Military Ring Info

The Gunnery Sergeant of the US Marine Corps is quite different from the gunnery sergeant of the US Army. The only time that I ever heard this term used in the Army was in Field Artillery units. The Field Artillery Gunnery Sergeant was responsible for insuring that the guns were laid correctly and safely. Laying the guns was the process of getting the tubes parallel so that they would all fire in the exact same direction.

As all of my USMC ring customers are fully aware, The USMC gunnery sergeant is responsible for the logistics, resupply, etc. of about 180 marines. The Marine Company will also have junior gunnery sergeants who are assigned to the weapons platoons.

The term “Gunny” is the nickname given to the gunnery sergeant. Its use is subject to the discretion of the gunnery sergeant but I don’t think that there are many gunnery sergeants who would object to being known as gunny. 

The light machine gun is loved by infantrymen the world over. It is normally used by small infantry squads. It is any machinegun which is light enough to be carried and used by a single soldier, or a two man crew. Since it uses small caliber ammunition it is good as an antipersonnel weapon.

The light machine gun (LMG) is normally issued at a ratio of one per infantry squad as a squad automatic weapon (SAW). Each soldier in the infantry squad is assigned a certain type of weapon to carry. There may be two automatic weapons in the squad. One being the regular rifle that the members carry and the other being the SAW.

My US Infantry ring customers know the exact composition  of the infantry squad and the duties and responsibilities of each member. The infantry squad is a well organized and effective structure. The squad leader has a small assortment of weapons at his disposal which he employs according to the situation and terrain that they are operating in. If they are fighting enemy soldiers who are in a depressed area he may use his grenadier to lob a grenade in on them.

There is really no formal term that I can relate on this one but a firefight is decsribed as an extremely intense short battle between two units where gunfire is exchanged.

There can be many firefights in a battle. I normally think of it in terms of a fight between smaller sized units but my thinking is not exactly correct. Larger elements can engage in a firefight.

The keyword when it comes to this term is “brief”. Units engaged in a firefight are not usually fighting to secure a battle position because this would probably cause it to become a prolonged battle. It is normally a brief engagement between units that meet in passing or part of an operation to clear enemy combatants out of an area.There are many other reasons that units may engage in firefights. These brief encounters can be very deadly and often the outcome of several firefights will determine the course of a battle. http://www.militaryringexpress.com

The medium machine gun (MMG) is a step up from the light machine gun in size and power. The MMG  can be carried by a machine gunner or mounted on a vehicle using a vehicle mount.

The medium machine gun is normally belt fed for sustained firepower and fires a full power rifle cartridge which will pack a bigger punch and have greater range than any ammunition used by the light machine gun. The MMG will normally weigh in between 15 and 40 pounds and needs an extra modification to keep the barrel cool during  firing.

My experience with this weapon is that it is normally mounted on light vehicles, although I have seen them on tanks and other heavy armored vehicles. My Special Operation ring customers such as Army Rangers and Navy SEAL’s will be the ground units that you will  see carry MMG’s into combat because they may really need that extra firepower to attack certian targets or to shoot their way out of a jam.

External ballistics are the forces which effect a non powered projectile after it leaves the tube or barrel of the gun that it is fired from.

We normally associate this with pistol or rifle fire but it is applied to naval gunfire as you Navy ring customers are well aware of, and mortars and field artillery pieces as you Army military ring customers well know.

When short distances are involved such as with pistols and rifles, there are three main considerations which effect the bullets trajectory as it travels to the target. Those are gravity, wind, and drag. Have you ever watched the sniper movies and noticed how the sniper has to figure out a lot of details before he shoots at the target. He has to account for those effects.

When we deal with weapons which fire a projectile a larger distance such as artillery, mortars and naval guns there are other factors which come into play. Some of these are the rotation of the earth, air density, air temperature, etc. The computer age makes this study much easier and more mistake free than it used to be.

Some of my older military ring customers may have heard this term before. This tactic was developed during WW1 and used in subsequent conflicts. The barrage used many different artillery pieces to fire on an area before the area was attacked by ground units.

The rolling barrage was developed from this. During the rolling barrage ground units followed the artillery closely in order to attack as soon as it stopped. This proved to be a very effective method of attack.

During my day as an Field Artillery FSO we didn’t even use the term barrage. The barrage evolved into what is called a preparation. During the preparation we fired artillery into an area before the attack but the difference is that we only fired at specific targets within that area. This technique is more effective than just bomarding a large area. We actually maximized the use of the Artillery by finding specific targets in the area to be attacked.

Heavy machine guns are mounted on a tripod or vehicls and are too heavy to be carried by one individual. This machine gun is manned by a crew, is belt fed, and fires a very large projectile which gives it extended range, accuracy, and firepower.

This machine gun is extremely lethal and is used against equipment rather than personnel. These are the machine guns that you see mounted on aircraft and tanks.

The heavy machine gun that I am familiar with is the 50 cal that was widely used by the Army in my day. As a Field Artilleryman I knew that 50 caliber bullets could rip my howitzer to shreds. The military ring customers of mine who have served in a combat or combat support unit should be very familiar with this weapon. 

Small arms refers to any weapons which are small enough to be carried by the individual soldier. So we are not only talking about rifles and pistols here. We are talking about every possible weapon that the individual combatant could possibly use.

 Lets add light machine guns to this list. along with this we need to add grenade launchers, grenades, submachineguns. pistols, revolvers, shotguns, molotov cocktails, etc.

The thing that makes small arms effective is the soldier who carries them. We use bombs, missiles, and various munitions for effective firepower and all of these are good, but nothing can replace the individual soldier on the battlefield. http://www.militaryringexpress.com

A reticle is the term used to describe a shape which is superimposed onto an image which is used for precise alignment. In common vernacular the reticle helps you to draw a bead on the target when it is referred to in military terms.

We normally associate the reticle with firing a pistol or rifle but that is not always the case. All of you field artillerymen who trained as old school forward observers know that our binoculars had a reticle in one of the eyepieces to help you to determine range and altitude when adjusting artillery fire onto a target.

All of you custom military ring customers who have fired small arms know that reticle patterns can be one of any of those shown above of other patterns. Reticle patterns for small arms can be crosshairs, posts, dots, or circles.