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The region had known so much war, but the last few months had been fairly peaceful. The Canadian Battalion was organized under the "West African Response Force" and would be made as mobile as possible, so that it could directly be moved to any "flashpoints" that would happen in the near future. Resources and money were made available, set aside in fact, to be used in the event that things "got serious". Mason could press a few buttons and make a few phone calls, and weapons would be unpacked and issued. Elements of the Benin Army, and the supplemental SoU militia battalion had "familiarization" with what they would be issued in the event of conflict. The M16A4s, M249s, 40mm M230s, and other weapons had been put in warehouses at least a decade if not decades ago. Someone in the NAU had looked at them and replaced parts, such as bolts, barrels, and gas-tubes.
The locals had put about 200 rounds or equivalent through these weapons, using surplus M855 ammunition and 40mm "chalk" rounds. There was talk about issuing these troops M855A1 in PMAGs, in the event of intense fighting. This new ammunition would give them considerably more firepower, range, accuracy, and such.... but it would wear out the guns faster. Obviously, the men would train on M855 and be issued M855A1 only if actual fighting was to happen.... but how much? Perhaps the men would be firing so little ammo that it wouldn't matter? There was some difficulty in being sure.
A combat loadout for the AK was about 180 rounds and the loadout for the M16A4 was about 240 rounds, while also being considerably lighter. The average rifleman would be carrying about 8 pounds of magazines and ammunition, but the weight of the cartridges was only 3 kilograms (6.6 pounds). This didn't include the M249 SAW belt-feds, which would require every single man to be carrying a 100 round belt, if he wasn't loading down with an RPG-7, rockets, or things like that.
That meant 40 kilograms of ammunition if there was a single combat a day, sporadic fighting might mean half that, and heavy fighting could meant one and a half to double consumption of ammunition. This would factor into "wear and tear" on the weapons, along with being extra weight for the infantry and their mule.... There was also about 24 pounds in armor they would be issued....Rations.... That mule would be very important.
