Here's how you know
 **Official websites use .mil** .mil
 **Secure .mil websites use HTTPS** lock () https://


Skip to main content (Press Enter).
 Toggle navigation
            
            
            
            
            National Guard
                        Always Ready Always There
                    National Guard
            
            Search National Guard:
                        Search
                    Search
                        Search National Guard:
                            Search
    Home

    News
    
        Guard News

    Overseas Operations

    State Partnership Program

    News Features

    RSS Feeds

    Press Releases

    Transcripts

    Features
    
        Features by Year

    Posture Statement

    State Partnership Program

    Special Features

    About the Guard
    
        How We Began

    Air National Guard

    Army National Guard    
    
        DEERS Soldier Journey

    Leader Development Program

    History and Heritage

    I am the Guard

    NGB Official March

    Leadership
    
        CNGB

    VCNGB

    SEA

    DANG

    DARNG

    Joint Staff    
    
        J-1

    J-2

    J-3

    J-4

    J-5

    J-6

    J-7

    J-8

    Personal Staff    
    
        Inspector General

    General Counsel

    Public Affairs

    Executive Support Services

    Legislative Liaison

    Special Staff    
    
        National Guard Office of Special Victims' Counsel

    Office of the Provost Marshal

    Office of the Joint Surgeon

    Director of Acquisitions

    Small Business Programs

    Chaplain

    Senior Leader Management Office

    Diversity Equity Inclusion

    Comptroller

    Resources    
        National Defense Strategy Implementation Guidance

    Community Engagement

    FOIA

    Fact Sheets

    Helpful Links

    Image Gallery
    
        News Images

    Graphics

    Historical Paintings

    Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

    Legislative Liaison

    Small Business Programs

    Social Media

    State Websites

    Videos    
    
        Featured Videos

    On Every Front

    2019 Videos

    2020 Videos

    2021 Videos

    Suicide Prevention

    Family Programs

    Environmental

    Trial Defense Service

    Holistic Wellness Challenge

    Contact Us  Home
  News
  Article View
 
 Download
 Details
 Share
 NEWS
 Vermont Guardsman solves M17 training round extraction issue By Joshua Cohen,
                Vermont National Guard
 COLCHESTER, Vt. – Shortly after the U.S. Army adopted the M17 service pistol in 2017, new individual weapons qualifications required the use of dummy, drilled, inert (DDI) practice rounds before live-fire qualification. In November 2020, while helping snipers from 3rd Battalion, 172nd Infantry (Mountain), prepare for a national competition, Vermont Army National Guard Warrant Officer 3 Cara Krauss, state ammunition manager, noticed that DDI rounds failed to extract. The pistol upper receivers became inoperable "and could only be pushed back by applying force to the front of the pistol," Knauss said. "Most Soldiers have no experience using DDI rounds, but marksmanship trainers have been using them for years and incorporating quite often into training events," she said. "These DDI rounds are obtained through the Army, Class V system." Unsure why the DDI rounds did not extract, Krauss notified Vermont Army National Guard Staff Sgt. James Farnsworth, supervisor of the Vermont Army National Guard Electronic/Armament/Calibration Combined Support Maintenance Shop at Camp Johnson in Colchester. Krauss said over the next six months, Farnsworth worked closely with "myself, a representative from U.S. Army Tank and Automotive Command, mechanical engineers from Picatinny Arsenal, ammunition managers from National Guard Bureau, and the PM Maneuver Ammunition Systems (PMMAS) Pistol Ammunition Project Officer to identify the problem." Farnsworth worked to troubleshoot potential issues. "Each and every time we thought we had the answer, we'd get the same result — the DDI round could not be ejected, and the slide wasn't able to be locked to the rear," Farnsworth said. "When we didn't seem to be making any progress, that's when Farnsworth really began going far out of his way to identify the problem," Knauss said. Farnsworth dug through technical manuals and other resources, ultimately finding an M17 maintenance advisory message "stating that some pistols had reset springs in the strikers and others did not," she said. The Vermont National Guard fielded M17 pistols with and without the striker reset springs, a factor that does not affect performance with live ammunition. Pistols without the spring will not function properly with DDI rounds, now in production specifically for the M17 and new Army qualification requirements. Krauss said this finding "led to a new barrage of tests to see if perhaps this was indeed the issue or at least part of the issue. Since you can't see what's happening inside the pistol though, this was very difficult to demonstrate." During subsequent tests, examples of the M17 with the striker reset spring functioned properly with the DDI rounds, while those without would jam and experience failure to extract manually. "After six months of working this, we finally identified that the M17s without the reset spring in the striker coupled with the way the Army's DDI was made accounted for this problem," Krauss said. "After jamming, if held vertically, with the barrel pointed straight upward, the firing pin would disengage from the DDI," Farnsworth said. "Where in the horizontal position, the pin would remain logged in the DDI, causing the jammed upper receiver. In the case of an M17 with the reset spring, this did not happen." Krauss said she and Farnsworth "determined how to alter the DDI so it would work, in order to help our own deploying units meet the standard prior to mobilizing." They shared their findings with Army headquarters to determine if the new pistol qualification standards needed to be reviewed, or if M17 manufacturers needed to retrofit the pistols without reset springs in the striker, and if the DDI rounds currently in manufacturing would need to be modified. An engineer at the Picatinny Arsenal concluded Farnsworth had indeed discovered the cause and a potential solution. In September 2021, Vermont National Guard leaders recommended Farnsworth for a "Special Act or Service Award" — a monetary award to recognize a "nonrecurring meritorious personal effort, contribution, or accomplishment in the public interest." He was awarded $8,000 for his efforts. Krauss said Farnsworth "never once told me he was too busy to help. Every organization should be so lucky to have someone like Farnsworth working for them. If I could recommend him for a higher award, I would."
 SHARE
 PRINT
  Vermont National Guard
 M17
 
 New York, Connecticut Soldiers are Regional Best Warriors
 By Sgt. 1st Class Jonathan Pietrantoni,
  Vermont Army Guard Soldiers Attend Brazilian Mountain School
 By Sgt. Denis Nunez,
  New York Army Guard Soldiers Heading to North Africa
 By Eric Durr,
  More
 Pennsylvania Army Guardsmen Complete Combat Lifesaver Course Guard News • 1 hour ago
 38th Infantry Division Soldiers Conduct Warfighter Exercise Guard News • 9 hours ago
 Puerto Rico Air National Guard Trains at Red Flag-Alaska Guard News • 9 hours ago
 Air National Guard Conducts Sentry Savannah Exercise Guard News • yesterday
 Hawaii Air National Guard Hosts Sentry Aloha Joint Exercise Guard News • yesterday
 2024 (196)  2023 (427)  2022 (526)  2021 (697)  2020 (936)  2019 (387)  2018 (323)  2017 (346)  2016 (245)  2015 (356)  2014 (399)  2013 (469)  2012 (556)  2011 (533)  2010 (1071)  2009 (357)  2008 (638)  2007 (295)  2006 (188)
 Home
 Site Map
 Privacy & Security Policy
 Link Disclaimer
 Web Policy
 DOD Information Quality
 DOD Open GovernmentFOIA
 No FEAR Act
 Accessibility/Section 508
 Contact Us
 Army Guard Careers
 Air Guard Careers
 USA.gov
                    
Staying Connected
    XYouTubeFlickrFacebookInstagram
                 
                
                

Hosted by Defense Media Activity - WEB.mil