I apologize for my typing faster than my brain. I do recall that the discussion with my major quickly focused on the policy not the gaurd. Some perspective, this was the third gate on the compound. Not that that matters much. The major's ID card is good enough for him, his word should be good enough for his convoy.

I was also on a convoy of LMTV's that was stopped at the front gate to Kandahar after we spent two weeks walking through and ten hours driving back from the mountains. The wait was very long (I don't recall how long) and every soldier had to show his ID. We did not all carry ID's because they have our SSN on them which would be bad were we captured by the Internet saavy jihadi. The tower gaurd looked on as we passed ID cards back and forth so the gate gaurd could see that we all had one. Not sure what this garrison policy will accomplish in combat ops. Again, if the ID card on the commander is good enough for him, why is his rank not good enough for us all?

Long way round, rank means little, adulthood means less, and manhood no longers exists.

I am not so fast to discount that M18A1 on the bumper idea. Properly constructed and shielded, the blast could be deflected out. In some situations, I could see that the claymore might be better than the alternative. Think Jessica Lynch and the human wave. I'll take the 1.25 lbs of boom outside the uparmoured vehicle over an RPG through the winshield or the human wave pulling me out (Blackwater in Fallujah). These men may have been ahead of their time a bit.

On the other hand...perhaps a few test runs at Aberdeen would have been prudent.