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them and used them for many years in International Practical Shooting Confed- eration (combat pistol) competition. All of them required considerable expense to work properly and accurately, and with all of them I encountered many failures to feed, failures to extract, and a few parts breakages. I have put many thousands of rounds through my Glock 19, which was perfect out of the box, and have never had any sort of malfunction. So in con- clusion I agree with Maj David with re- spect to the .45 for the military but must respectfully disagree about his remarks relative to the Glock. Capt N.W. Birkenmeier, USMCR ___________________________ Biometrics: An Important Tool The Marines give medals for courage. If they handed out medals for brilliance, Maj William W. Coffey certainly deserves one. His article, “Denying the Enemy Anonymity” ( MCG, Apr09), on biomet- rics and forensics was absolutely superb. The old military adage is “find, fix, fin- ish.” The problem in a counterinsurgency is not finish. Anytime the enemy is pointed out to the Marines, they can fin- ish him. The problem is with find. The enemy’s strength is his “ability to hide” or his “anonymity.” Biometrics and forensics can find the enemy. What is truly impres- sive is that ordinary Marines (versus spe- cialists) have acquired the skills to do biometric enrollment and latent finger- print gathering. That’s powerful. William Thayer ___________________________ Bridgeport: Yesterday and Today In regard to “A Training Complex for Complex Terrain” by the staff of Marine Corps Mountain Warfare Training Center ( MCG, Mar09), in 1975, then-Col O.K. Steele, while serving as the G–3 of 1st Marine Division, had the foresight to see that Marines would be serving in other environments than the jungles of Viet- nam. He sent a message out to the divi- sion for those experienced in mountain survival, and from the response formed up the first post-Vietnam training core of instructors. With a captain and two lieu- tenants we literally unlocked the Quonset huts at Bridgeport for the first time in a decade. The initial syllabus included high-alti- tude small unit tactics, cold weather sur- vival, mountain survival, and some basic cross-country skiing. Operations were conducted during both night and day. We broke open equipment that had been stored since Korea and had to improvise with 1950s bindings and wooden skis. Altitude was always the great equalizer. The original training package was focused on imparting to the leaders of the MAGTF unit the “skills to fight and win in complex terrain.” Afghanistan has shown the wisdom of MajGen O.K. Steele. With the moun- tainous terrain of the Hindu Kush rang- ing from 14,000 feet to well over 19,000 feet, high-altitude tactics and logistics will be well tested. North Korea, albeit not as high in altitude, has a succession of mountain ranges that cover over 80 per- cent of its land area. The coastal Taebaek Range has peaks that go from sea level to over 5,000 feet. (Mount Kumgang or Di- amond Mountain is the highest peak at 5,374 feet.) Harsh mountain warfare is here to stay. Col Andy Harp, USMCR(Ret) ___________________________ LVS Safety: A Program Response The article, entitled “The MK48: There are some LVS safety issues,” by 2d Lt Jason Haag in the March 2009 online issue, did not contain any input or com- ments from the Program Manager, Motor Transport, Marine Corps Systems Com- mand (MarCorSysCom). The program office constantly looks for ways to im- prove both existing and future armor sys- tems for tactical vehicles, and the logistics vehicle system (LVS) is no exception. The system described by the lieu- tenant is first-generation armor, Marine Armor Kit I (MAK I). The majority of the issues raised in the article have been identified and addressed through the de- velopment of the second-generation LVS armor, the MAK II. The MAK II armor has improved LVS protection that ad- dresses the current capability gap until the LVS is replaced by the LVSR later this year. The MAK II is a redesign effort that underwent extensive testing prior to pro- duction and installation of the kits at Ma- rine Corps Logistics Base Albany. These installation and production efforts began in December 2008 and will be completed by June. LVSs deploying to Afghanistan were outfitted with this new armor sys- tem in April. The MAK II is a completely re- designed, integrated armored cab assem- bly consisting of a new frame with armor attachment points and integrated 360-de- gree protection. When compared to MAK I, MAK II provides additional overhead and underbody armor using high, hard steel; rolled homogenous armor; and ballistic windows. For added security, combat locks have been added to prevent the doors from being opened from the outside by intruders. LVS cab egress in MAK I was limited because of cab overcrowding and lack of space. The program office has focused on freeing cab space by redesigning and removing equip- ment from the cab and moving it else- where on the vehicle, including air-conditioning and improvised explosive device protection systems. Like other tactical vehicles, the only possible egress routes remain the doors and the machinegun placement. The LVS has three possible egress routes for a crew of two Marines. Additional escape hatches, if not designed and tested prop- erly, can be exploited by small arms fire exposing the crew to ballistic threats. In the case of the LVS, as with all tac- tical vehicle systems managed and fielded by MarCorSysCom, safety and crew sur- vivability are of paramount importance. The program office constantly explores ways to improve safety, survivability, and performance. This has been demonstrated by the vast improvements of the MAK II over the MAK I. We are proactive in our efforts to keep Marines as safe as possible when they deploy to these dangerous the- aters of operation. Michael Everly >Editor’s Note: Mr. Everly is the Program Manager, Motor Transport, MarCorSysCom. ___________________________ Join the Debate. Go<a href="http://www.mca-marines.org/gazette/debate"> to www.mca-marines.org/gazette/debate.</a> Join the Debate LETTERS M a r i n e C o r p s G a z e t t e • M a y 2 0 0 9 10 <a href="http://www.mca-marines.org/gazette">www.mca-marines.org/gazette</a> Afghanistan has shown the wisdom of MajGen O.K. Steele.
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