Category Archives: US Army

Black Widow On Deck

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80 years ago this week, a USAAF 421st Night Fighter Squadron Northrop P-61B-20-NO Black Widow (SN 43-8317) seen landing at recently liberated and expanded Puerto Princesa Airfield, Tacloban, Leyte, 8 February 1945. Official caption: “One of the first 13th AAF Black Widows to arrive at Puerto Princesa buzzes the strip preparatory to peeling up, dropping his wheels, and landing.”

Check out that luxurious control tower! While I cannot find the ultimate end of #317, Baugher notes that of the 83 P-61B-20-NOs produced, at least 22 were lost or written off, with the leading causes primarily due to accidents while landing or mid-air accidents. Night fighters were tough on crews. Of note, this photo was published in the August 145 issue of Air Force magazine. (U.S. Air Force Number 58348AC) National Archives Identifier 204949312

Constituted as 421st Night Fighter Squadron on 30 April 1943, the 421st stood up stateside at the Kissimmee AAFld in Florida– the future home of Disney– with troublesome Douglas P-70 Havoc night fighters before shipping out to Milne Bay, New Guinea just after New Year’s 1944. Flying from Nadzab, Wakde, and Owi during the New Guinea/Bismarck Archipelago campaign, the unit ditched their P-70s for P-38Js (without radar!) before finally getting some Widows.

On 7 July 1944, a P-61 crew in the 421st NFS based in New Guinea shot down a Japanese twin-engine Mitsubishi Ki-46 Dinah reconnaissance airplane, only the type’s second air-to-air “kill” in the with their Saipan-based sister squadron, the 419th, bagging a moonlit Betty a week prior. 

They then shifted north to the PI, operating from San Marcelino and then to Tacloban (as seen above) until 23 March when Clark Field on Luzon became their next stepping stone to Okinawa, operating from Ie Shima beginning on 24 July 1945. They ended their war occupying Itazuke Air Base, Japan, with 16 confirmed aerial victories to their tally sheet and 7 campaign streamers.

Inactivated on 20 February 1947, they reformed 15 years later as the F-105-equipped 421st TFS and soon took their show on the road, flying out of Incirlik during the Cold War as well as some serious Southeast Asia time on five deployments as Phantom Phlyers between 1969 and 1973 (DaNang, Kunsan, Takhli, and Udorn), earning three Presidential Unit Citations.

Stationed at Hill AFB in Utah since 1975, they flew F-16A/Cs during numerous trips to the sandbox in the 1990s and 2000s before upgrading to F-35As in 2017.

They still wear the “Widow” as their official patch. 

210421-F-EF974-2024

And they are no doubt still ready to mix it up after dark.

Two F-35 Lightning IIs assigned to the 421st Fighter Squadron from Hill Air Force Base, Utah, sit on the flight line during a thunderstorm at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, July 25, 2021. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Zachary Rufus)

MAC-V-SOG J frames

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One of the best showings in terms of companies, at SHOT last month was by Smith & Wesson. Not only did they bring back a line of classic “no hole” wheelguns in J, K, and L-frames, but they also reintroduced the Mountain Gun series.

Going past that, two guns that I thought were just great are the new Special Edition Undercover sries shrouded hammer snub-nosed revolvers, designed to honor the Army’s MAC-V-SOG group of Vietnam fame.

Lightweight & performance-focused, these defensive revolvers feature OD Green G10 grips, brass bead front sight, and the iconic Special Operations logo. A portion of proceeds supports the Special Operations Association (SOA).

They are offered in .38 (Model 442-UC SOA) and soft recoiling .32 (Model 432-UC SOA)

Further, I think these are very appropriate as my grandfather, who did three tours in Vietnam and had to often go to remote firebases to fix commo gear, said he always carried his personal all-stainless steel S&W Model 60 with him everywhere he went.

And, as told by Major John Plaster, who spent time as an operator in SOG during the conflict, all the Recon Team (RT) and Hatchet Force men typically carried handguns as backups to their primary rifle system:

SOG’s most used handgun certainly was the Browning 9mm Hi-Power. Many recon men packed the 45 U.S. Government model. although just about any handgun might be encountered, from a Walther P-38 to Colt Commando airweight or hammerless Smith & Wesson snub nose.

Glass Sherman

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You think you are cold!

80 years ago today: 1st February 1945 – Fifth Army, Poretta Area, Italy. A Fifth Army M4 Sherman medium tank of the U.S. 751st Tank Battalion is inclined to use as an ersatz artillery piece. It is wearing camouflage consisting of white paint and spun glass to simulate snow, The spun glass was obtained from a local factory and applied by Army combat engineers.

