When I deployed to Bosnia in 2001, I noticed the 2nd Battalion 22nd Infantry, 10th Infantry Division (Mountain) were all equipped with the M4 Carbine while all the US Army National Guard units were equipped with M16A2 rifles. But that was 16 years ago and I know the intent was to equip the National Guard units with M4 carbines as well. So I did some research.

[hider=VTARNG M4]These soldiers are members of the Vermont Army National Guard and obviously equipped with M4 Carbines rather than M16A2 Rifles.[img]https://cdn.dvidshub.net/media/thumbs/photos/1506/2032116/1000w_q95.jpg[/img][/hider]

I researched this because I would like to know the source of these weapons our characters would acquire on the black market. Will the weapons come from a civilian source (AR-15)? US Military source (M4)? or Soviet source (AK-47)?

If the source is civilian then there is a wide variety of options out there. I merely put the AR15 at the top of the list simply because it is the most common military styled rifle on the market today. But alas, all of these weapons would be semi-automatic only. It would be a rare find to have a full automatic weapon in the civilian sector. Not impossible, just rare.

If the source is the Vermont Army National Guard, either dead or captured, as the Soviets have taken over Vermont then the principal weapon would be the M4 Carbine. But this list would also include Mk-14 Assault Rifles, M203 Grenade Launchers, M9 Pistols, M240B Machine Guns, M2 .50 Caliber Machine Guns and Mk-19 40mm Automatic Grenade Launchers.

This is a listing of VTARNG units:
[hider=VTARNG][h3]86th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Mountain)[/h3]
3rd Battalion, 172nd Infantry Regiment (Mountain)
[indent]HHC, Ethan Allen Firing Range, Jericho, VT
HHD 2, Camp Fogarty, East Greenwich, RI
A Company (VT)
[s]B Company (Maine National Guard)[/s]
[s]C Company (NH)[/s]
D Company (VT)[/indent]
[s]1st Battalion, 102nd Infantry Regiment (Connecticut)[/s]
1st Squadron, 172nd Cavalry Regiment (Vermont) [M1 Abrams and M2 Cavalry Fighting Vehicles]
[s]1st Battalion, 101st Field Artillery Regiment (United States)
[indent]HQ Battery (MA)
A Battery (MA)[/indent][/s]
[indent]B Battery (VT)[/indent]
186th Brigade Support Battalion
86th Brigade Special Troops Battalion
Garrison Support Command

[h3]86th Troop Command[/h3]
131st Engineer Company (HO)
40th Army Band
172 Public Affairs Detachment
C Co 3/126th AVN (Air Ambulance)
Detachment 27, Operational Support Airlift Command
Detachment 1, 42nd MP Company
15th Civil Support Team (WMD)
124th Infantry Regiment (Regional Training Institute). 124th Regiment (RTI)'s designation recognizes a former Vermont ARNG unit, the 124th Antiaircraft Artillery Battalion.
U.S. Army Mountain Warfare School
2nd Battalion (Modular Training)
3rd Battalion (Information Operations)
4th Battalion (Signal Training)

The units in the Troop Command are not actual combat maneuver units. They are training units used to help train the combat units in the 86th Brigade Combat Team. These units would possess a nominal supply of weapons and could be found dropped by their previous owners quite often.[/hider]

If the source is from US military that have already retreated west of the Mississippi River, then the possibility of the M16A2 being dropped into guerrilla units as there is a surplus of these rifles on the market.

If the source is Soviet, then the opportunity to acquire Soviet built rifles like the AK-47 are quite possible. The nice thing about using Soviet built weapons is that the guerrillas can use Soviet ammunition which is probably in much more abundant supply, [i]behind the lines[/i].


NOTE: The lined out units in the hider depicting VTARNG units are located out of state and not present in our little sandbox.