1990-91 Desert Storm:
Many of the troops in Desert Storm or the Gulf War still used their M7 bayonets because the M9 wasn’t as reliable and had a tendency to break. However many companies continued to produce the M9’s for several years after this time period. The quality of the strength of the M9 bayonet blade depended on the quality that came from the companies that were contracted to make these bayonets for the military. The M9 had an improved sheath that had a wire cutter on it and was found very useful in ground attacks and general survival in the desert. It also could be used as a bottle opener and a screwdriver tip. The M9 sheath also had a sharpening stone for the men to use. The blade is 7 inches long on the M9, just a bit longer than the 6.75 inch blade of the M6 and the 6.5 inch blade of the M7. The sheath will have the stamp M8A1 just as the other bayonets that were made before the M9. It is a black metal knife blade and some have a fuller on them and others don’t, it just depends on the manufacturer and what they were contracted to make. The saw tooth blade that was incorporated into the M9 bayonet made it easy for men to make shelters by cutting branches off of trees. The M9 bayonet was used heavily in Desert Storm by the American Paratroopers as a way to root out hiding Iraqis in trench lines.