What is not seen in the story is my Uncle, who was a lowly Captain that was a manager on the project. This guy knew the were cooking the books on the ballistic end of the trials. He had a buddy on the range who collated all the hard data on ballistics then sent it back to the center where my uncle worked (this is post his first trip to Vietnam). He and his buddy were talking and the numbers were not matching the data my uncle was seeing on his end.
Because someone was cooking the books.
He was called into his commander's office asked if he thought the data was being played with. He said yes...I mean, he saw the high speed film footage of a M16 round bouncing off of ballistic sheeting at a 100 meters when supposedly the round would penetrate a steel helmet AND a helmet liner at the range and he KNEW that the barrels were failing hte "three drop" test where they would burst with, literally, three drops of water. He was asked to wait outside the personel office where his commander would join him in about a half hour.
While he was waiting, his wife called (they were staying officer's housing on base). She asked him why the moving van was there.
At that momment he realized he had been fired from his position...and was getting relocated...somewhere.
By 1 AM that morning he was back in Cincinnati, dropping of his pregnant wife and 3 year old son at my grandparents house and on his way for another tour in good old Vietnam.
He later became a good drinking buddy of Eugene Stoner where that sat around and bitched about DoD procurement and B.S that resulted in a not so happy entry of the M16 into military service.
The Saga of the M16 in Vietnam
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