Warfighter Pro Tips- Personal Weapon

• Every war fighter should be an expert with their weapon. I really cannot understand at all a lackadaisical attitude toward ones weapon- your life will at some point depend on it.
• Learn the 5 point oiling system of lubing an M4. Lube those points lightly, but faithfully at every cleaning. Leaders that think they're hard will demand once a day cleaning of weapons. A soldier who does say, perimeter duty and then a patrol should have done a pretty decent cleaning of his weapon at least 3 times in a day.
• Worn out magazines are the number one cause of malfunctions- buy your own if issued rotten ones.
• Dry lubes- I never had any luck with the authorized type I tried and I tried it by the book.
• Consider carrying a magazine that is full tracer for your ready mag. (although have the first one or two rounds ball ammo). Yes- I know tracers work both ways, but in those seconds after an IED explodes or an ambush is popped it may be the edge you need to get some rounds off quickly and accurately. Then switch to ball ammo if concerned the enemy may locate you by the trace of your ammo.
• As a gunner on a vehicle I would have my personal weapon on top of the truck locked and loaded with tracer and the weapon would be tethered to me in a way that promoted quick release, but would not allow it be separated from me in a rollover or a blast.
• Have a quick release way to tether your weapon to your body armor to prevent separation in a fall, wreck or blast. This will also allow hands free operation during searches and casualty treatments.
• In combat too many guys take too much time lining up a target too perfectly- like they've done a thousand times on a range. For close human targets at the moment of truth in battle it's better to look across your sights (rather than through them) and start shooting as you come up through the target (as you bring the weapon up from the carry/ready position). After the first time you'll know better how much time you have.
• You can shoot an enemy soldier all you want while you face him- even if he goes down, he may be a threat and you won't be second guessed unless you turn your back on him and come back while he doesn't appear to be a legitimate threat. If you come back and shoot him eleventy more times just to be safe- you're on shaky legal ground if someone has it in for you and witnesses the shooting.
• Even if the enemy drops like a sack of potatoes on your first shot always, always (unless afraid of betraying your position) shoot him at least 2 more times.
• Become familar with the AK family of weapons- know how to detach the magazine and memorize the positioning of the selector lever. If it all possible get range time with it. As a leader, if setting up a familiarization range with the AK have multiple mags with varying amounts of rounds in each to force surprise reloads. This can't be overstated enough- if you only have 40 rounds for each guy have 10 rounds in one mag. 4 in another...
• If your unit doesn't buy you a scope buy your own low power red dot or ACOG. They are very useful for scanning and then you're ready to shoot when you locate a target.
• No one would have to tell me to carry double the combat load of ammo if working from a vehicle and least 50% extra if working full leg from my base.
• Always save the last round...