(U.S. Army Signal Corps photo – 196th Signal Photo Co.) – MM-45-30308 – 111-SC-233067. Credit: NARA.

The 751st was activated at Fort Benning, Georgia, on 1 June 1941 and participated in seven major campaigns during the war, spanning across North Africa (Tunisian campaign) and Italy (Naples-Foggia, Rome-Arno, North Apennines, and Po Valley) racking up 581 days of combat time.

Individuals in the battalion had earned the following awards:
· 3 Distinguished Service Crosses
· 7 Legions of Merit
· 37 Silver Stars
· 1 Oak Leaf Cluster to the Silver Star
· 63 Bronze Stars
· 3 Oak Leaf Clusters to the Bronze Star
· 4 Brazilian War Medals
· 4 Soldier’s Medals

Baptism for the American Ski Troops

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Some 80 years ago this month, members of the intelligence and reconnaissance (I&R) platoon, 86th Mountain Infantry Regiment, 10th Mountain Division, logged the first documented combat use of ski troops by the American military as they sent patrols over the snow-covered Campiano-Mancinella Ridge, also known as Riva Ridge, to scout the German positions there overlooking Mount Belvedere.

Sgt. Stephen P. Knowlton, Durham, N.H., I & R Platoon, 86th Mountain Inf., 10th Mountain Div., does a couple of short turns to get his “ski legs” as he prepares to leave on a 3-day ski patrol deep into enemy territory. 21 January, 1945. Spigvana, Italy. Graning, 3131st Signal Service Co., SC 201357

As detailed by the Army:

Five Soldiers were sent on a mission to report on the location and enemy strength on the ridge. The team used skis but hid them away before reaching the top. The men free-climbed to the top of the cliff. The men took out three German soldiers but were chased from the area by machine-gun fire.

“From then on, there was increased activity on the ridge,” wrote Lt. Col. Henry J. Hampton, who served as commander of 1st Battalion, 86th Infantry Regiment during the operation. “There was continual improvement and digging of old and new positions. The result of this patrol was that we had one trail over which a small force of well-trained mountain men could advance.”

“A 5-man ski patrol of the I & R Platoon, 86th Mountain Inf., 10th Mountain Div., begin to climb up the mountain as they start deep into enemy territory on a 3-day patrol, the longest one ever made in this region. All 5 men are famous skiers and have held records at one time or another. 21 January 1945. Spigvana, Italy.” Photographer: Graning, 3131st Signal Service Co. SC 201358

Two GIs with the 10th Mountain Division in the Apennine Mountains Italy, likely early 1945, Note the snow camo, Ray Bans, and mix of M1 Garand (front) and M1 Carbine (rear). LIFE Magazine Archives – Margaret Bourke-White Photographer WWP-PD

Simple origins

Formed following reports of wildly successful Finnish ski troops in the 1939-40 Winter War, FDR stressed that something similar could be established from U.S. soldiers, with experienced men drawn from among the estimated 2 million Americans who enjoyed the winter sport in the States.

 

U.S. Army Takes to Skis, 1/14/1940 Lake Placid, N.Y.—Perhaps taking a lesson from the Fighting Finns who glide swiftly over the snow to cut down unwary Russians. Men of the 26th Infantry, U.S. Army, stationed at Plattsburg, N.Y., slide along in single file as they receive ski instruction at Lake Placid from Rolf Munsen, Olympic star. Credit: ACME;

Formed beginning in November 1941 by blending earlier ski troop detachments from the 1st, 3rd, 5th, 6th, 41st, and 44th Infantry Divisions, then greatly expanded by volunteers from other units who attested to peacetime alpine experience, the 10th Mountain remains the only American military division recruited by civilian organizations, the American Alpine Club and National Ski Patrol.

The training cadre was drawn from the Ski Patrol itself and included many American winter Olympians.

These American ski troops got lots of press in 1943 during training. 

Famous image of Corporal Hall Burton, Mountain Trooper, At Camp Hale, Colorado, ca. 1943 10th Mountain M1 Garand ski 111-SC-329331

World War II American soldiers on skis take aim with M1 Garands during winter training in the Colorado Rockies 10th mountain

Following something of a dress rehearsal in the liberation of the Aleutians, the 10th arrived in the North Apennines and the Po Valley front on 6 January 1945 and went into tough combat, earning their motto “Climb to Glory” in the hardest of ways.

During its brief four months in combat, the division suffered a staggering 4,866 casualties– a full quarter of its strength. This average of 1,216 casualties per month was the highest in the Italian campaign.

