{"id":134165,"date":"2021-02-21T12:11:03","date_gmt":"2021-02-21T17:11:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gunsamerica.com\/digest\/?p=134165"},"modified":"2021-02-21T12:11:03","modified_gmt":"2023-09-07T01:06:37","slug":"break-glass-in-case-of-war-smadge-and-the-m16-rifle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/break-glass-in-case-of-war-smadge-and-the-m16-rifle\/","title":{"rendered":"Break Glass in Case of War: Smadge and the M16 Rifle"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Break
The Sergeant Major was 100% pure unfiltered warrior.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Sergeant Major was the hardest soldier I have ever met. We respectfully called him Smadge, and he was terrifying. He was comparable parts patriot and psychopath. To understand the Smadge you should appreciate what made him what he was.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Break
Many generations train incessantly for war but practice their art infrequently for real. By contrast, Smadge spent three full years in combat.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

For Smadge, killing was a profession. He invested his entire life preparing his mind and body for this mission. Unlike many professional soldiers, however, he found ample opportunity to put his remarkable skills to work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Break
Smadge really didn\u2019t talk a whole lot. When he did, however, people listened.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Smadge was not a terribly imposing man physically, maybe five-nine in sock feet. However, his was a hard, sinewy form. He held a black belt and seldom spoke above a whisper. However, I never saw anybody, regardless of rank, who did not fall silent and listen when he had something to say.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Break
Experience is everything for a soldier. The entire formalized military rank system orbits around recognizing and promoting its value.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

If Smadge was feeling frisky he had a way of greeting young soldiers who encountered him in the hallway. I would nod and wish him a good day. In an instant, he would have me against the wall, his stubby rock-hard fingers around my larynx. He would then smile through tobacco-tainted breath and wish me a good day in return. He treated all of us young studs the same.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An Awkward Social Encounter<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\"Break
When the Smadge was a young man his first tours through Vietnam were with the 101st<\/sup> Airborne.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Smadge did three combat tours in Vietnam. His last was with some kind of spook mob. I never got the details, but he spoke fluent Vietnamese and once told me he looked good in black pajamas. His earlier trips were with the 101st<\/sup> Airborne.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Break
I honestly cannot imagine the chaos of trying to defend a remote firebase in the dark after the enemy had breached the wire.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Smadge\u2019s firebase was once overrun during a night attack. The VC were inside the wire. As a young NCO Smadge ran from position to position distributing ammo and coordinating defenses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Break
These wiry little guys were some simply superb soldiers.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Break
The SKS carbine was a common weapon in the hands of the Viet Cong. This vet bringback example was captured in the A Shau Valley.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Smadge vaulted over a small berm and came face to face with a VC soldier armed with an SKS. Illuminated by the flames from burning fougasse there was a pregnant pause.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Break
The M16A1 was the standard Infantry rifle used by American forces during most of the Vietnam War.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Smadge then snapped his M16A1 rifle up and shot the man eighteen times in the chest. He told me never to load my magazines to their full capacity. Our mags are hugely better today. If I recall correctly, Smadge took home a Silver Star after that night\u2019s work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Break
The widespread use of helicopters revolutionized warfare in Vietnam.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Another time a distant firebase was under concerted attack and in desperate need of reinforcement. Smadge and his unit assaulted into the outpost via Huey slicks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Break
Amidst the chaos and confusion of a live air assault a nearby bunker seemed the best refuge.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Smadge said that upon touchdown he reflexively dove into the nearest bunker. The bunker\u2019s sole living occupant was a North Vietnamese soldier with an AK.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Break
The XM177E2 was typically called the CAR15 by those who carried it.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In his own words, \u201cImagine my surprise. There was Chuck. This wasn\u2019t Chuck\u2019s bunker. I was embarrassed, Chuck was embarrassed. It was awkward, so I shot Chuck in the face with a burst from my CAR15 and didi mau\u2019d.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Break
Smadge never elaborated much on his third tour in Vietnam. He said he had been on the Ho Chi Minh trail and frequently carried an AK.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Of his time with the spooks, Smadge was much more circumspect. He once told me that only one other member of his small team remained alive and that he ran a gun shop someplace. Smadge said he usually carried an AK47 and once killed a man with his Kabar. He never volunteered details, and I never pushed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Guns<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\"Break
Very early M16 rifles like this one struggled in fetid jungle climes.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I once brought Smadge an M1 Garand just to show it off. He had the weapon detail stripped before I could find a chair. However, he still nonetheless respected the M16.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Break
The earliest AR15 rifles had their charging apparatus located within the carrying handle. This Brownells BRN Proto is a remarkably accurate modern day reproduction.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The product of a terribly small enterprise in 1956, that first black rifle was originally a proof of concept of sorts. Gene Stoner, Bob Fremont, Jim Sullivan, and a few others contrived the revolutionary Space Age weapon while in the employ of ArmaLite, a tiny subsidiary of Fairchild Aircraft Corporation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Break
The ArmaLite AR10 was the gun that started the black rifle revolution. Chambered in 7.62x51mm, the AR10 was indeed a radical weapon for its day.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

