Wow! Took me dang near all day to read this thread....FIREWORKS!.
I can see were Volkov is making a case for pride, BUT nothing else...no support on the Marksman thing. How did this all start,,,ammo loads to pissing match....In regards to the ammo load,,,Volkov is right,,I'll get you guys some info,,,I hope it will help...I do have a copy of the book Volkov keeps refering to. "The Soldier's Load and the Mobility...."on page 32 it says "When the 153rd Infantry Rgt went staggering ashore against the supposedly Japanese-held base at Kiska in the Aleutians, it was an A-1 exibit, not on fighting power, but how the uncontrolled fears of the staff are sometimes permitted to destroy the mobility of fighting bodies. Its load requirements was so extraonrdinary that members of the Regiment preserved the list that in later years they might boast of the unusual trials of soldiers to thier disbelieving civilian friends. This was what each man carried:
Underwear, Shirt(w/o tie), kersey lines trousers, Alaskan Field Jacket, Helmet Steel W/liner, Raincoat, Poncho, Extra shoes, rifle belt, 6 grenades, 240 rounds ammo, rifle, pack board, sleeping bag, 2 shelter halves poles and pins, 12 cans c-rations heat tablets, cook stove. 2 can sterno, long knife, e-tool, bayonet, flashlight, maps, pocketknife, change of clothing, wire cutters, waterproof matchbox, ID panel, Ruck sack, 4 chocolate bars, 3 signal panels, compass...." It goes on to say that an officer who was there said if the Japanese were defending the beach during the landing, they only needed 2 mgs to wipe them out....It also goes on to say that the USMC did better as they went on. They outstripped the Army in getting down to the bare essentials. For what its worth, the US Quartermaster Corps did a study,(WW2) they concluded that the "average American Soldier was 5 feet 8.3 inches tall and weighs 153.6 lbs. And that ment one third of the body weight is his optimum load for marching during the training period. (including the clothing he wears) is slightly more than 51 lbs....and four fifths of the optimum training load for combat..."
Flamingknives, I am afraid that the "specific" information you seek on the American Soldiers Combat load may not be possible because it always varied. Sometimes supply was good, sometimes it was bad. And units going into combat usually took as much as they could carry. And later on learned to "streamline" and only take ammo and water. Airborne Troops sewed on thier own pockets for this purpose. In the North Africa Campigan the US did blundered in regards to combat and logistics. But so did everyone...(heck...we all made it to Italy, so I guess it wasn't that bad). The US Army (WW2) lacked training, especially in desert operations. The military wasn't funded well and there was a-lot of dead weight in higher staff positions. If I recall my history, we were not going to get involved in another "European War" and the Government scaled our military down. We were not ready for Operation Torch or WW2 for that matter. Look at the orders given to the US Pacific Fleet just before Dec 7, 1941. Another lessoned learned(well..we forgot and it took some 59 years and 3 months later to be reminded, Volkov is right about that,,US=reactive)But even with the blunders of Operation Torch Maj-Gen F.W. Von Mellenthin said in his book "Panzer Battles" That Torch was the begining of the end of the Africa Korps and by 1943 he was right.
As far as US Troops (US Army ETO) being better shooters, I am going to disargee. Most of them were draftees who only had basic weapons handling. If someone had said USMC in the PTO then I would say yes, arguably)But this is a CMAK forum Volkov not CMPTO. (YET,,,I HOPE!!!)
And to everyone...Volkov is a bit nuts, (no hard feelings brother,,I'd share a fighting hole with you anytime)...but don't fuel his battiness. He is right about the pride thing, but this is not a pride thread...And the original question was US AMMO LOADS,,,
Flamingknives I hope I have shed light on your question.
Oh! and Volkov, please..if you are going to quote Geroge Carlin...be careful and use an exact quote...he is not to thrilled with the US or its military (although he is funny)...remember he is from probably around your time...he is a smart man but STANDS on the LEFT,,,,I am guessing you stand on the RIGHT...and check with the VA so they can up your meds, remember that they only cost $2...
CAN WE ALL END THIS BICKERING AND GET BACK TO THE ISSUE AT HAND!!!