While ISR platoons in other American infantry units were issued skis and told to make a go of it as best they could (see the slapstickyness below), only the 10th actually sent patrols out on the devices.

60th Infantry Regiment, 9th Infantry Division – 12 January 1945. Wearing Quartermaster-issued snow capes, American soldiers go into training as ski troops. Lt. William M. Trafford, left, of Vinal Haven, Maine, gives instructions to one man while others look on. L-R: Pfc. Donald L. Taylor, Devils Lake, N.D.; Cpl. Edmund J. Hums, Jr., Pottstown, Pa.; Pvt. Ernest Bassett, Pittsfield, Mass.; Pfc. Glen K. (illegible), Ypsilanti, Mich.; and Pfc. Alfred J. Peters, Buffalo, N.Y. SC 199088-S

That Belgian Chill

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80 years ago today.

Members of the 740th Tank Battalion and Headquarters Company of the 3rd Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division, advance in a snowstorm behind a tank to attack Herresbach, Belgium. 28 January 1945, with the help of a local.

U.S. Army Photo.

A tank and infantrymen of the U.S. Army’s Company G, 740th Tank Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division, push through the snow toward their objective near Herresbach, Belgium, during the Battle of the Bulge, Jan. 28, 1945. 111-SC-199509

For those who haven’t read of the fight between the three refurbished M4 Shermans of the 740th against the lead element of Battle Group Peiper and the 1st SS Panzer Division during the “Bulge,” you have some research to do. 

The Two Coolest New (Old) Rifles at SHOT Show

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Just got home after a week of SHOT Show antics and events and thought I would share my two favorite rifle stories from the event.

First, S&T Motiv Co. (formerly known as Daewoo Precision Industries) is operating in the U.S. and is importing 922-compliant rifles to include the K2S which will include a variety of OEM K2 parts and approximates the old Max I/II.

Compare to the old days:

Second, Palmetto and DSA are teaming up to craft an H&R-made T48.

As you may recall and we have covered in the past, the FAL gave the M14 a bit of competition in the early 1950s with (naturally) the Army’s Springfield Armory developed M14 getting the nod.

T48, Rifle, Caliber .30, T48 – with Gunner – Off-Hand Firing May 1955

H&R, a brand now owned by PSA and run by Mike of NoDak Spud fame, has one of the old T48s in their possession and is reverse engineering it for a limited run.

As a gun nerd, I’m super excited about both of these.

Yankee Brandt 60

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Some 81 years ago this month, January 1954, Dien Bien Phu, French Indochina, members of the newly-formed 5e BPVN (5e bataillon de parachutistes vietnamiens) of Groupe d’Opération Nord-Ouest (GONO), operate their American-made M2 60mm mortar.

You have to love the mix of TAP 47/52 lizard camo jackets and American M1 helmets as well. Réf. : NVN 54-9 R61, Daniel Camus/ECPAD/Défense

Based, ironically, on the French Brandt 60mm Mortier Modèle 1935 and licensed by that company for production in America, the U.S. M2 mortar was a hit with light infantry of all strokes for the last half of the 20th Century. Weighing just 42 pounds all-up (which is light for a mortar), a five-man crew (two in a pinch) could land 3-pound shells out to a mile away for as long as the ammo held out, even topping 30 rounds per minute if the rounds are staged and ready.

The French paras loved it in Vietnam.

Légionnaire du 2e bataillon étranger parachutiste (2e BEP) Roger Chapel, working a 60mm M2 mortar in Indochina, 10 May 1952. Note the crowd-pleasing belt of M49A2/3 HE mortar bombs around his waist– some 18 pounds of shells– and the M4 Collimator sight on the left of the mortar. Réf. TONK 52-123 R12, Jean Péraud/ECPAD/Défense

The French developed a light mortar shell vest with segmented front and back canvas pockets to carry 8 rounds of 60mm mortar ammunition (24 pounds of shells) for use in Indochina and later Algeria. These could be used to carry extra machine gun magazines too like 16 Bren .303/MAC 24 7.5mm magazines, a cool 16 Ba mươi ba “333” beer cans, or 8 magnum-sized ‘Foster’s lager’ beers!

The M2 was replaced in U.S. service by the new and improved (47 pounds!) M224 60mm company mortar after 1978, but you can be sure that thousands old the old “Yankee Brandts” still linger on in arsenals across the Third World.

2025 SOF Fact Book

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The new 40-page 2025 SOF Fact Book is available online.

“Learn about the mission, priorities, and Joint Forces that make up your U.S. Special Operations Command.”

