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A service pistol, also known as a personal weapon or an ordnance weapon, is any handgun issued to regular
military personnel Military personnel are members of the state's armed forces. Their roles, pay, and obligations differ according to their military branch (army, navy, marines, air force, space force, and coast guard), rank (officer, non-commissioned officer, or ...
or
law enforcement officer A law enforcement officer (LEO), or peace officer in North American English, is a public-sector employee whose duties primarily involve the enforcement of laws. The phrase can include campaign disclosure specialists, local police officers, ...
s. Typically, service pistols are revolvers or semi-automatic pistols issued to
officer An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," f ...
s, non-commissioned officers, and rear-echelon support personnel for
self-defense Self-defense (self-defence primarily in Commonwealth English) is a countermeasure that involves defending the health and well-being of oneself from harm. The use of the right of self-defense as a legal justification for the use of force ...
, though service pistols may also be issued to special forces as a backup for their primary weapons. Pistols are not typically issued to front-line
infantry Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and mar ...
. Before firearms were commonplace, officers and non-commissioned officers typically carried swords instead.


History

Prior to the introduction of cartridge-loading firearms, there was little standardization with regards to the handguns carried by military personnel, although it had been important for
officers An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," f ...
, artillerymen, and other auxiliary troops to have a means of defending themselves, especially as it was not always practical for them to have a full-length rifle or
carbine A carbine ( or ) is a long gun that has a barrel shortened from its original length. Most modern carbines are rifles that are compact versions of a longer rifle or are rifles chambered for less powerful cartridges. The smaller size and lighte ...
. Traditionally, soldiers (infantry and cavalry alike) and officers had carried swords for both personal protection and use in combat. The development of firearms in the mid-14th century changed the way battles were fought, and by the late-15th century it was no longer especially practical to close to hand-to-hand combat range to engage one's opponents, owing to the prevalence of pikes and musket-fire (
pike and shot Pike and shot was a historical infantry tactical formation that first appeared during the Italian Wars of the late 15th and early 16th centuries, and was used until the development of the bayonet in the late 17th century. This type of formation ...
) on the battlefield. Training was also a factor—it took a very long time to train new recruits in the use of
longbow A longbow (known as warbow in its time, in contrast to a hunting bow) is a type of tall bow that makes a fairly long draw possible. A longbow is not significantly recurved. Its limbs are relatively narrow and are circular or D-shaped in cross ...
s and swords—whereas the basic operation of an
arquebus An arquebus ( ) is a form of long gun that appeared in Europe and the Ottoman Empire during the 15th century. An infantryman armed with an arquebus is called an arquebusier. Although the term ''arquebus'', derived from the Dutch word ''Haakbus ...
could be taught in a comparatively short time. As a result, swords were retained only by officers (who were less likely to be at the front of the pike-and-musket hedge) and by cavalry, for whom early single-shot handguns were of limited use. The invention of the revolver in 1836 finally made a ''service pistol'' practical, as prior to this pistols had largely been single-shot weapons usually of no particular standardized pattern. Although officers traditionally had been obliged to buy their own weapons, non-commissioned officers (NCOs) and other enlisted personnel were generally issued their weapons (which they were then expected to either pay for or return to the
quartermaster Quartermaster is a military term, the meaning of which depends on the country and service. In land armies, a quartermaster is generally a relatively senior soldier who supervises stores or barracks and distributes supplies and provisions. In ...
if they were promoted). Service pistols, on the other hand, were generally issued to officers, NCOs, and others who needed to carry personal weapons as part of their duties. Hence, it was quite common for officers to carry government-issued service pistols in combat. The first service handguns were revolvers, but the development of semi-automatic pistols (the first practical example being the Mauser C96 "Broomhandle") gradually led to their replacement by semi-automatic handguns, such as the well-known German P08 Luger, the first semi-automatic service pistol to be widely adopted by an industrialised nation. The British Army was the last major military service to adopt a semi-automatic service pistol as a standard sidearm, phasing out their Webley Mk IV, Enfield No 2 Mk I, and Smith & Wesson Victory revolvers in 1969, after which the Browning Hi-Power became the Army's official service pistol.


Modern issue

Special operations soldiers often carry a handgun as a secondary weapon to serve in a supplementary capacity to their primary weapon (a rifle, carbine, submachine gun, or shotgun); this practice is not as prevalent among conventional soldiers. Soldiers who do not serve in a direct combat role are often issued a pistol (such as officers, artillery crews, and other rear-echelon personnel), but conventional riflemen are not generally issued a pistol as part of their standard kit. However, drivers are often issued a handgun since while driving, their rifle will be stowed on a rack and thus difficult to make ready quickly in an emergency whereas a handgun is more easily accessible. Service pistols are issued to
military police Military police (MP) are law enforcement agencies connected with, or part of, the military of a state. In wartime operations, the military police may support the main fighting force with force protection, convoy security, screening, rear rec ...
and other soldiers acting in a
law enforcement Law enforcement is the activity of some members of government who act in an organized manner to enforce the law by discovering, deterring, rehabilitating, or punishing people who violate the rules Rule or ruling may refer to: Education ...
capacity as part of their duties. The tradition of issuing pistols to officers as a primary weapon is being phased out by many nations. The
United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...
, for example, requires all enlisted personnel and all officers below the rank of Lieutenant colonel to carry the
M27 IAR The M27 Infantry Automatic Rifle (IAR) is a 5.56×45mm NATO, 5.56mm selective fire, select-fire assault rifle, based on the Heckler & Koch HK416, HK416 by Heckler & Koch. It is used by the United States Marine Corps (USMC) and is intended to be iss ...
as their primary weapon. British officers on combat duty are also normally issued with the standard rifle, but are not required to carry it with them at all times; for example, while operating as support staff the rifle would be stored in the base armory, though this is the same for most support staff.


See also

* Service rifle


Notes


References

* ''Howdah To High Power'' (2002) Maze, Robert J, Excalibur Publications, Tucson AZ (USA) * ''Small Arms Identification Series No. 9: .455 Pistol, Revolver No 1 Mk VI'' (1997) Skennerton, Ian, Arms & Militaria Press, Gold Coast QLD (Australia), * ''.380 Enfield Revolver No 2'' (1993) Stamps, Mark and Skennerton, Ian, Greenhill Books, London (UK) * ''1942 Basic Manual of Military Small Arms (Facsimile Edition)'', Smith, W.H.B, Stackpole Books, Harrisburg PA (USA), {{refend Personal weapons Pistols