CAMP AGUINALDO, Philippines – Joint Armed Forces of Philippines and U.S. team conducting M1 Inventory, 2017
The backstory on how six divisions worth of M1 Garands got repatriated from the Phillipines, where they have seen hard service since the 1950s in some cases, back to the U.S. to be sold through CMP in Anniston. Contrary to what a lot of people think, CMP actually had to spend a small fortune to get these vintage weapons back CONUS.
“It goes almost without saying that accurately accounting for and transporting approximately 90,000 small arms from the other side of the globe is challenging under any circumstances. Throw in termite infestation, monsoon season, and asbestos contamination, and you will have a recipe for disaster.”
With more than 1,000 dead and after nearly five months of fighting, Marawi City is free from the stranglehold of terrorists. The city looks akin to Warsaw in 1945, Seoul in 1950 or Hue in 1968.
Still, the PI armed forces appear very salty.
Philippine Army’s 4th Light Reaction Company sniper team and Rangers from the 3rd Scout Ranger ‘Excelsior’ Battalion in Marwai. This bunch reportedly zapped both Abu Sayyaf leader Isnilon Hapilon and Maute Group leader Omar Maute, two very HVTs. Note the Remington-made R4 rifles, M203 40mm bloop tube and sniper’s rifle to the right. Also, chest rigs are the order of the day.
This is my favorite work of Rafael Desoto. The Garand is great
The Civilian Marksmanship Program advises the Army could soon hand over a large stock of historically significant M1 rifles.
A post on an M1 Garand collectors group on Friday mentioned a group of loaned rifles coming in from the Philippines was being processed by the U.S. Army for shipment back to the states. Mark Johnson, CMP’s chief operating officer, confirmed that a large group of rifles may indeed be headed home and wind up in the organization’s hands.
”There are 86,000 or so M1’s hopefully coming back to the Army,” said Johnson. “We hope to see them in the future.”
The Army of the Philippines has taken possession of the last installment of 56,843 M4 rifles (Remington Defense-made R4A3s) this month to replace the legacy Vietnam-era M16A1s in front line service. The older guns will now move to replace M14s in second line service with reserve units (and the M14s will likely join even older M1s used until the 1980s in arsenal storage, after all, even an old rifle can still work in a pinch).
Soldiers test the newly acquired new 5.56mm M4 rifles during a ceremonial distribution at Fort Magsaysay in Nueva Ecija. The distribution is part of the Joint Philippine Army-Philippine Marine Corps Assault Rifle Acquisition Project of the government. (Photo by Jacqueline Hernandez)
Interestingly, the guns, ordered in 2014, are being delayed from distribution because they are being lined up for ballistics tests with the Philippine National Police’s crime laboratory who are keeping data on them just in case. Though 27,000 M4s already cleared have been delivered to units in the Visayas and Mindanao, and some special units neck deep in insurgent areas.
Dig the bright aluminum mags and replaceable handguards. Photo: mb.com.ph
The PI also took possession of some 28 refurbished 1970s-era M113A2 armored personnel carriers back in September from Israel that had been refitted with topside heavy guns including a mix of 76mm, 25mm and 12.7mm (another 114 surplus M113A2s are coming from the U.S. this year, though without the muscle) augmented by some 155mm towed guns bought in Eastern Europe.
The PAF’s primary combat aircraft, after they retied their Northrop F-5A and B’s in September 2005 without a planned replacement, are a dozen lightly armed jet trainers and 10 aging OV-10 Broncos of 24 surplus USMC aircraft delivered in 1992, though purchasing used F-16s, F-18s and Mirages from the U.S., Canada and France respectively have been on the table for the past several years.
About as fast moving as it gets for now in the PAF: A Vietnam-era Philippine Air Force OV-10 Bronco flying over Philippine waters
The Mechanix of Auto, Aviation, Military...pert near anything I feel relates to mechanical things, places, events or whatever I happen to like. Even non-mechanical artsy-fartsy stuff.
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