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I served in the Marine Corps Security Force battalions from 89-91 then I went to the FMF to serve in my primary infantry MOS. I don't know what that list is about other than resembling the range safety briefings for annual rifle qual. In MCSF we originally carried 1911's and M16's condition 3. Magazine in weapon, no round in the chamber, weapon on safe. We were trained in the Israeli method of drawing, racking the slide and shooting in MCSF school which was developed by Col. Jeff Cooper. When we transitioned to Beretta M-9's we carried them condition 1. Magazine in the pistol, round in the chamber, weapon on safe/decocked.
 
Back in a prehistoric era I spent some of my time in the Marine Corps guarding stateside ammo bunkers that contained tactical nukes. We trained with and carried 12 ga. 20 inch Winchester 97 Trench guns replete with heat shields and bayonet lugs (but no bayonets lol, our M-14 bayonets didn't fit anyway.) The standing orders while on a four hour watch were to carry with an unloaded chamber either slung or held at more or less port arms and to not rack a round unless we had someone breaking through the fence or trying to get into a bunker.

That 3rd hand advice from a friend of a friend of the OP sounds more like contemporary range rules to me.
 
Army Small Arms Master Gunner, served March 2008 through March of this year. I have run hundreds of qual ranges, and these rules sound like range rules for POGs.

Weapon condition when serving sentry duty in all branches is entirely dicated by unit and station SOP, in turn dictated by command's situational awareness and intel regarding current threat levels. Sometimes we didn't even have a weapon at all. Sometimes we had a mounted Mk19 grenade launcher ready to rock and thumbs hovering over the trigger.

Civilians do not have a unit SOP to guide them. Individual civilians on "sentry duty" should carry their weapons in whatever legal manner they individually choose, while considering their legal and moral liability if anything were to go wrong. Organized groups of civilians should probably discuss this at length and come up with some SOPs of their own.
 
A friend of mine sent me the following from a Marine friend of his. A number of the things here struck me as odd so I was wondering if any experts could comment.
Not gonna make any difference at all. Civilians already figure that they're smart enough to know how to handle all firearms. Did you ever serve with one of those turds that straightened the safety pins on his hand grenades and then hung them on his belt/ suspenders by the handle?
 
Back in a prehistoric era I spent some of my time in the Marine Corps guarding stateside ammo bunkers that contained tactical nukes. We trained with and carried 12 ga. 20 inch Winchester 97 Trench guns replete with heat shields and bayonet lugs (but no bayonets lol, our M-14 bayonets didn't fit anyway.) The standing orders while on a four hour watch were to carry with an unloaded chamber either slung or held at more or less port arms and to not rack a round unless we had someone breaking through the fence or trying to get into a bunker.

That 3rd hand advice from a friend of a friend of the OP sounds more like contemporary range rules to me.
I remember those Winchester Model 97 Trench guns! We had bayonets for our. I saw them Ince while in the armory having my pistol replaced.
 
A friend of mine sent me the following from a Marine friend of his. A number of the things here struck me as odd so I was wondering if any experts could comment.
I was a USMC Marksmanship Instructor (8531) in the late 1980's/early 1990's, and like nearly all Marines, spent my share of time on guard duty, both stateside and on deployment.

The list your friend posted is for conduct on a rifle range, not while performing sentry duties with a weapon.
 
A friend of mine sent me the following from a Marine friend of his. A number of the things here struck me as odd so I was wondering if any experts could comment.
As a Marine I can say that those are solely range instructions. I was also a MP in the Marine Corps and whenever on duty you were condition one the entire time you are on shift. And me personally I carried my weapon (M9) without the safety engaged in a level 3 safariland holster.
 
In 1965 Marines who were part of a guard mount had magazines in their M-14s but no ammunition. The Cpl. of the guard had a 1911 with two loaded magazines in magazine pouches on his duty belt. The Sgt. of the Guard had a loaded magazine in his 1911 and two loaded magazines in his magazine pouches. Guard mounts in the areas that I served in at Camp Pendleton, CA followed this procedure for as long as I was there. The closer you got to Vietnam, the more it changed. In Okinawa, everyone was locked and loaded and of course in Vietnam everyone was locked and loaded. I suspect that it had to do with the influx of very young men into the Corps. Even though these young Marines were well trained, it's not a good call to let them have ammunition when on guard at a pretty secure base in the United States. Your imagination can run wild if you're not careful. One of the most interesting "guns" I ever saw was a solid rubber 1911a1 that was issued to Navy Shore Patrol sailers when they were wandering around San Diego and certain other duty stations. It was stamped U.S. Navy. I understand that they are quite valuable to collectors. My friend John was on a guard mount at Chu Lai and shot and killed a 15 year old kid that had thrown a rock at him. It was dark and the rock looked like a grenade to John. He tells me that the memory of that act still sickens him to this day. I suspect that much has changed since my time in the Corps. Today's Marines are under the constant threat of being killed by so-called "friendlies" in both Afghanistan and Iraq. We only had to be concerned about the Chu Hois (VC and NVA that came over to the ARVN side, usually for money.)
 
