There’s a general rule in Ranger School: if it can be avoided, don’t carry a machine gun, not the SAW, and certainly not the big gun, the 27.6-pound M240B medium machine gun. That is because machine guns are heavier than rifles and have hundreds of rounds of ammo to carry. They are unwieldy and, to make the RIs happy, they must be mounted on a tripod, which itself weighs about twenty pounds. Being some 80% of the platoon’s firepower, the machine guns also come with immense responsibility. Good luck passing your raid or ambush if the big guns go down.
Yes, as a rule, most rangers would say, avoid carrying the machine guns like the plague.
But some rules are made to be broken. Through experience, I found that volunteering to carry the machine gun actually had several perks, not least of which was increased respect and a sense of obligation from one’s peers for shouldering the heavy load. While the gun is heavy, this is compensated for by a lighter rucksack, one of the lightest in a ranger platoon, which makes the immense loads we carry everyday more evenly balanced on my bruised and broken body. Perhaps best of all, every other ranger in the platoon has to leave their rucksacks on their aching backs during the innumerable “short” halts on the march, but me and my assistant gunner, why, we get to take ours off and stretch our limbs out gleefully on the cold hard ground. This sounds like a trivial thing, but it is priceless to a ranger on patrol.
What’s more, life is simple as a machine gunner. I carry something heavy, point, and shoot a lot of rounds. Hell, even a mediocre infantryman can handle that. If I can manage to shoot 5-9 round bursts, make the guns “talk” to each other, and rapidly clear malfunctions, then that really makes me a stud. I don’t have to lead teams or squads of mindless, droning rangers, establish radio communications with higher headquarters, or prepare an op order. When I am behind the gun, I am a regular Joe, a peon, and in Ranger School, as in life, a peaceful life of mediocrity has its benefits.
And undoubtedly there are worse positions with even heavier loads than the 240B machine gunners; the Assistant Gunner, SAW gunners, and radiomen come to mind. Unlike anyone else in the ranger platoon, we get slings to help carry our weapons and ease the strain on our arms. In Florida Phase, when floating down the Yellow River or crossing the Santa Rosa Sound, machine gunners, as the air guard, get to just relax and enjoy the cruise, while everyone else is paddling. This alone might make carrying the machine guns worth it.
And how could I fail to mention that when the 240B is up and thumping, it’s a hell of a fun thing to shoot, even if it’s only blanks. Braaaak! Braaaak! Braaaaaaaak!
Most of all, I liked carrying the machine gun because it’s about helping your buddies, earning a good reputation, and keeping up with the rest of the platoon, even with a heavier load. It’s about giving it 110%, and then some, with a small on your face, not in spite of, but because it is hard. This is what good people do in life. This is what leaders do. We carry a heavier load, not because we have to, but because we want to.
And real rangers wouldn’t have it any other way.
