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Previous: B-51: Weapons Ready Posture

B-53. Weapons safety posture is an ammunition handling instruction enabling the platoon leader to control the safety of his unit’s weapons precisely. Leaders’ supervision of the weapons safety posture, as well as Soldiers’ adherence to it, minimizes the risk of accidental discharge and fratricide and friendly fire. Table B-2 outlines procedures and considerations for the platoon when using the four weapons safety postures, listed in ascending order of restrictiveness-

• AMMUNITION LOADED.
• AMMUNITION LOCKED.
• AMMUNITION PREPARED.
• WEAPONS CLEARED.

B-54. When setting and adjusting the weapons safety posture, the platoon leader must weigh the desire to prevent accidental discharges against the requirement for immediate action based on the enemy threat. If the threat of direct contact is high, the platoon leader could establish the weapons safety posture as AMMUNITION LOADED. If the requirement for action is less immediate, he might lower the posture to AMMUNITION LOCKED or AMMUNITION PREPARED. Additionally, the platoon leader can designate different weapons safety postures for different elements of the unit.

Next: B-55: Weapons Control Status

Go Back To: U.S. Army FM 3-21.8: The Infantry Rifle Platoon and Squad