Who decides which soldier will carry which kind of weapon in battle?
Unless you’re in charge, probably not you.
And back in my day, weapons-wise at least, it really wasn’t that complicated.
You either got the SA80
Or the Light Support weapon (LSW).
And if you were a knob, you moaned about it, and if you weren’t you just got on with it.
So, in basics, you learned how to use both, but it was your Drill Corporal who decided which one you used, and you damn well did as you were told.
And once you got posted to a squadron, it would be either your section commander or detachment commander, depending if you were posted to field or air defence, who decided which of the above you used.
Gimpy? Well in my day, if you were field, one of these bad boys might become your personal weapon.
Rapier squadrons had one per crew, but it was a team weapon as opposed to individual, in the ‘very rare’ event that the Rapier kit stopped working.
Boys probably got bigger toys now, but way back when, section battle drills demanded that you fire a 66mm at the enemy position before fragging what’s left with grenade, auto fire and bayonet.
And now that I’m thinking about it, even the officers, and even the CO had their personal weapons issued to them as per the manifest.
So fundamentally, and in all honesty/reality, it’s probably some bean counter at the MoD who sets the rules and decides what weapon you’ll go to war with.
And personally speaking, I’d say bollocks to the armchair generals and SLR fanbois, I was perfectly happy with my A1 version of the SA80.
….incoming!
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