Three big take aways from this article:

1) Basic knowledge of small arms use and maintenance in the military is terrible. I'm serious. I find myself teaching hip pocket classes on what makes a rifle work and how to fix it when it stops working almost every time I spend more than a couple of days with a non-SOF unit. USMC, Army or AF doesn't matter. The number of old wives tales and general bad information that affects how soldiers think about, treat and care for their weapons is staggering.

2) The rifle runs best when wet. - Every time I hear some loud mouth, know nothing, asshole (even better when they have shiny shit or rockers on their collar) telling younger guys that "you're not supposed to lube a rifle in the desert because it'll attract dust" I want to throat punch them. We're more than 12 years into this shit and I still hear it at least once a rotation. Lube the moving parts. It's not rocket surgery. If it's extra dusty you should maybe think about taking the bolt carrier out of the gun, wiping it down, lubing it up again, putting it back in the gun and closing the dust cover. This process takes about 60 seconds. People need to stop acting like weapons are magical instruments that are supposed to work indefinitely with no end user maintenance. It's a simple machine and needs to be treated as such. It's your rifle, it's your responsibility to keep it running.

3) Magazines are wear items. - When they stop working, stop using them. They are not heirlooms to be passed down through the generations. Numbering them so you know which is which is a good step towards getting rid of the problem magazines in your load out.