![M9 Pistol combat in woods](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/70/M9_Pistol_combat_in_woods.jpg)
A service pistol, also known as a personal weapon or an ordnance weapon, is any
handgun
A handgun is a short- barrelled gun, typically a firearm, that is designed to be usable with only one hand. It is distinguished from a long gun (i.e. rifle, shotgun or machine gun, etc.), which needs to be held by both hands and also braced ...
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 e ...
or
law enforcement officer
A law enforcement officer (LEO), or peace officer in North American English, is a Public sector, public-sector employee whose duties primarily involve the Law enforcement, enforcement of laws. The phrase can include campaign disclosure specialist ...
s. Typically, service pistols are
revolver
A revolver (also called a wheel gun) is a repeating handgun that has at least one barrel and uses a revolving cylinder containing multiple chambers (each holding a single cartridge) for firing. Because most revolver models hold up to six roun ...
s or
semi-automatic pistol
A semi-automatic pistol is a type of repeating single-chamber handgun ( pistol) that automatically cycles its action to insert the subsequent cartridge into the chamber (self-loading), but requires manual actuation of the trigger to actuall ...
s 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," fro ...
s,
non-commissioned officer
A non-commissioned officer (NCO) is a military officer who has not pursued a commission. Non-commissioned officers usually earn their position of authority by promotion through the enlisted ranks. (Non-officers, which includes most or all enli ...
s, 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 in ...
, though service pistols may also be issued to
special forces
Special forces and special operations forces (SOF) are military units trained to conduct special operations. NATO has defined special operations as "military activities conducted by specially designated, organized, selected, trained and equip ...
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 marine i ...
. Before firearms were commonplace, officers and non-commissioned officers typically carried
sword
A sword is an edged, bladed weapon intended for manual cutting or thrusting. Its blade, longer than a knife or dagger, is attached to a hilt and can be straight or curved. A thrusting sword tends to have a straighter blade with a pointed ti ...
s 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," fro ...
, 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
A rifle is a long-barreled firearm designed for accurate shooting, with a barrel that has a helical pattern of grooves ( rifling) cut into the bore wall. In keeping with their focus on accuracy, rifles are typically designed to be held with ...
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 lighter ...
.
Traditionally, soldiers (infantry and cavalry alike) and officers had carried
sword
A sword is an edged, bladed weapon intended for manual cutting or thrusting. Its blade, longer than a knife or dagger, is attached to a hilt and can be straight or curved. A thrusting sword tends to have a straighter blade with a pointed ti ...
s 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
pike
Pike, Pikes or The Pike may refer to:
Fish
* Blue pike or blue walleye, an extinct color morph of the yellow walleye ''Sander vitreus''
* Ctenoluciidae, the "pike characins", some species of which are commonly known as pikes
* ''Esox'', genus of ...
s 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
A revolver (also called a wheel gun) is a repeating handgun that has at least one barrel and uses a revolving cylinder containing multiple chambers (each holding a single cartridge) for firing. Because most revolver models hold up to six roun ...
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 officer
A non-commissioned officer (NCO) is a military officer who has not pursued a commission. Non-commissioned officers usually earn their position of authority by promotion through the enlisted ranks. (Non-officers, which includes most or all enli ...
s (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 m ...
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
The Browning Hi-Power is a single-action, semi-automatic pistol available in the 9×19mm Parabellum and .40 S&W calibers. It was based on a design by American firearms inventor John Browning, and completed by Dieudonné Saive at FN Herstal. ...
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 recon ...
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 and norms governing that society. The term en ...
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
Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...
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
A service rifle (or standard-issue rifle) is a rifle a military issues to regular infantry. In modern militaries, this is typically a versatile and rugged battle rifle, assault rifle, or carbine suitable for use in nearly all environments. Most ...
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),
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Personal weapons
Pistols