M 16: Tradition, Innovation, and Controversy

Abstract

Invented in 1957, the M-16 rifle represented a sharp break with tradition for the United States Army. It was made of revolutionary lightweight materials (aluminum and plastic), was a smaller caliber than any previous military rifle, featured a maximum effective range of 500 yards, and perhaps most importantly, was not invented within the Army's weapons procurement system. Each of these issues caused strong resistance in the pre-Vietnam US Army, which valued its long-standing commitment to long-range marksmanship. This resistance curtailed the development process normally given a new weapon. Ultimately, the M-16's troubled development would cause severe malfunctions in Vietnam and many deaths of infantrymen unable to return enemy fire. The resulting congressional investigation discovered near-criminal negligence by both the Army and the M-16's manufacturer, Colt.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jun 18, 2021
Accession Number
AD1157264

Entities

People

  • Dallas T. Durham

Organizations

  • United States Army Command and General Staff College

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Human Systems
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Ammunition
  • Army Personnel
  • Automatic Weapons
  • Civil War
  • Congress
  • Department Of Defense
  • Governments
  • House Of Representatives
  • Machine Guns
  • Manufacturing
  • Military Organizations
  • Personnel Management
  • Projectiles
  • Small Arms
  • United States
  • United States Government
  • Warfare

Readers

  • Economics
  • Marksmanship and Weaponry.
  • Military History of the United States in the 20th Century.