One of the things I like about the Georgian army–in addition to their deployment of a brigade to help us in Iraq–is that they don’t goose step when they march, like the Russian army and, of course, the Nazis before them. They’ve also traded in their AK-47 peasant rifles for precision American M-4s, which they march with at-the-ready. In this stirring video they are seen to be a mixture of the modern and the ancient, and I hope they’re doing well tonight on the battlefield.
One more very good reason not to vote for Baby Barry. He’d just throw it all away:
"The Iraqis aren’t yet confident enough to stand entirely on their own; al Qaeda’s savagery still imposes too much fear, while Iran is training terrorists next door. In counterinsurgency, the people must know they are protected. Gen. Petraeus has proven that intimidation can be defeated by placing American soldiers among the population."
Worth the read, from fav author Bing West.
OCS classmate Bill Cunningham has finally provided the explanation for this phrase which has puzzled and annoyed me for years. Load and lock, okay. But lock and load? Huh?
I had previously found some good history on it, but it didn’t explain how the term applied to modern assault rifles. Bill harkens back to our days on the firing range at Fort Benning, reminding that we were told to lock our magazines into our rifles, "with that careful, upward tap for safety," and only then load a round into the chamber. Lock and load. Simple. Thanks, Bill.
THE TEXAS SCRIBBLER 