| Of course there are different roles within any unit. Everyone can't carry a machine gun or a SAW. If your job is part of a crew fired weapon system for example, that is your primary weapon and you'll probably be issued a pistol as your personal weapon.
Whenever I went on patrol, I took as much ammo as I could (probably about 300 rounds of 5.56). Many times though I carried a 12ga. shotgun instead of an M16.
While I was a Mortar crewman, I carried a pistol while doing my job. I wouldn't make much sense to try to drop rounds into the barrel of a mortar while carrying a rifle. |