How Close is 'Close Combat'?

[William F. Owen]

What was the scale of issue of the SA80 bayonet in the British Army fireteam in the first half of 2004? That's when the incident happened.

3 out of 4. They did fix bayonets, and they move into contact with the enemy, but most accounts suggest the enemy had already given up, when this happened

However, I've read enough smatterings of casual accounts (see more below) to suggest that this is a worthy topic of formal research - at what range has combat occurred in Iraq & Afghanistan?

It always comes back to folks trying to prove we still need to issue bayonets. Do men use bayonets to kill? Yes, but it is incredibly rare, and many accounts are simply false, - as are many claims made by men about their conduct in battle.
I'd strongly recommend "Not Mentioned in Dispatches" and "The Real Bravo-Two-Zero," as two books that showed how two popular accounts of battles or actions were largely invented.
...that may be a good subject for academic study!

[AdamG]

It always comes back to folks trying to prove we still need to issue bayonets. Do men use bayonets to kill? Yes, but it is incredibly rare, and many accounts are simply false, - as are many claims made by men about their conduct in battle.
I'd strongly recommend "Not Mentioned in Dispatches" and "The Real Bravo-Two-Zero," as two books that showed how two popular accounts of battles or actions were largely invented.

I've read other accounts of how history is re-written in memory and I'm intimately familiar with how Joe, whether he's a PFC or an LTC, can twist reality to suit his own purposes.

However, this is academic wool gathering, as the die has already been cast.

http://www.scrippsnews.com/node/55375
Fri, 07/23/2010 - 13:28

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Army says the last time it mounted a bayonet assault in combat was nearly 60 years ago during the Korean War.

Even so, ever since, hundreds of thousands of new soldiers in basic training have had to master wielding one on a rubber-tire course -- even as their rifles evolved to be incompatible with bayonets and the skill ceased to matter.

Now, after listening to troops share their battle insights after nearly a decade of war in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Army has ordered the end to bayonet training, effective this month.

That's not the only training and battle-drill change the Army has made based on insights from the current wars and projections about future ones.