I woke up last night, thinking about this topic. As far as Small Wars are concerned, the "rebel" leaders, since the mid-60s or so, have taken to using the Avtomat Kalashnikov as a "totem". And since the 80s, the Krinkov variation has supplanted the venerable "AK" as the "totem of choice".

The symbolism is quite important. Especially with the Krinkov, as they represented a "captured" weapon, used only by the "elite" soldiers. It lent the person posing with it a derivative manhood. The AK also symbolizes the Mao-style of warfare to a certain degree.

The video that went around with al Zarqawi struggling to make the M249 SAW work was actually very good IO. His inability to figure out how to make a relatively simple captured weapon work did much to peel away his persona, and since that time, the image that Zarqawi was actually just a wannabe who was never very important in the movement has gained serious traction.

Various form of SOF/SF "kit" have also gained totem status. Children and even adults around the world have taken to purchasing chest rigs, "para" helmets and knee pads, along with legally owned firearms as well as airsoft guns in order to run around in the woods and in abandoned houses, pretending to be various incarnations of the SOF/SF culture in their spare time.

Incidences of posing as genuine "operators" has reached epidemic proportions, even among bona fide members of the US military.

Among the actual "operators", the term "gear queer" is gaining common usage. SOF/SF soldiers are adopting and discarding various arrangements of gear based on looks and fashion/groupthink as much as on utility and practicality.

The ubiquitous M16/CAR15/M4 has morphed beyond recognition, with various mounting systems being filled with a myriad of sights, grips, lights, lasers and stock options. To be sure, a lot of these options increase capability, but many of the capabilities do not match practical reality and all that stuff adds weight and makes the weapon rather cumbersome.

Some tactical methods are highly totemic. The "Airborne" mania sucks up a lot of resources with very little to show in results. My colleagues and I snicker about the 173d Airborne Brigade's "Combat Jump Behind Friendly Lines" in 2003 quite often.

One could go on and on.

Thoughts?