ArmaLite never meant to build guns in quantity. Theirs was a design enterprise. The original 7.62x51mm AR10 begat the 5.56x45mm AR15. The zippy little .223 cartridge that spawned the 5.56x45mm round was also a Gene Stoner invention. Production of the AR10 was farmed out to the Dutch Company Artillerie Inrichtingen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Break
This Dutch AR10 rifle was used by Portuguese Special Forces in Africa, demilled, and imported into the US as a parts kit. It was then built into a legal semiauto rifle on a newly manufactured lower receiver.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Dutch AR10 rifles saw service across sundry African brushfire wars. A few made it as far as Cuba. The AR10 was briefly considered during the trials that ultimately led to the M14.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Break
Moving the charging handle from the top to the back was the most obvious change Colt made to the gun. Further alterations to the furniture, front sight base, and lower receiver made the gun more efficient and easier to mass-produce. This is the Brownells BRN-Proto rifle.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In 1959 ArmaLite sold Colt the rights to the AR15. Colt adapted the design for mass production and aggressively marketed the weapon to the military. The most obvious change involved moving the charging handle. The first commercial contract for the resulting M16 was for 300 rifles that went to Malaya in September of 1959.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Break
Early M16 rifles used in Vietnam rocked a three-prong flash suppressor. They demanded meticulous maintenance for reliable operation.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Those earliest M16 rifles lacked a chrome-plated bore and sported some well-documented reliability problems. In 1967 the M16A1 variant was introduced with a chrome-plated tube and an enclosed birdcage flash suppressor. Smadge was an absolute Nazi for weapons maintenance. He said the M16 could be a reliable weapon, even in the jungle, but that it required a great deal of attention to remain so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Break
Today\u2019s HK416 incorporates attributes taken from those early XM177E2 rifles.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Break
The XM177E2 influenced much of today\u2019s modern combat carbine.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Smadge\u2019s CAR15 was technically designated the XM177E2. Designed as part of the CAR Military Weapons System in 1966, the XM177E2 was an effort to turn the M16 rifle into a submachine gun. The collapsible stock and carbine-length gas system of that original XM177E2 can be found in today\u2019s M4 Carbines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Break
The XM177E2 was the Army\u2019s effort to shrink the M16 down to something smaller and more maneuverable.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

These early guns had 10-inch (XM177E1) or 11.5-inch (XM177E2) barrels. The muzzle blast from these stubby tubes was absolutely breathtaking. Now that the revolutionary Pistol Stabilizing Brace allows us mere mortals to run rifle-caliber pistols we all have a chance to taste that sort of chaos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Break
The moderator on the muzzle of the XM177E2 was designed to mitigate the violence coming from that short stubby barrel. This is a modern reproduction.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Those early XM177 rifles included a flash moderator to help keep the blast in check. These moderators alter the gun\u2019s report enough for the BATF to consider them registerable sound suppressors. Original moderators are rarer than honest politicians today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Break
Particularly later in the war the AK47 became a common fixture in Vietnam.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Vietnam was dirty with captured AK47 rifles. They came in from a variety of sources and were not uncommonly bartered among American forces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Break
The AK47 is an exceptionally reliable and efficient combat weapon still used around the world today.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

For covert operations, the benefits of the AK47 included ready availability of captured ammunition and a report that was indistinguishable from threat weapons. The AK47 is widely extolled as the world\u2019s most reliable autoloading combat rifle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Fine Line<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\"Break
Later in his career the Smadge saw his primary mission as the mentoring of young soldiers like me.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Smadge was a warrior who took his responsibility to mentor young soldiers seriously. Though undeniably intimidating, he remained nonetheless approachable. I once in innocence asked him what it was like the first time he killed somebody. It was a newbie pogue question, but I was a newbie pogue. He quietly responded with, \u201cIn the Army or before?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Break
Smadge was a professional soldier who had become very comfortable with killing.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Smadge grew up without a dad in a big city fraught with violence. His first kill was during a gang fight as a teenager. A bat was his weapon and a garbage can lid his shield. He said his biggest concern at the time was getting caught. When he realized he had literally gotten away with murder he said the experience wasn\u2019t as morally burdensome as he had expected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Break
The Smadge easily justified killing if the subject of your wrath wished the same upon you.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

