by Jerm_G » Tue Jun 05, 2012 10:33 pm
There equipment changes with what is new, top of the line and somewhat shooter's preference but for the most part not too far off the standard issue for many units. The real difference between special operations guys and line guys is not the specialized training. It's the fact that the average grunt only has a general concept of the basic skill sets needed to wage war. The MARSOC guys are true Jedi masters of those basic skill sets. The tools help but are not what makes them special.
I did a lot of cross training with them in 07 prior to deployment and gained an endless amount of respect for those guys. For the few months my platoon trained on and off with them, we learned alot of valuable info. I wish we could have spent alot more time working with them. Back then it was M-4s and what ever else they needed. For the most part, what I saw was alot of the same gear that many of our guys had, just one or two generations newer. Having the budget to be able to have that gear for every member of their team was what shocked us. We couldnt imagine what it would be like for everyone to have optics and brand new M-4s. Better gear, NODs and laser aiming devices for everyone just made us more jellous.
Matter of fact my picture up in the corner is from a range with MARSOC. I was shooting one of their M-40A3s with a Unertial scope. It was one of the first rifles that came off the line. Amazing things happen when you have one of the world's best trained marksmen giving you some one on one advanced training and calling windage and elivation for you. Hands down one of the best memories I have from those days.
"Sometimes it is entirely appropriate to kill a fly with a sledge hammer." -Major I.L. Holdridge USMC