Quote:
Originally Posted by Swift Sword
I am in favor of pistols for the troops if they want them and can prove basic profficiency.
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William,
Don't read too much into this, because this line of reasoning has its own dangers when the decisions are made too far up the chain of command where there isn't the requisite information to make a fully informed decision, but what troops want is not always what is best for them. However, with that caveat out in the open, I will state the case.
Soldiers carrying too much sh!t have time and time again found that it slows your mobility and results in their own demise, whether they found themselves too spent to fight effectively after a hard movement, or they drowned when faced with a water obstacle where they couldn't jettison all of their equipment.
So, leaders have an obligation to make sure that soldiers' wants don't run counter to soldiers' interests.
Thus, as before, there isn't a one size fits all policy to the question of whether soldiers should have a secondary weapon that is a pistol, as your examples highlight.