Mark Novak goes down the rabbit hole on the M60, affectionately known as "the pig" to my generation of GIs. It was the light machine gun of the US Army during Vietnam, and when I got in service in '72, and when I went to Desert Storm in 1990, and when I retired in 98 we still had these in the arms room. The Wiki page says that they are still in service.
The next time I see grandson Quinton, I'll have to ask if he's trained on these old guns.
Ah yes, the Pig... Although the 'new' version has a lot better barrel life than the original!
ReplyDeleteDo not bad mouth Mr Pig, he saved my ass one night northwest of Saigon one night in 66.
ReplyDeleteIf there are any in service, it's probably M60E6 versions, used by SEALS or other spec ops types. And the Danish Army recently adopted the E6 or near equivalent as their new LMG.
ReplyDeleteWe had ONE in the arms room when I took over as XO of C/1-6 (Mech) in 1999, and it was turned in soon thereafter for M-240Bs.
I also used them in Ranger School in 1997. The ones we had there were badly worn out, and I think during Mountain Phase we only had all three M60s functional for one mission out of ten. Maybe two. But Weapons Squad Leader was almost a sure route to a No Go patrol grade,even if it wasn't your fault the clapped out guns they gave you didn't work.