Ah, that approach makes total sense, and I completely agree. Especially with the nature of Fudd-lore and how things get locked into the common understandings. With certain organizations, you also get what I call snapshot insights, where outside observers see one thing one time or in one particular period, and make sweeping judgements or declarations about how things are. Not realizing that at that level, it might be an experimental/evaluation thing, a mission-specific setup, or even just someone's personal preference.
That's all part of why I posted that video - it's hard to find good, first-person info out of certain places like Delta, especially spanning eras. The 1990s were an entirely different world from post-9/11 - organizationally, operationally, equipment. Everything. And there were a lot fewer guys in those units back then, so the insights are harder to come by than from post-9/11 pros. Vickers and Pannone are the only ones I'm aware of that have spoken openly online about how the unit's 1911s were built. After 9/11, capabilities evolution and often both physical and mission expansion all just hit light speed, full generations' worth of change in just a decade. Which included going away from 1911s, for the reasons Pannone mentioned. It was good to see a little more of that real-world 1911 institutional knowledge preserved.
Edit: I didn't read any of the comments in that video, but it was interesting to see what you mentioned. The vibe I got from Eli's silence was more stunned awe than anything else.
