SILENT BATTALION: Entire Marine Unit Suppresses All Their Weapons

By Bob Owens

An infantry unit’s job is to shoot, move and communicate. The reality of the matter, though is that the noise of shooting—especially from a unit’s automatic weapons—makes communicating effectively amidst the noise a tough job, which both complicates orders to move and the directing of more accurate fires on target to suppress the enemy.

An entire infantry battalion is now going to outfit all their primary weapons, from carbines to .50 BMG machine guns, with silencers, in an experiment to see how reducing the sound of battle enhances combat effectiveness.

In a series of experiments this year, units from 2nd Marine Division will be silencing every element of an infantry battalion — from M4 rifles to .50 caliber machine guns.

The commanding general of 2nd Marine Division, Maj. Gen. John Love, described these plans during a speech to Marines at the Marine Corps Association Ground Dinner this month near Washington, D.C.

The proof-of-concept tests, he said, included Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 2nd Marines, which began an Integrated Training Exercise pre-deployment last month at Marine Corps Air-Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms.

“What we’ve found so far is it revolutionizes the way we fight,” Love told Military.com. “It used to be a squad would be dispersed …Read the Rest

Source:: Bearing Arms