A perfect example of some of the better aspects of my job. This here would be a nicely modified M249 Squad Automatic Weapon, or SAW for short. In this case, this one is much more compact,making it hard for many soldiers even to notice it is actually a SAW. Why on earth these modifications couldn't be done. Back home, it was a joke to give the SAW to the smallest (and usually lowest ranking) guy in a squad. I remember being forced to carry it my very first AT (Annual Training) in Fort Chaffee, AR. Carrying around the thing was terrible, but oddly enough I was better at it than an M16, qualifying on with it on the Camp Robinson SAW range in the summertime. It being hard since the drought that goes on months before we go there makes tracer rounds stir up massive amounts of dust within a few rounds, plus it's tendency for the whole range to be set on fire every 10 minutes. Despite that, me and one other guy in the company managed to qualify. While I still sort of miss the weapon, I'll always remember the pain of carrying the thing with about 400 rounds of ammo.