Marine Corps New Blade

TxDoc · February 9, 2003

By Christian Lowe

Times staff writer

It could be any battle. Belleau Wood, Guadalcanal, the Chosin Reservoir, Hue City, even the caves of Tora Bora or the alleyways of Baghdad.

Since World War I, a Marine’s last-ditch weapons have been a fighting knife and a bayonet. And for more than 50 years, Marines have relied on one combat knife more than any other, the immutable Ka-Bar, a true icon of Marine Corps lore.

But that’s about to change.

The Corps is introducing a knife meant to take the place of not only the current-issue M-7 bayonet, but also the fighting/utility knife — a move that could relegate the Ka-Bar to the commemorative display case of history.

‘Made for killing’

Dubbed the “multipurpose bayonet,” the new knife was developed in coordination with Marine Corps Martial Arts Program instructors to ensure the knife would be effective and would allow standardized training.

Marines occasionally ask martial-arts instructors to teach them to fight with the after-market knives they plan to carry in the field. But with hundreds of fighting knives available commercially, and just a few Marines asking about their particular knives, it was hard to teach proper slicing skills for each.

Often, the knife’s design dictates how it is used in battle. For example, the knife of choice for many instructors at the martial-arts center — the dual-edged, clawlike Malaysian Karambit — requires an extensive amount of specialized training to use safely.

But with the Corps giving every combat Marine the same fighting knife, they’ll get the training they need to use it effectively.

“This is a huge improvement over the M-7,” said Master Sgt. Ricardo Sanders, the senior enlisted Marine with the Martial Arts Center of Excellence at Quantico, Va., as he examined the knife’s 8-inch blade. “This thing is made for killing.”

The Corps is set to field within months 5,000 of the bayonets from the Franklinville, N.Y.-based Ontario Knife Co., with plans to buy 105,000 over the next year and a half. That’s enough to outfit every Marine in the operating forces, said Marine Corps Systems Command officials at Quantico.

At just less than $40 per copy, the knife is about double the price of the Korean war-era M-7. But with its sturdier design and ability to double as a fighting knife, Systems Command officials say the extra expense is worth it.

“Allowing a Marine to gain psychological advantage over his adversary or defeat him if offensively challenged — $50 per Marine is a small price to pay for mission success and individual protection,” said Maj. Stephen Fernandez, Systems Command program manager for the multipurpose bayonet. “A manly knife in the hands of a martial-arts skilled warrior is … something to be reckoned with.”

A Marine tradition

Some might find the development of a new bayonet strange when, according to Marine Corps historians, it’s unclear when the Corps last needed to fix bayonets and charge a line of enemy troops. Some argue it was during Vietnam, others say Korea.

Even during the close-quarters battles of the Pacific theater in World War II, wrote combat historian S.L.A. Marshall, more men were run through by swords than by bayonets. And in the European theater, Marshall wrote in “The Soldier’s Load and the Mobility of a Nation,” there is only one bayonet charge on record.

The Corps first used its own bayonet during the Spanish-American War in 1898 and later the Boxer Rebellion in 1900. It wasn’t until Marines deployed to the trenches of Europe in World War I that they began using fighting knives along with their bayonets. When devil dogs assaulted German trench-lines, the long rifles and bayonets were of little use. So many Marines adopted the fearsome trench knife, a stabbing-blade weapon with a brass-knuckle grip, said Ken Smith-Christmas, curator of the National Museum of the Marine Corps at Quantico.

Previously, Marines were never allowed to carry fighting knives because they were forbidden aboard Navy ships. Commanders wanted to avoid the potentially lethal combination of alcohol and knives among sailors and Marines.

When World War II began, the Corps was caught off guard. Marines who were in the initial waves of forces deploying to the Pacific carried their M-1 rifle and an Army-issued bayonet, but the government had no standard fighting knife to issue. So, most used hunting knives, many of which were donated by civilians on the home front.

Soon after, Capt. Clifford Schuey submitted his design to Marine commanders for what would eventually become known as the Ka-Bar and a legend was born. During World War II, Marines were issued four types of fighting knives: the Ka-Bar, which was the nickname for the standard combat/utility knife made by one of a half-dozen manufacturers; the Raider Stiletto; the V-44 — a British-designed Bowie-style utility knife; and a specialized Marine parachutist’s knife.

The Ka-Bar earned its place in Marine Corps tradition during the Pacific campaign. The jungle foliage, rugged expeditionary living and tenacious enemy made a well-designed fighting knife essential to survival, Smith-Christmas said.

“Nobody else in the services carries a side blade,” he said. “So it’s a mark of the ‘naked blade’ for Marines … A sign of the true, close-combat skill that Marines take good pride in.”

Flak vest is no obstacle

The current M-7 bayonet was designed during the Korean War for use with the M-14 rifle and later was adapted for the M-16 rifle. It was not designed as a fighting knife, and since the Corps stopped issuing the Ka-Bar after World War II, leathernecks since have purchased their own fighting knives from civilian companies. Marines often carry an after-market fighting knife, a small utility knife and their standard-issue M-7 bayonet into combat, Fernandez said.

After evaluating more than 100 different knives, Systems Command settled on a design with several unique features, said Nick Tabovich Jr., Ontario Knife Co. president. Those features include:

• A larger, heavier blade that, at 8 ounces, can penetrate a standard flak jacket.

• A serrated section on the cutting edge of the blade

• An ergonomic grip with grooves and texturing that help “eliminate blister points.”

• A scabbard constructed of nonreflective plastic that features a built-in sharpening stone and multiple attachment points.

Later versions of the knife will feature a softer, nonslip plastic on the handle, scabbard modifications and a slightly thicker blade that affords better balance for knife-fighting, said Bob Breton, vice president of Ontario Knife Co.

The Corps’ martial-arts experts at Quantico helped evaluate the blade and like what they’ve seen so far. In the hands of a trained expert such as Sgt. Scott Magnus, the massive knife looks all the more intimidating. Yet the blade seems equally at home at the end of an M-16. Testers liked the balance of the knife at the end of the rifle and its aggressive look.

“This is a nice blade,” Staff Sgt. Jason Minns, a martial-arts instructor at Quantico, said as a giant grin spread across his face.

Although fielding a new bayonet in an era of smart bombs and unmanned planes may seem anachronistic, Marine officials say the simple blade still has its place in a grunt’s arsenal. Apart from its more lethal qualities, the knife likely will have a psychological impact on the Marines who wield it.

“I don’t know when the last time was Marines used bayonets in combat,” said Maj. John Bourgault, deputy director of the Martial Arts Center of Excellence. “But when Marines fix bayonets, there’s an increased level of confidence. It’s like the warrior instinct takes over.”

Thanks USNJoe_Retired

clm7214 · July 21, 2006

Yeah, I like the new KA-BAR. We get bored and throw them around and stab things. That knife is sturdy as hell too. Then when your all done you take a seat, break out some CLP and sharpen it on the built in stone. I like it.