Rep. Scott Believes Army Chief Should Have Authority in Choosing New Pistol
During a March 16th House Armed Services Committee hearing on the National Defense Authorization Act, Representative Austin Scott (R-GA) stated to the Army Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Milley that he believed it is “absolutely ridiculous” that Milley did not have the authority to choose a pistol for the Army, instead of the slow and expensive acquisitions process currently in place. All of the service chiefs were present.
“I would bet that the four of you in uniform could probably in 10 minutes come up with an agreement on what that platform should be,” he said. “I would think that with a quick click or two on an iPad that you could figure out what the retail price of the pistol was, what a decent price for that pistol was and what we should be paying for that pistol if we were buying it in the quantities that we were buying it in.” The congressman added, “I want you to know that I do believe that you should have that authority.”
Milley responded to the lawmakers that he and the secretary of the Army do have authority to choose the weapon, but that is only at the end of the process. Scott then asked Milley to offer language that could be included in the National Defense Authorization Act to allow him to move forward on a handgun choice.
At an earlier think tank on March 10th, Milley cited the Modular Handgun System program as an example of the slow acquisitions process. The MHS is the Army and Airforce competition for a new handgun started in 2008, and it is anticipated to be the next military standard side arm replacing the Beretta M9 pistol. Milley wants to scrap the long and expensive process and simply choose a gun:
“We’re not figuring out the next lunar landing. This is a pistol. Two years to test At $17 million?” Milley said to an audience at a Washington, D.C., think tank on March 10. “You give me $17 million on a credit card, and I’ll call Cabela’s tonight, and I’ll outfit every soldier, sailor, airman and Marine with a pistol for $17 million. And I’ll get a discount on a bulk buy.”
The MHS competition is open caliber, and Milley’s desire to pick a gun could mean the Army remains with a 9mm round instead of going bigger, if that choice follows general trends in special operations and law enforcement. Also, ending the MHS process could, in theory, save the Army a large amount of money in the procurement process, with the maximum contract value of MHS at $580 million. Milley blamed layers of processes, where centralized and bureaucratic lawyer-guided solutions to accountability problems have gummed up the system, and he said the best fix is to “empower and decentralize” while maintaining accountability.
The Army will not publicly say the number of competing companies or proposals. Each can submit two different calibers, but after lab tests and evaluations, three will make it to user trials.
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Go back to the Colt 1911. If it’s good enough to kill drugged-up Moro guerillas in the Philippines, it’s good enough to kill jihadists.
Everyone wants a bigger magazine capacity. I blame the movies.
The Glock fanboy in me would love to see the 19 or 17 (Glock being the firearm manufacturer I believe Milley originally referenced in his statement) in expanded use, but without a manual safety I don’t see one or both of those being given the time of the day for your every day soldier/marine. Additionally, I doubt Glock will go out of their way to produce a firearm with a manual safety from the factory specifically for the program (an act most Glock owners would consider heresy).
Springfield Mil-Spec 1911M1 .45ACP. You’re welcome.
If a soldier has to go to a pistol to stay in the fight, something desperately awful has already happened.
Stopping power matters, but so does training, safety and accuracy. I know people who can draw smiley faces on a target with a Glock. It’s a great gun. Amazing reliability … when maintained correctly. But if you train with it as often as the typical troop does, then you’re as likely to hit someone by throwing the gun at them as you are shooting at them at ranges beyond a few yards.
I would rather have a 1911 as standard. In the hands of a lightly-trained user — which describes most staff officers who would actually have one — the rounds are more likely to go where you want them to go. And yes: they have more stopping power.
We could do a lot of things cheaper and faster with no-bid contracts and the only criteria in somebody’s head.
Authority for the Army Chief to make a decision, simplify the process and specs to typical, proven, over the counter offerings should not and do not have to replace a bid process.