GARRISON, Norway — When Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 2nd Marines, arrived here in January, they weren’t just beginning a brand-new rotational deployment. They were also the first Marine Corps infantry unit to deploy with suppressors on every individual service weapon.
And three months into using suppressed weapons in every exercise and live-fire training event, Marines who spoke with Military.com say they never want to go back.
In November, Military.com broke the news that the Corps was embarking on a proof-of-concept effort to silence every weapon in an infantry battalion, from M4 service rifles to .50 caliber machine guns.
In an interview at the time, 2nd Marine Division commanding officer Maj. Gen. John Love said the suppressors, also called silencers, were already changing the way Marines operated in early testing and evaluation.
“It used to be a squad would be dispersed out over maybe 100 yards, so the squad leader couldn’t really communicate with the members at the far end because of all the noise of the weapons,” he said. “Now they can actually just communicate, and be able to command and control, and effectively direct those fires.”
Troops with Marine Corps Rotational Force-Europe agree.
They’ve used suppressed M4s and M27 infantry automatic rifles in Arctic cold-weather training environments and most recently at a joint live-fire attack event in Romania. During that event, three platoons from Bravo Company operated alongside one from the battalion’s Weapons Company that didn’t have suppressed rifles. The difference was marked, said Capt. Mark Edgar, commanding officer of Bravo Company.
“It took us back to remembering what it was like not to be suppressed, when you see people trying to communicate,” Edgar said. “For guys in charge of other Marines, being able to talk is a big way that we fight. The suppressed weapons have helped that a lot.”
For Staff Sgt. Troy Hauck, a platoon sergeant with Bravo Company’s Weapons Platoon, not having to worry about ear protection when firing his rifle is a nice bonus. But a potentially bigger boon is the element of surprise that comes with a suppressed weapon.
“Just doing some of the training attacks that we’ve done on this deployment has been good,” he said. “I’m on one side of the hill and [part of the company is] on the other side of the hill, and I can’t hear them firing their weapons. It’s pretty nice, real stealthy.”