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Another auld warrior hangs up her spurs.
Well, I can't afford the Kitty Hawk, put perhaps I can score one of these for Truman Lake or Lake of the Ozarks, when they hit the surplus market...An EA-6B Prowler aircraft and an F/A-18F Super Hornet aircraft prepare for their last launch from the flight deck of the USS Kitty Hawk while under way in the Pacific Ocean, Aug. 6, 2008. The aircraft departed to join the USS George Washington in San Diego, Calif. The USS Kitty Hawk is returning to the United States to be decommissioned after 46 years of service. U.S. Navy photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Kyle D. Gahlau
Might need something a little heftier than the F150 to haul it about, though. Let's hope that dollar-a-week investment I make comes through...NORFOLK, Va. (July 19, 2008) A Mark-V (MK-V) special operations craft, piloted by special warfare combatant-craft crewmen, transits the coastline as an afternoon thunderstorm passes through off Naval Amphibious Base Little Creek during a naval special warfare capabilities demonstration. The exhibition was part of a four-day Underwater Demolition Team-SEAL Association East Coast Reunion. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Robyn Gerstenslager
I was sent another get-well card (heh, I actually got another one, but, well, let's just say most of you are *glad* you aren't on the "Denizens" mailing list...). This one has a 1943 IBM M1 Carbine in it. the gent who sent me the pic say's he's been told it's the wrong bayonet for the rifle, but they never say why - perhaps some of you "sharp-pointy-thing" collectors can offer enlightenment?
BTW, the drugs are working. The swelling is down enough that you can see stretch marks... still hurts, though. -the Armorer
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*A term of art from the artillery. Harassment and Interdiction Fires. Back in the day, when you could just kill people and break things without a note from a lawyer, they were pre-planned, but to the enemy, random, fires at known gathering points, road junctions, Main Supply Routes, assembly areas, etc - to keep the bad guy nervous that the world around him might start exploding at any minute. Not really relevant to today's operating environment, right? But, it *is. The UAVs we fly over Afghanistan and Pakistan looking for targets of opportunity are a form of H&amp;amp;amp;I fires, if you really want to parse it finely. We just have better sensors and fire control now. Of course, now I have to call them UAS's, because someone got a Legion of Merit for the name change.Anyway, I call the post H&amp;amp;amp;I Fires because it's random things posted by me and people I've given posting privileges to that particular topic. Another term of art that might be appropriate is Free Fire Zone.&amp;lt;br /&amp;gt;<br />
Anyway, you're one tough old soldier and I know you'll improvise, adapt and overcome!
And another auld warrior -- the EA-6B -- who was *s'posed* to have been retired back before the turn of the century is still getting squirted off the pointy end of the boat.
Otherwise, glad to hear the pain's decreasing...
The M-1/M-2 carbine takes an M-4 bayonet -- pressed leather or wood grip for the pointy-thingy; leather scabbard with attaching prongs sewn under a loop at the top.
The M-4 is kinda rare, and most of the original leather scabbards (except those in museums or in private collections) dry-rotted in Uncle Andy's old footlocker, according to the guys I worked with at the Militia Museum. You *do* remember I worked there, don't you?
*watching bemused looks on Denizenne faces*
I'm *almost* positive the M-4 grip was only wood or pressed leather, but that's the WWII vintage stuff. They may have produced some for Korea with a phenol handle, but it would have been a reddish-brown, not black. I only know one Korean vet who carried a carbine, and he never mentioned having a bayonet for it, even just to use as a canopener.
Hey, Neffi -- jump in here and figure this out for us...
Late M4 bayonets WERE made with the plastic grips, and the palstic grips were all black in color.
The early leather grips were all brown, of course.
The critics probably are complaining that he has a WW2 era carbine with a Vietnam or later bayonet.
The rare and valuable M6 leather scabard will fit the carbine bayonet but was only made for the early M3 trench knives. Soon after introduction of the M3 knife, the plastic M8 scabbard was adopted with the web loop for belt attachment. Someone soon realized that maybe one of the curly metal hooks to fit on the M1910 series of web gear (pistol and cartridge belts especially) would be a good idea, so the M8A1 scabbard was made with the hook added at the top of the web loop. Most of the M8 scabbards were converted to M8A1 so unconverted ones get collectors excited. Later M3 knives and all the bayonets using the same blade (M4 for the carbine; M5 and M5A1 for the M1 Garand; M6 for the M14; and M7 for the M16) were mainly issued with the M8A1 plastic scabard.
We should never have to count on a ship this old, any more than people would want to make a cross country trip (alone, in winter) in a 47 year old car.
Only those who have worked in the bowels of a ship that is older than most of the crew members can appreciate the Herculean efforts need from her engineers keeping the screws turning a lights burning.
I went aboard (with thousands of others) for a brief tour the week she was commissioned in 1961. Very impressive for a young scout!
But it's true that M-1 carbines were not originally made with a bayonet bar- they were all retro-fitted very near the end of WWII and thereafter. Carbines that escaped that conversion are *very* sought after by the collecting fraternity...
*SNICKER*
No worries, Neffi. We all know who's the real bayonet expert--at least experience-wise--around here... :D
At least Dad isn't embarassed by his...
I have rambled on enough.