A couple of weeks ago I had the chance to visit the Las Vegas Antique Gun Show which is always great to walk around. Rock Island Auction Company always have a stall at the show and never fail to have some extremely interesting pieces. One very special piece that was tucked away at the end of the display was a Beretta M9 and a leather holster belonging to General Norman Schwarzkopf who, as the commander of United States Central Command, led coalition forces in the Gulf War.

The Beretta M9 began to be issued as General Officer’s pistol in August 1986 when the first pistol, serial number GO-001 was issued. The General Officers M9s replaced the M15 1911-pattern pistols previously issued to generals since the 1970s. Unlike the more ornate M15s the GO M9 is identical to the standard M9 except for their “GO” prefix serial number. It was issued with three magazines, a Bianchi G100 pistol holster and a magazine pouch. This is the configuration of belt in which Rock Island Auction Co. received the pistol.

When they retire general’s may request to purchase their issued M9 General Officer’s Models from the Department of Defense. General Schwarzkopf retired from active duty in August 1991 and apparently purchased his pistol, serial number ‘GO-00698’.

The pistol is on consignment and set to be auctioned at an upcoming auction but RIA have already sold some of General Schwarzkopf’s firearms collection at auction in December. His M15 pistol fetched $70,500. Schwarzkopf’s M9 is believed to have been the pistol he carried during the Gulf War.

While Schwarzkopf’s can be seen carrying an M9 is much of the imagery of him from the Gulf War he is typically carrying it in a standard ALICE (all-purpose lightweight individual carrying equipment) webbing pistol holster rather than the Bianchi leather holster. In various photographs Schwarzkopf can be seen carrying both the OD Green and Choc Chip versions of the ALICE holster.

After handling the pistol for a moment you quickly spot that it doesn’t have stock Beretta grips, instead at some point the pistol has been fitted with a Crimson Trace (CTC) red dot laser grip. These were introduced in around 1995, so its likely these were added at some time after he retired from duty. I was pleasantly surprised to find that on touching the grip’s pressure pad the laser worked.

It was fantastic to have the chance to actually handle a piece of history like General Schwarzkopf’s M9. Massive thanks to my friend Austin Ellis and the guys at Rock Island Auction Co. for giving me the opportunity to take a look at the pistol and get some video to share with you guys. If you’re in the market check out RIA for updates on when the pistol goes to auction.

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Bibliography:

‘Schwarzkopf, architect of Operation Desert Storm, dies at 78’, US Army, (source)

‘General Officer Beretta M-9’, Military Memorial Museum, (source)

‘General Schwarzkopf’s M15 General Officer Pistol’, Rock Island Auction Company, (source)

‘Laser Sights – The Early Days’ , Empty Cases, (source)

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