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Re: Madrid Military Parade: 12 October 2009

Posted: Sun Oct 18, 2009 12:06 am
by Karl Heidenreich
Nice pieces: the Leopard and the Howitzer.

Re: Madrid Military Parade: 12 October 2009

Posted: Sun Oct 18, 2009 12:07 am
by José M. Rico
Bgile wrote:
Byron Angel wrote:Who are the fellows marching with the Mauser bolt-actions? A bit archaic, but still nice to see!
My guess is they are cadets and the rifles aren't functional.
Yes, those are cadets from the Naval Academy (photos #3, #4 ) and Air Force (photo #1). I think the rifles are functional but of course nobody goes into combat with a Mauser anymore. The main rifle of the Spanish Armed forces is the HECKLER & KOCH G 36 as you can see in the last set of photos.

From Wikipedia:
Spain: Purchased the G36E to equip all branches of the Spanish Armed Forces. 75,219 units acquired with deliveries starting in 1999 and completed in 2005; 60,000 rifles were issued to the Spanish Army, 7,559 were allotted to the Spanish Navy and the Spanish Air Force received a total of 7,660 weapons. Naval G36's are slightly different in that they feature a 3x optical sight. The rifles are manufactured jointly by both Heckler & Koch in Oberndorf am Neckar and the General Dynamics Santa Bárbara Sistemas facility in A Coruña, Spain at a unit cost of €778.99
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heckler_&_Koch_G36

Re: Madrid Military Parade: 12 October 2009

Posted: Sun Oct 18, 2009 2:43 am
by Bgile
José M. Rico wrote: Yes, those are cadets from the Naval Academy (photos #3, #4 ) and Air Force (photo #1). I think the rifles are functional but of course nobody goes into combat with a Mauser anymore. The main rifle of the Spanish Armed forces is the HECKLER & KOCH G 36 as you can see in the last set of photos.
The only reason I surmised they might not be functional is I was on an ROTC drill team with Springfield rifles. The firing pins were shaved off so they wouldn't be functional, and I expect that isn't uncommon for old drill pieces.

Re: Madrid Military Parade: 12 October 2009

Posted: Mon Oct 19, 2009 1:17 pm
by RF
Karl Heidenreich wrote: And the goose step, guys, is not that awful for formal ocassion at least.
Haven't you seen Monty Python's ''Ministry of Silly Walks?''

Re: Madrid Military Parade: 12 October 2009

Posted: Mon Oct 19, 2009 6:04 pm
by Karl Heidenreich
Nope but I saw the Life of Brian, Holy Grail and Brazil.

Re: Madrid Military Parade: 12 October 2009

Posted: Mon Oct 19, 2009 7:09 pm
by lwd
Way off topic but Monty Python had a weekly(?) series on TV. You may be able to find it on the web. I either find Monty Python hilarious or baffleing in about equap porportions.