He told me that when the guy you kill is actively trying to kill you it takes a lot of the moral pressure off. He had twenty-seven confirmed that he knew of from Vietnam. In quiet moments, however, you could tell there was still something unsettled there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Break
Smadge\u2019s serendipitous discovery in the jungle resulted in some darkly macabre psyops.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Before reading further, keep in mind the circumstances. These guys lived every day in the shadow of violent death. Smadge was on a jungle patrol when he came across the body of a VC soldier leaning against a tree. The unexpected encounter nearly scared him out of his skin. The VC looked asleep. Upon further investigation, the unfortunate Charlie had caught a large-caliber round behind the ear that had taken the back of his head off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Break
The Death Card was used to send a message to surviving enemy troops.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Seeing inspiration in the moment Smadge produced his Kabar. He carved out the guy\u2019s eye sockets, broke his arms, and stuck the dead man\u2019s own fingers through his eye holes from behind. He carefully arranged a 101st<\/sup> Ace of Spades death card between the fingers and somebody snapped a photograph.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Break
We really shouldn\u2019t send our young soldiers to hell and then second guess their decisions from the comfort of our living rooms. The exigencies of modern war can take a man to a strange moral place.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Smadge thought this hilarious and even sent a copy of the picture home to his wife. People living in comfort, peace, and security shouldn\u2019t pass moral judgment on those who are in the suck. Theirs is a different universe. Sometimes the demarcation between patriot and psychopath can at times seem thin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Rest of the Story<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\"Break
It doesn\u2019t matter your branch, experience, or rank, everybody hates the MPs.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The most dangerous thing in the world is a Private with a gun and a badge. Smadge once had a bit too much to drink at the NCO club and was confronted by three MPs while walking home. One of the cops made the mistake of poking him in the chest with a nightstick.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Break
The MPs showed up with reinforcements and took the Smadge into custody.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A friend who was there told me that Smadge put down all three MPs before heading home. The post SWAT team arrived later and took him into custody without a struggle. Smadge was allowed to retire without further incident. Six months later he died of a brain tumor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Break
Rough men like the Smadge are a necessary evil for a free society. Such men are needed if we hope to prevail in the face of the world\u2019s manifest darkness.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The country needs hard men like Smadge. What they do in their world does not translate well into ours. That\u2019s one of the reasons I think imbedded reporters are a bad idea. Americans in their living rooms don\u2019t need to see what happens downrange. They can never hope to understand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Break
The Smadge kept me in shape, taught me discipline, showed me how to run a rifle, and started me down the path toward becoming a real soldier myself. A deeply flawed man, he was nonetheless undeniably hardcore.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Smadge was the hardest man I\u2019ve ever known. I wouldn\u2019t trust him around the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders, but he\u2019s the guy you\u2019d want alongside you in a fight. An eclectic combination of Chuck Norris, John Wayne, and SSG Barnes from the Oliver Stone movie Platoon,<\/em> Smadge was every bit the warrior.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Break
War takes young men to some dark places.   <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Break<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Buy and Sell on GunsAmerica!<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

       <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Smadge kept me in shape, taught me discipline, showed me how to run a rifle, and started me down the path toward becoming a real soldier myself. A deeply flawed man, he was nonetheless undeniably hardcore.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":66,"featured_media":134189,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_specdata_upc":"","_specdata_placement":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[257,772],"tags":[132,102,752,636,591],"featured":[],"hunt365":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-134165","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-historical-guns","8":"category-will-dabbs","9":"tag-buzz","10":"tag-feature-articles","11":"tag-historical-guns","12":"tag-history","13":"tag-m16"},"yoast_head":"\nBreak Glass in Case of War: Smadge and the M16 Rifle<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Break Glass in Case of War: Smadge and the M16 Rifle - Will Dabbs\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/break-glass-in-case-of-war-smadge-and-the-m16-rifle\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Break Glass in Case of War: Smadge and the M16 Rifle\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Smadge kept me in shape, taught me discipline, showed me how to run a rifle, and started me down the path toward becoming a real soldier myself. 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However, shooting guns and claiming it was work seemed like a pretty sweet hustle. As a result, Will serendipitously transformed an avocation into a vocation. Raised in the Mississippi Delta, Will flew UH1H, OH58A\\\/C, CH47D and AH1S helicopters operationally as an Army Aviator. He is SCUBA-qualified and has parachuted out of perfectly good airplanes at 3 o'clock in the morning. Will has summited Mount McKinley, Alaska, six times\u2026always at the controls of an Army helicopter, which is the only way sensible folk climb mountains. Will has delivered sixty babies and occasionally wrung human blood out of his socks. He is married to his high school sweetheart and has three awesome adult children. 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