The M249 SAW is somewhat unique in that it an individual/team weapon. The SAW gunner functions independantly but has an assistant who carries his/her own weapon and additional ammo for the SAW. He/she is qualified on the SAW as well. Other members of the team/squad may also carry ammo.
I witnessed many support units (non or unlikely combat) during my deployments with female SAW gunners. I asked some of the senior NCOs why and, “The “girls” were more proficient with the weapons”, was the answer. Something about starting out with no/little knowledge and paying attention better. Kind of a badge of honor for them.
Side note on weight. Guys in the 173rd Airborne, (unit I supported), routinely jumped (shuffled) out of the plane with in excess of 160lb of gear attached to them. Most had a 60mm mortar round in addition to their own ammo stuffed somewhere in various packs and harnesses.
Yep, in general, the heaviness of the loads has been something complained about for footsoldiers, from what I understand. Kinda comes down to a consideration of what would make it safer to jump, and what would make it safer to be behind enemy territory? All of that heavy gear is useful, so to lighten your load, you are giving up ammo or heavy weapons or body armor or something.
Kinda like the argument for why strategic bombers in WWII didn’t carry any armor plating. They COULD, but they’d have to loose the weight somewhere else. They needed the fuel to get to their targets, they needed the guns to defend themselves, and the bombs were the entire reason they were going out there to begin with.
I could be wrong, but I could swear I’ve seen pictures of rangers jumping with a large pack hanging below them, so it might be possible that their legs are not absorbing all of the extra impact from the weight - some of their equipment lands a second or two before them, still attached to them for easy access.
Probably depends on the SAW, but for German MG34 and MG40 (that bastard weights roughly 15 kg, a bit more to carry than your average assault rifle is) teams – and similar teams in other European forces using that kind of MGs after WW2 – the second guy in the team carried an extra barrel. Due to the high rate of fire those guns have (had), you were required to change barrels every XXX rounds to avoid “shooting out” the barrel prematurely. It’s also quite easy to get a burn while doing that, 'cause the barrel will be really hot by the time it’s due for replacement.
Talking about that, I remember I was a bit impressed about the level of accuracy WRT weapons technology in “Saving private Ryan”. Remember that scene where the squad takes out a German MG40 nest? Next time, look at the gun just after the fight is over. The outside of the barrel is literally smoking hot after the firefight. That’s one of the things that show that somebody on the film team had actual experience with that kind of stuff.
I’m not a veteran, but where I live we have general conscription, so most adult males here have some kind of military experience
I once destroyed a boot with my machine gun. We were doing a live fire APC exercise, and I had fired a few hundred rounds from my MAG before we all piled back into the M113. Suddenly, I smelled burning rubber; looking down, I realized that I had place my foot on the barrel of my weapon, and it had already melted halfway through the sole of my boot.
One more reason why exercises have to be as realistic as possible - you learn stuff you wouldn’t have thought you had to know.
You are correct. The jumpers have alot of their gear in another pack that they shuffle off the aircraft with it between their legs. It’s attached to them by a tether to a harness. I’ve seen the packs released after aircraft exit or as they approach the ground. The pack hits the ground first taking “some” of the weight off impact. All bets are off in low visibility conditions or at night. Release too late and injuries increase. Too early and the swinging pack in high winds can disrupt your balance and landing. Everything is still heavy, heavy, heavy. Broken ankles, sprains, ligament damage, compression fractures show up a lot.
The extra barrel is carried by the assistant most of the time. Barrels are not interchangeable between different SAWs. They are matched to the weapon to maintain the correct headspace when the barrels are changed out.
