Today the photographer really nailed it! We’re looking at a Thompson M1A1 submachine gun as Special Forces students assigned to the U. S. Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School take a class in the open air. It looks like the student above wears a 1st Marine Division patch.

This happened in Fort Bragg, North Carolina last month, and I would expect this to be one of the most popular classes of the year.

Have you ever fired a Thompson on full-auto? Luckily I have, and I think I got the scar from the burn mark as I touched the barrel by mistake.

The Soldiers were trainined to employ, maintain and engage targets with select U.S. and foreign pistols, rifles, shotguns, submachine and machine guns, grenade launchers and mortars and in the utilization of observed fire procedures.

All photos by U.S. Army, photo by K. Kassens.

As you can see there are a few other interesting firearms in the background, and we will be returning to them in future POTDs.