So, what were you supposed to use if challenged by an aggressor? Harsh language?
Not trying to be funny here or poke the bear. Just genuinely curious to know why our Armed Forces would not arm a guard on duty. Seems counter-intuitive...
After I was promoted to E-7 and was made privy to certain conversations with officers, the consensus of opinion was that Marines are trained to use their weapons and deadly force in a combat situation. It was different for MP's. They were trained along the lines of cops. Combat Marines are going to kill you, not talk to you. Marines walking their post in a military manner are usually going to dissuade a casual burgler or thief. The other consideration is that those young men are usually away from home for the first time and might be mildly depressed or even severely depressed. Their girlfriend may have broken up with him, etc. Not having access to ammunition may reduce the impulse to commit suicide. Just a thought.
 
Every base or installation I ever visited or was stationed at had armed guards on the perimeter, especially after 9/11 with the gate crashers attempting their stuff, the biggest changes we're the number of cars allowed through were cut way down and we were asked to car pool or use public transportation to and from. Not very convenient and in certain countries, it was more dangerous to be out in civilian land. They went to great lengths to shore up security at the gates with blocks and other stuff to really slow some one down, pre security check points, and large machine guns and serious men manning them! Once in my squadron area near Wing H.Q, we had a second layer of security with additional check points and machine guns, and finally, the flight line was completely off limits unless you were assigned flight duty and had an airframe assigned to you, and even then, you had a serious check before entry! Our Squadron had 2 full time k-9 teams and 2 provisionals, which made things complicated at first, but once we got it figured out, it wasn't so bad! They actually checked the dogs out more then us, and eventually, they chipped and tattooed the dogs so they didn't have to do such a check every time which the dogs didn't like one bit!
 
So, what were you supposed to use if challenged by an aggressor? Harsh language?
Not trying to be funny here or poke the bear. Just genuinely curious to know why our Armed Forces would not arm a guard on duty. Seems counter-intuitive...
After I was promoted to E-7 and was made privy to certain conversations with officers, the consensus of opinion was that Marines are trained to use their weapons and deadly force in a combat situation. It was different for MP's. They were trained along the lines of cops. Combat Marines are going to kill you, not talk to you. Marines walking their post in a military manner are usually going to dissuade a casual burgler or thief. The other consideration is that those young men are usually away from home for the first time and might be mildly depressed or even severely depressed. Their girlfriend may have broken up with him, etc. Not having access to ammunition may reduce the impulse to commit suicide. Just a thought.
Thank you for that explanation, Gunny (if I may be so bold as to call you that). That makes a lot more sense to me now.
 
Not a Marine...
But I have been on guard / sentry duty many times , while in the Army.
As far as weapon handing and loaded magazines and the like...for us at least...
At times :
Empty rifle no ammo at all....
Empty rifle , empty magazine in the rifle , loaded magazines carried in ammo pouches...
Empty rifle , no ammo...but the Sergeant of the Guard had a loaded rifle or pistol....
Empty rifle , loaded magazine in rifle...empty chamber...
Rifle loaded as in a loaded magazine , round chambered...rifle on "safe"...
Time and place played a large role here.

As for the OP , as noted by many , it sounds a bit like some sort of "firing range" instructions...
And as mentioned....just 'cause one was or is military , or "qualified" , does not make one an expert.
Andy


Experience has shown me that most "experts" are (usually) nothing more than drips under pressure.
 
Shot there in basic. Most of my instructing and coaching was at Pu'uloa range on Oahu and then K-Bay and Okinawa.
I watched my PMI a Gunny named Peterson, shoot my m-14 off hand at a bullseye target at 500 meters with a 24 in bull and put all 10 rounds in the black. He then handed me my rifle and said that he was pretty sure that I could do that from the prone position!! What a guy!
 
As a pro-tip from USMC to USA, chewing and passing crayons may plug the drips, even under pressure.

The red ones are especially delicious this time of year.
 
I watched my PMI a Gunny named Peterson, shoot my m-14 off hand at a bullseye target at 500 meters with a 24 in bull and put all 10 rounds in the black. He then handed me my rifle and said that he was pretty sure that I could do that from the prone position!! What a guy!

I did that once with an M16a2 after coaching a qualification week. A couple of my assigned shooters wouldn't stop mouthing off about the difficulty in hitting the bullseye, so I borrowed a rifle and a few saved rounds at the 500 yard line. My third shot was dead center from offhand - not one word after that.

Granted, I'd just finished three months of solid shooting on my unit rifle team and had my standing position down solid...
 
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