Are soldiers allowed to clean weapons in barracks?

1LT Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 06 Sep 2016 08:17:00 -0400

Response by SFC Jerry Humphries made Sep 6 at 2016 8:20 AM

SFC Jerry Humphries — Tue, 06 Sep 2016 08:20:05 -0400

You use to be able too, but that was changing as I got close to retirement due to the new way they were trying to improve the housing for soldiers. I am ignorant to how it is now.

Response by SGM Erik Marquez made Sep 6 at 2016 8:35 AM

SGM Erik Marquez — Tue, 06 Sep 2016 08:35:54 -0400

In the days the units barracks were directly attached to the units building, and the barracks policy stated no personally owned firearms will be stored in the buildings.. YES it was common for a group of SM to end up in a barracks room, play some music and clean. It was also common to catch some doing the wrong thing and that means anything other than cleaning weapons and bring the entire unit back to common areas to clean under direct supervision.

Now with SM quarters being detached from the unit area, how would they get that weapon to the room? would have to be mil vehicle and what does the local policy states for weapons in the quarters? Does it still say "POW's" ? or is it phrased as "No firearms" or "No weapons" ?

Response by LTC Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 6 at 2016 8:58 AM

LTC Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 06 Sep 2016 08:58:01 -0400

We did when I was in basic, but then again, we kept our M14 in our wall lockers too.

Response by SGT Bryon Sergent made Sep 6 at 2016 9:12 AM

SGT Bryon Sergent — Tue, 06 Sep 2016 09:12:17 -0400

As National Guard Soldier it depends on the location. If you get break free or LSA or something spilt on the floor the frown on it. Also you have the soldiers that clean the weapons in the sink and leave the film in the sinks that is hard to get out!

Response by SSgt Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 6 at 2016 10:07 AM

SSgt Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 06 Sep 2016 10:07:43 -0400

We weren't allowed to in Afghanistan, we were told it was to prevent NDs, bit I fail to see how the two are connected.

Other than that, whether at basic training, annual training, or any other place we've had barrack, we've cleaned weapons in the barracks.

Response by CSM Richard StCyr made Sep 6 at 2016 10:11 AM

CSM Richard StCyr — Tue, 06 Sep 2016 10:11:09 -0400

Depends on the Commanders policy. We didn't let them clean them in their rooms because it took forever to get them turned in. We did allow them to clean them in the common area.

Response by Sgt Christopher Wenzel made Sep 6 at 2016 11:07 AM

Sgt Christopher Wenzel — Tue, 06 Sep 2016 11:07:12 -0400

This one time during a health and comfort, a few guys got charged for having a few glocks and a machete in their room. Had a public NJP for those.

Response by SGT Jimmy Carpenter made Sep 6 at 2016 11:31 AM

SGT Jimmy Carpenter — Tue, 06 Sep 2016 11:31:23 -0400

We could when I was in Korea but that was 18 years ago. I don't remember any stateside unit allowing us to even bring our assigned weapons into the barracks.

Response by FN Charlie Spivey made Sep 6 at 2016 12:29 PM

FN Charlie Spivey — Tue, 06 Sep 2016 12:29:58 -0400

In basic, our weapons ( M-1 Garands ) were kept in a rack and we did in fact clean those things after hours in the barracks. Just like Shining your shoes and other things that need to be done. Once out od Basic and in the field, they were kept in the Station / Ships Armory and somebody else did the cleaning.

Response by MSG Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 6 at 2016 1:43 PM

MSG Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 06 Sep 2016 13:43:35 -0400

Check local policy.

Response by SGT Chris Hill made Sep 6 at 2016 4:02 PM

SGT Chris Hill — Tue, 06 Sep 2016 16:02:23 -0400

You're going to receive a bunch of "hear say", in a barracks room, I would think to not allow that. In the CQ area or offices, sure.

Response by SSG Steven Mangus made Sep 6 at 2016 6:20 PM

SSG Steven Mangus — Tue, 06 Sep 2016 18:20:17 -0400

Normally that is a command decision, however we all know what happens when joes do things in there rooms. Sleep or play video games. When I was in every unit did not allow that type of tomfoolery to go on.

Response by SFC George Smith made Sep 6 at 2016 6:37 PM

SFC George Smith — Tue, 06 Sep 2016 18:37:15 -0400

we did in Basic and in the 1/509th we did because the Arms Room was just down the Hall from our rooms

Response by 1LT Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 7 at 2016 6:03 PM

1LT Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 07 Sep 2016 18:03:32 -0400

1LT Private RallyPoint Member - Not supposed to keep a weapon under our pillow? OMG!!! Sandy :)

Response by COL David Turk made Sep 8 at 2016 12:48 PM

COL David Turk — Thu, 08 Sep 2016 12:48:23 -0400

We did back in the 70's.

Response by SSG Wally Lawver made Sep 8 at 2016 1:04 PM

SSG Wally Lawver — Thu, 08 Sep 2016 13:04:52 -0400

we always did in the late 80's early 90's at Camp Lejeune...Best way to recover from a late nite of carousing, was a long day of weapons maintenance:)

Response by SCPO Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 9 at 2016 12:53 AM

SCPO Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 09 Sep 2016 00:53:32 -0400

I take it you've missed seeing about, oh, a couple hundred thousand DoD training films or boot camp company "yearbooks," or Full Metal Jacket, among dozens like it???

Response by SPC Gary Welch made Aug 8 at 2018 10:42 PM

SPC Gary Welch — Wed, 08 Aug 2018 22:42:51 -0400

We plopped down on our rucks in the parking lot behind the company area as soon as we came back from field for the first cleaning then the second and third we could move into the co area never in the barracks

Response by SPC(P) Nick Bondgien made Dec 27 at 2023 10:46 AM

SPC(P) Nick Bondgien — Wed, 27 Dec 2023 10:46:59 -0500

We always did. I don't know about these days. I remember showering w m16's, 203's and 60's.

Response by SPC Kevin Walker made Feb 20 at 2024 1:26 PM

SPC Kevin Walker — Tue, 20 Feb 2024 13:26:35 -0500

When I was stationed in Germany in the early 1970s we cleaned weapons in our barracks