F14's vs. 9mm's

[blanco64]

True funny story, but also somewhat sad in hindsight how the military doesn't routinely trust its members with firearms.

Three of us who graduated college together in '87 ended up going into the military to fly airplanes, two of us in the Air Force, one in the Navy. The one who went in the Navy ended up flying F-14's (the coolest assignment out of the three). He ended up patrolling the Iraq no-fly zone during Desert Shield. I talked with him after his cruise. Conversation below.

Him: We were packing heat.
Me: Well, I imagine you had a full load-out of guns and missiles.
Him: No, I mean they issued us a 9mm.
Me: Let me get this straight. You were flying a fully armed F-14 off a carrier in the Gulf, patrolling the Iraqi no-fly zone, and you're most excited about the fact that you got to carry a pistol?
Him: Well ... it was cool!

BTW - He was a huge Miami Vice fan and thought he was Sonny Crockett, so getting to carry a pistol in a shoulder holster was probably "it" for him.

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[Glhadiator]

Well.....yeah! Except they issued me a .45 acp to carry in my LPA.

[cbp210]

You would be surprised how many of these service guys have a thrill just to have a gun on their person.

[OldVet]

They always want what they don't have. Sidewinders, bombs, gatling gun--no. They want a 9mm. Go figure.

[msgt/ret]

And all I carried was a S&W Model 10/15 snub nose concealed.

[sdprof]

I got a rock.

[dukalmighty]

And all I carried was a S&W Model 10/15 snub nose concealed.

I carried an M16A1 and 4" model 15 38 spl with 6 rounds lead round nose,aircrews carried 3 rounds of non lethal bean bag in first 3 chambers and 3 rounds of JHP,their reasoning IIRC was the beanbag wouldn't penetrate the airframe.
IMHO that reasoning is flawed,if your going up against an armed individual you don't want to be hitting him with non lethal when he is shooting the real deal back.BP Agent Brian Terry learned this the hard way RIP

[msgt/ret]

I carried an M16A1 and 4" model 15 38 spl with 6 rounds lead round nose,aircrews carried 3 rounds of non lethal bean bag in first 3 chambers and 3 rounds of JHP,their reasoning IIRC was the beanbag wouldn't penetrate the airframe.
IMHO that reasoning is flawed,if your going up against an armed individual you don't want to be hitting him with non lethal when he is shooting the real deal back.BP Agent Brian Terry learned this the hard way RIP

The bean bag rounds we referred to as “lipstick” rounds due to the red plastic cover.

[archer51]

And all I carried was a S&W Model 10/15 snub nose concealed.

If I remember right, weren't the first 2 or 3 rounds shot shell?

[msgt/ret]

If I remember right, weren't the first 2 or 3 rounds shot shell?

First three non-lethal bean bags, remaining ammo JHP for anti-hijacking.

[archer51]

First three non-lethal bean bags, remaining ammo JHP for anti-hijacking.

OK, for some reason I was thinking shot shell, to disable but minimize possibility of penetrating the fuselage and possible rapid decompression. Was not aware they had you guys using bean bag.

[MrBuckwheat]

I like the shoulder carry system. It would be hard for him to use an ankle holster

[OldVet]

As a maintenance guy, the one combat mission I got the honor of flying on allowed me to carry a S&W .38 revolver with all of six rounds. I guess they figured if I couldn't do myself in with six rounds, I deserved to get caught!

[nn]

We [ Marine Aviators ] always were issued a .38 revolver when in the FMF
they were so powerful that I just loaded flare rnds or
tracers as a backup to other signaling devices.

New Corps people get a 9mm pistol.

[TX expat]

I got a rock.

What caliber?