AVTOMAT KALASHNIKOV - EWRoss.com

Avtomat Kalashnikov-1947

July 15, 2007

The same week Americans celebrated Independence Day this July, a news story out of Moscow reminded many people of another important date in the political history of our planet. Sixty years ago this month the now legendary Avtomat Kalashnikov-1947 (AK-47) assault rifle went into production. I doubt that any other rifle in history has or ever will account for as much political change as the sturdy and reliable weapon.

As reported in the Associated Press story about the rifle’s anniversary, “While hospitalized with wounds after a Nazi shell hit his tank in the 1941 battle of Bryansk, Makhail Kalashnikov decided to design an automatic rifle combining the best features of the American M1 and the German StG44.”

This in itself is unremarkable, as almost every innovation in firearms making is an improvement on older designs. And the AK-47 certainly is not the best, the most accurate, or the only weapon that has made an indelible mark on history. Various versions of the Browning M2 .50 caliber machine gun, for example, have been in continuous use by the US Armed Forces since the 1920s. One of the most effective and feared guns ever made, the M2 has determined the victorious outcome of countless battles on land, on sea, and in the air.

What makes the AK-47 different from other fire arms, however, is that it’s more than just a weapon; it is a political symbol synonymous with insurgency, civil war, and revolution.

From the epic de-colonization and civil wars that swept Africa and Asia in the aftermath of World War II, to the Korean and Vietnam wars, to the genocidal conflicts in Cambodia and Darfur, to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the AK-47 has been the right hand of millions of fighters. From its introduction until now, it has been carried by 12-year-old boys, barely strong enough to hold and shoot it, by elderly tribal chieftains, and by well-trained and equipped armies. An AK-47 is even a prominent feature on the Mozambique flag. Over 100 million of them have been produced.

The Soviet Union and China, throughout the Cold War, flooded the communist and underdeveloped worlds with AK-47s to arm their surrogates against the US and its allies. One thing practically every American combat veteran from Korea to Iraq has in common is that we have been shot at by someone firing an AK-47. Not too infrequently, we have used them to fire back.

For those too young to remember the wars of the latter half of the 20th century, all one has to do to understand the powerful symbolism of this simple piece of hardware is look at the weapon Osama bin Laden chooses to be photographed with—the venerable AK-47. Just by holding one or having one next to him, he communicates a powerful message to the millions of would-be jihadists who see it. Ironically, for the Russians, it’s the same weapon used by his beloved Mujahideen to help repel them from Afghanistan.

I was first introduced to the AK-47 in February 1967 as a young forward observer with an infantry company of the 9th Division in Vietnam. In my first firefight with the Viet Cong my M-16A1 jammed, as these early models were prone to do. While I tried to keep my head down and un-jam it, I recall listening to the crack of the outgoing M-16 fire and incoming from AK-47s. Anyone who has ever been in this position will forever recognize instantly the distinct sounds these two weapons make.

Several months later, in late August 1967, another company of the 9th division discovered a large cache of brand new AK-47s, still factory sealed in plastic, coated with Cosmoline, and buried in a rice paddy only 10 miles from Saigon. By then an air observer, I landed in my helicopter just to get a look at them. It was unusual to discover new weapons like this in the field. We knew something out of the ordinary was afoot, we just didn’t know what. Six months later, of course, they launched the 1968 Tet Offensive.

Kalashnikov, a hero of the former Soviet Union and the current Russian Republic, told an interviewer at a ceremony marking the rifle’s 60th anniversary, that he didn’t loose any sleep over all the havoc wrought by his invention. “I sleep well. It's the politicians who are to blame for failing to come to an agreement and resorting to violence.”

Indeed, the AK-47 has been used to kill and wound countless millions of people—good guys and bad guys alike. Certainly, Kalashnikov’s intentions in designing it were altruistic, as were Alfred Nobel’s when he invented dynamite and Robert Oppenheimer’s when he and others designed the atomic bomb. He simply wanted a better weapon with which to defend Mother Russia. How one’s inventions are ultimately used, however, is quite another matter.

Regardless of how you may feel about guns and war, facts are facts and history is history. The AK-47, in the hands of insurgents, revolutionaries, and visionaries, has helped changed the political map of the world. Long after the last AK-47 has rusted into dust, I trust the Declaration of Independence still will inspire democracy and freedom wherever people read its words. Nevertheless, to truly understand and learn from modern history, we must appreciate the significance of both.

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