You can view and download the (free) 2025 Fact Book here.

Getting Greasy

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Just 40 years ago this week.

Official caption: “Private First Class (PFC) Jose Ledoux-Garcia of Company C, 5th Battalion, 77th Armor, guards his M60A3 main battle tank during Central Guardian, a phase of Exercise REFORGER ’85. He is armed with an M3A1 .45-caliber submarine gun. Base: Giessen, West Germany (FRG), 22 January 1985.”

How about that open bolt on the M3! Note the short receiver M85/T175 (M19) .50 caliber machine gun in the tank commander’s copula, as identified by its crimped flash hider. It was distinctive for being one of the most unreliable machine guns ever adopted by the U.S. DF-ST-85-13234

It is hard to believe that only 40 short years ago, M60 Pattons and M3 Grease Guns were still on the front lines of the Fulda Gap. Both would linger on through Desert Storm.

As for the “Steel Tigers” of the 77th Armor, formed originally as the 753rd Medium Tank Battalion on 25 April 1941, they trained at three different bases in the south that have all been renamed since then and, receiving their first M4A1 Shermans in early 1943, shipped out for North Africa attached to the 45th Infantry (“Thunderbird”) Division.

Just missing the end of the Afrika Corps in Tunisia, they were soon fighting in Sicily (Operation Husky) under Patton’s command and their tanks spearheaded the first Allied unit into Messina, losing six tanks to 28 enemy tracks claimed. They fought for Naples and Rome, earned a French Croix de Guerre for the liberation of the Vosage in 1944, and continued on into Germany through the Ardennes and the Rhineland for VE-Day.

The Sherman-equipped 753rd fought in Sicily, Naples-Foggia, Rome-Arno, Southern France, Rhineland, Ardennes-Alsace, and Central Europe, typically in platoon and company-sized elements spread out through the 45th ID. 

Post-war, they were redesignated as the Japan-based 77th Heavy Tank Battalion, equipped with M-26s and M4A4E8s, and saw much service in Korea, earning six campaign streamers with the 7th ID.

Then came eight campaigns in Vietnam with M48s in 1969-70, equipped with M60s, continued Cold War service first with the 5th ID and then with the 4th ID, including deployments back to Germany.

Eventually upgrading to the M1 Abrams, they deployed to Bosnia and Kosovo, then moved heavily from Schweinfurt, Germany in 2004, 2006, 2009, 2011, and 2012 to the sandbox in support of the 1st Infantry Division and then the 1st Armored Division.

They are one of the few Army armor units to carry a Navy Unit Commendation, on the recommendation of the Marine Corps Commandant, earned during Operation Iraqi Freedom VI-VIII in support of I MEF.

Today, the Steel Tigers remain as part of the 1st ID’s 3rd BCT at sunny Fort Bliss, Texas, but, in true globetrotter fashion, they are currently on a rotational deployment to Poland, getting some snow time in.

Their official unit motto is Insiste Firmiter (To Stand Firm) and their battle cry is “Blood on the Axe” for obvious reasons.

CMP Raises Gun Limits

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Official caption: “Group of men surround the last M1 .30-caliber rifles off the production line. Col. Hurlbut stands on the left. Lt. Col. Septfonds stands second from left. John C. Garand stands second from right and he holds the last rifle.” (Springfield Armory National Historic Site Photo 12808-SA.1)

Apparently, the CMP is either (A) not getting the same sort of demand for M1 Garands as they have been in the past or (B) is super flush with guns that fewer people want and is running out of space because they have just all but abandoned the rationing of rifles to its members.

I’m betting they are getting a lot of old Garands (along with smaller lots of Krags, M1917s, and M1903s) turned in by local VFW and similar units that are closing their doors. Today’s vets just don’t join those groups as their dads and granddads did in the 20th Century. Plus, in this economy, not a lot of folks have even the modest $1,150 for re-barreled Expert Grade and $900 for Navy 7.62 NATO M1s to spare.

Of note, the previous limit was 8 Garands per year– but that was back when Field and Service grade rifles were available for $650-$750 just a few years back.

Via CMP:

  • Effective January 7, 2025, customers are allowed to purchase up to twelve (12) surplus rifles (any type) per year. This limit excludes .22 rifles.
  • Surplus Ammo Limit: 2,000 rounds per caliber per year.
  • Commercial Ammo Limit: None
  • Please note: The CMP strictly enforces the limits referenced above. The CMP, at its discretion, reserves the right to ban from all future sales any attempts made by customers to circumvent these limits
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