![]() The trigger guard swings down to allow shooting with heavy gloves or mitts. To reinforce previous training these positions (and the charging handle, forward assist and magazine release) are the same as on M16 series rifles. The M27’s ambidextrous selector features HK’s intuitive ‘pictographic’ markings for SAFE in white, SEMI and FULL AUTO in red. Note the folded down BUIS (back up iron sight) and Manta‘s black colored soft polymer rail and broomstick covers that will be standard in USMC service. It‘s topped with a 3.5 power SU-258/PVQ SDO (Trijicon Model TA11SDO-CP) day scope with distinctive ‘piggyback’ RMR (Ruggedized Miniature Reflex) close combat sight. This is one of the Corps’ hard worked test and evaluation rifles, lacking only the ‘M27’ receiver marking that will replace ‘HK 416 D’ on the magazine well. The final version of HK’s M27 Infantry Automatic Rifle as officially adopted for use throughout the Marine Corps. “And so now you’ve effectively taken what was your automatic rifle out of the attack in a MOUT environment where it‘s really about maintaining momentum and tempo.”Ģ1 November 2011, The Crucible training center, Stafford County, Virginia. “When you go into a MOUT (Military Operations on Urban Terrain) environment you’ve got to strip the SAW gunner out of the ‘stack’ (of Marines entering and clearing buildings),” he said. He called the M249 an effective but cumbersome light machine gun, not best suited for the Corps’ tactical doctrine for rifle squads in urban combat. Their endorsement of the Infantry Automatic Rifle, echoed in formal recommendations, continued year after year as Marine infantrymen fought the Global War on Terror in Afghanistan, Iraq and other hot spots.Ĭlark cited a list of complaints from the field including SAW gunners lagging behind, particularly in the attack. It was a growing thought process in the Marine Corps.”Ģ-7 did a limited IAR experiment and then provided their findings up through the Gunner community the highly respected duty experts on weapons employment whose opinions carry considerable weight in the Marine Corps. “2-7 was not the only battalion that had this epiphany. “Until you operate with a weapon system for some period of time, you haven’t identified all the considerations for employment,” Clark explained. “Historically, the Marine Corps kind of understood the shortcomings of the SAW but it was a service level decision to adopt it,” Clark said, “a Marine Corps requirement that was initially developed by the Army.”ĭissatisfaction soon arose and grew in the dozen or so years that followed, leading to the often-cited initial IAR trials conducted by the 1st Marine Division’s 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment circa 2000. As seen earlier in this feature, we certainly did and it proved highly instructive. We asked Clark when and why Marines in the field began asking for an alternative to the M249 that the Corps fielded beginning in 1985 and he suggested we talk with Gunner Eby, describing him as both a fellow Marine and personal friend. His combat experience spans 2005 through 08, including rifle company commander in the Al Anbar Province in Iraq, and as a combat advisor with the Afghan Commando Kandak (battalion), primarily in Kunar Province, Afghanistan. ![]() This seasoned Marine brings impressive credentials to the job, having held every billet in infantry battalions from Platoon Commander through Battalion Operations Officer. Combat weight of this light machine gun with 200 rounds loaded plus the USMC version ACOG, laser aiming module and bipod, is about twice that of a comparably equipped M27 and seven loaded mags. This evolved from an effort initiated in Marine Force Recon to make it lighter and more maneuverable, but now falling short of the new M27 Infantry Automatic Rifle. The 5.56mm belt-fed M249 Squad Automatic Weapon, adopted by the Marine Corps in 1985, is seen here in its latest ‘Para’ configuration. ![]() Tim Eastep, with 1st platoon, Alpha Company, Battalion Landing Team 1st Battalion, 9th Marine Regiment, 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, provides suppression fire using his M249 squad automatic weapon, allowing his team to advance forward, during a mechanized assault as part of a live fire range exercise. ![]()
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