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To Marines on a breaching mission, the shotgun is more
than just a weapon. It is a tool Marines use to breach ...
or gain entry into ... an enemy-held building using the
minimal amount of force. Marine Corps Systems Command’s
Military Enhancement Kit gives Marines the tactical
advantage by transforming current shotguns into a more
compact and versatile weapon.
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March 1, 3017 - The Military Enhancement Kit provides versatile
capabilities to Marine units trained to engage on breaching
missions. The kit builds upon the Mossberg M500A2, but gives Marines
a shorter, vented breaching barrel and three interchangeable
buttstock attachments pictured here. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Alan Matthews)
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The MEK is a ballistic
breaching tool ... or what Marines use to safely shoot the
locks off of doors. It is designed to augment the M500A2
pump-action shotguns currently used by Marine
reconnaissance, security forces, military police, explosive
ordnance disposal and special operations units. The kit
gives Marines a shorter, vented breaching barrel and three
interchangeable buttstock attachments: a pistol grip, fixed
buttstock and a collapsible buttstock. At 18 inches long,
the MEK’s barrel is nearly three inches shorter than the
M500A2’s standard barrel, making it less cumbersome for
Marines to carry.
“When you’re breaching or
conducting methods of entry, having the ability to secure
the weapon on your body without it becoming cumbersome is
important,” said Gunnery Sgt. Michael Flor, ballistic
breaching course chief and senior instructor at the Methods
of Entry School, the Marine Corps center of excellence for
breaching. “Having a shorter barrel and a pistol grip
removes all of the extra space that is not necessary for
ballistic breaching. So when you stow it, you can stow it
much more rapidly.”
Current shotguns can be modified
by Marine Corps armorers with a special adaptor from the MEK
that allows Marines to easily interchange the buttstocks in
a matter of seconds without the need for additional tools.
“Having the ability to transition through the three
stocks ... the folding, the pistol grip and the fixed ...
makes the weapons more versatile,” Flor said. “The kit
allows the weapon to be tailored to the tactical user at the
user level.”
The shorter breaching barrel and
different stock grips, namely the pistol grip, offer several
tactical advantages, Flor said.
“For instance, if
reconnaissance Marines repel from a helicopter carrying a
long weapon system that’s unsecured, it can catch on parts
of the air frame or the rope and become a safety hazard,”
Flor said. “Having a shorter weapon system, secured tightly,
is more manageable. That’s an advantage.”
The MEK
also yields significant savings for the Marine Corps ...
another advantage.
“By using the MEK with
currently-fielded M500A2 shotguns, the Marine Corps only had
to buy the kits,” said Maj. Paul Gillikin, Special Purpose
Weapons team lead in MCSC’s Infantry Weapons Systems. “Also,
modifying the shotgun in local armories will save time and
shipping costs, and units will retain their shotguns
on-hand, as opposed to sending them in to a depot for
maintenance.”
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August 6, 2015 - Sgt. Trenton Hansen, a Special Reaction Team
member from the Marine Corps Base Quantico Provost Marshals Office,
uses a Military Enhancement Kit to breach open a door. The MEK
provides versatile capabilities to Marine units trained to engage on
breaching missions. The kit builds upon the Mossberg M500A2, but
gives Marines a shorter, vented breaching barrel and three
interchangeable buttstock attachments, including the collapsible
buttstock featured in this photo. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Alan
Matthews)
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As part of IWS’s evaluation process,
Gillikin and his team turned the kit over to Marines at the
Methods of Entry School, located aboard Marine Corps Base
Quantico. MOES instructors teach breaching methodology to
Marines assigned to Reconnaissance and Force Reconnaissance
units, Security Forces Regiment Recapture Tactics teams,
Military Police Special Reaction teams, Explosive Ordnance
Disposal units and Marine Special Operations Command units.
Marines who undergo training at MOES will be the primary
users of the kit.
“We reached out early to MOES, and
the feedback we received from experts like Gunnery Sgt. Flor
and Master Sgt. Bryan Maass was key to helping us get the
MEK to Marines," said Gillikin. “They were able to
articulate a capability and requirement, and assist us in
test design and execution. Infantry Weapons Systems-South
logistics personnel took it the rest of the way by
completing the cataloging process, which will allow units to
sustain the kit through normal supply requisitioning.”
The MEK is currently being fielded to select units
across the Marine Corps, and is one of the many capabilities
offered to Marines by MCSC’s Infantry Weapons Systems. IWS
strives to ensure that Marines are equipped and ready for
their next challenge, whether that means introducing new
weapons systems or, in the case of the MEK, enhancing
current ones.
By U.S. Marine Corps Ashley Calingo
Provided
through DVIDS
Copyright 2017
The U.S. Marines
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