arty.or Naval support. May you live in interesting times.
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