Panderson,
Why wouldn't your commander allow you to have a personal weapon? That doesn't make sense to me.
It was '94 or '95 and I was stationed at Ft Benning, I took a couple of guys from the unit to the range on Ft Benning and word got around that I was a great shot and owned an M16. A Sgt from another squad brought it up to the commander that I had an ammo can. So that's when the confiscation took place and itt started out that my commander simply wanted to inspect my ammunition(because it was in an GI Ammo Can) and ensure that my having a weapon was legal. I had no problem with that. Starting out it was going to be held over the weekend. I waited until the next wednesday to ask and she said one more weekend. After another week or two I asked to see the commander about them withholding the rifle and a week later my answer came when my Sgt told me that she said I was not allowed to have it and that I have to sell it. We were working out a plan where I was going to sell it to someone for a dollar and then they could give it back to me but I said "screw that" and went to JAG. If any of you in the military never delt with JAG, they are less than interested in working with you. I was a Specialist at the time and they were telling me that, while in the service, it is up to your commander as to whether you can possess a firearm. Under contract by the Army, blah blah blah. They did give me my ammo back.
So what really happened? I really don't know. I know my Captain was fresh out of Officer school. My squad wasn't particularly close to the Captain as we were at the ammunition bunkers while the main offices were back next to Airborne school(i'm sure Screaming Eagle knows where I'm talking about. Cardiac Hill is just up the road from there). I didn't have much support from the Sgts and I think it is because they had never encountered something like this before.
I have speculation about it; This was following up on the event at Ft Bragg where someone had started shooting at people during PT with his personal weapon. Along with my MOS: 55Bravo (Ammunition supply / BB counter) and my particular bunker was the small arms ammunition including millions of rounds of 5.56mm. Long story short, I think that my command was erring on the side of caution.
I saw the comment about not buying it, and that's fine. I could post unit, names, and ranks involved, but honestly, it's neither here nor there. Here's what I walked away from the experience *knowing.* If it ever comes down to martial law, I don't believe the government will hold back for a second in disarming the citizens it knows has weapons. They did it to me with a smile and a handshake and a "We'll get this back to you by monday" and i was just a soldier who bought a rifle to be a better soldier.
ADD: And just to let you know, I LOVE the Army. One of the best times of my life.
