Video - AR 15: U.S. Army TC 9-3663 - RifleXM16E1 (1966)

U.S. Army Training film 9-3663. I remember sitting in a large warehouse on a west coast Army base, coughing and spitting, dust in the nose, with fellow soldiers in training and watching this film being screened for our information before we went to the actual handling of live weapons. The M-14 was out as a line firearm by that time and the new "M-16" was "in". This film hearkened back to the early days when  Advisory Green Berets/Special Forces troopers had proved the original "slab side" AR-15 was an effective combat weapon for use in Southeast Asia. The 20 round magazine was based upon the same capacity mags for the venerable but then obsolete World War2/Korean War era "B.A.R." (Look it up), which was soon upgraded to 30/40 round mags. Little did we know at the time how politics and corner-cutting had changed the weapon we were later issued. The "M-16" would be so different from the AR-15 as was depicted in this film. Many Troopers would pay the ultimate price because of that meddling...(S9)

*Later model M-16 "Shorty" issued to "LRRP/Rangers", distinguished by the "Forward Assist". AR-15's used by Green Berets in the early "Cowboys and Indian" days of Vietnam did not need this feature, due to issuance of proper & superior "IMR" ammunition*