The "Uzi" MP

[Hans1906]

1978/79 we were equipped with the Uzi MP as paramedics.

Uzi: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uzi

A handy weapon at that time, firing the Uzi was a little bit strange, on the "25 Meter" shooting range.
Do you remember the Uzi, how was your experience ?

Several accidents in the German Bundeswehr were due to the Uzi MP, soldiers died.
Is this MP still in use today, with regular armed forces, who knows more... ?

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkP3SHO8s5Y

The Uzi was only explained to us for a few minutes, after which we had to fire 1000 rounds, the remaining ammunition from an opened ammunition box.
Comrades refused to fire the gun, they were afraid.
Many couldn't even handle a G3 rifle, or a pistol, the Uzi was too much for some comrades.


Hans

[Poot]

Many couldn't even handle a G3 rifle, or a pistol, the Uzi was too much for some comrades.

That's probably why.

[Hans1906]

Why, they were endangering their comrades, shooting across the countryside, turning around with the loaded gun, and being a danger.
Not everyone is able to use a gun, it was that easy and not funny at all, very dangerous.

The shooting range was always bad, people would collapse or go completely insane, my personal experience.


Hans

[Hans1906]

Imagine an ignorant young man from the country, always feeding pigs and raking the garden.
Put a gun in his hand and the man is completely overwhelmed.
He doesn't understand the gun, either, he shoots in all directions, pointing the loaded gun at you and your comrades.

And you throw yourself on the ground because you don't want to get shot.

Not all people are good soldiers, and that's a good thing.


Hans

[Hans1906]

When a novice comrade points a loaded and cocked gun at you, you lie flat on the ground, it's as simple as that.

Unsuitable recruits are, and have been, transferred to supply camps and not promoted.

It may make you smile, but the danger was ever-present, putting a loaded gun in the hands of an idiot was, and certainly still is, a risk.


Hans

P.S. The "idiot" is unable to even tie his boots, puts his boots on on the wrong foot, etc.
I don't know why such people were drafted into the Bundeswehr.
A loaded gun in the hands of a man like that, that's where the fun ends.
It was probably still possible back then, but probably not anymore these days...

[ThatZenoGuy]

I am shocked to hear that aiming loaded guns at unintended people was that common! One of the first rules of gun safety is don't ever point it something you don't want dead.

[LineDoggie]

Imagine an ignorant young man from the country, always feeding pigs and raking the garden.
Put a gun in his hand and the man is completely overwhelmed.
He doesn't understand the gun, either, he shoots in all directions, pointing the loaded gun at you and your comrades.

And you throw yourself on the ground because you don't want to get shot.

Not all people are good soldiers, and that's a good thing.


Hans

Well, it really seems from your description that the instructors were bags of crap. We trained on unloaded firearms for over a week before going anywhere near a range and Live Ammunition

First you should have been given mechanical instruction on the firearm, Disassembly/Assembly, How to set the selector/safety, How to load/unload, clear stoppages, inspect to make sure the Firearm was clear of ammunition. How to carry it, when not at the range (Slung or by hand), How to clean it when done.

Then Basic safety procedures for the range should have been drilled into you. Then firing positions, and use of sights

All this before you ever stepped foot on a live firing range. I can also remember demonstrations by the cadre in how to fire and more drilling basic safety into our heads

Then each firer should have had a cadreman next to him while on the firing line-

Their purpose to advise the shooter, encourage the shooter, and if need be physically keep the shooter pointing their firearm in a safe direction.

Your description sounds like they simply threw an UZI and live ammo at you all and let you all bimble about unsupervised.

It also sounds like the recruits didnt care to follow what instruction they did get.

[LineDoggie]

When a novice comrade points a loaded and cocked gun at you, you lie flat on the ground, it's as simple as that.

Unsuitable recruits are, and have been, transferred to supply camps and not promoted.

It may make you smile, but the danger was ever-present, putting a loaded gun in the hands of an idiot was, and certainly still is, a risk.


Hans

P.S. The "idiot" is unable to even tie his boots, puts his boots on on the wrong foot, etc.
I don't know why such people were drafted into the Bundeswehr.
A loaded gun in the hands of a man like that, that's where the fun ends.
It was probably still possible back then, but probably not anymore these days...

Have you ever thought it was a deliberate act by a conscript to get discharged from Service? Like eating a large amount of salt/salty food before the physical to have high blood pressure?

I mean seriously did he show up barefoot to the kaserne or was he wearing shoes? Was he given any intelligence testing before conscription?

[Hans1906]

Hi LineDoggie,

The problem is very easy to explain, a few comrades, who were completely unfit for military service, somehow survived the examination at the time, and these men later became a burden for the other comrades.

I apologize for my term "idiot", unfortunately it was wrongly chosen.
Burden is the right word.
Training and service in the gun has been a real challenge for some young men.

For shooting and other important exercises, these men were not infrequently sent to the first-aid department, or they sat around in the room for days, cleaning, or whatever...
The screening of us recruits at that time was a joke, anyone who was not blind in both eyes, or deaf in both ears went through the screening process smoothly, a pure farce.

In our later base unit we had a comrade who was 85% deaf in one ear.
This was officially determined three months before the end of his 15 months of military service, the young man somehow slipped through his examination, he didn't even know anything about his profound hearing defect!

Enough chatting out of the sewing box, hopefully something like that doesn't happen anymore these days...

Weekend greetings!


Hans
P.S. By the way, we were paramedics in the "Panzertruppe", and it is only thanks to our "Stabsarzt" at the time, also a conscript, that this hearing defect was officially recognized.
That speaks volumes about the circumstances at the time.