Direct proof of use
The M60 general-purpose machine gun was documented in U.S. military service during the 2003 Iraq War. A U.S. National Archives and DVIDS image record from 21 March 2003 showed a 1st Marine Division convoy in Basra with an MTVR carrying a Saco 7.62 mm M60 general-purpose machine gun, placing the weapon with U.S. Marine forces at the start of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Additional official archive records documented M60s in several U.S. force roles in Iraq: Marine infantry moving to secure a Ba'th Party headquarters in Qalat Sukar on 7 April 2003, a U.S. Army UH-60 Black Hawk door-gun position before a mission over Baghdad on 21 April 2003, and a U.S. Army Black Hawk crewman manning an M60 near Baghdad on 2 December 2003.
Sources: NARA Basra Convoy M60 Image, NARA Qalat Sukar Marines M60 Image, NARA Baghdad UH-60 Door Gun Image, NARA Butler Range UH-60 M60 Image
Timeline
The sourced record begins in the invasion period. On 21 March 2003, the Basra convoy image placed an M60 on a Marine MTVR in southern Iraq, and on 7 April 2003 the Qalat Sukar record showed Marines carrying an M60 while moving toward a Ba'th Party headquarters building.
Later 2003 records show the M60 in aviation and base-security contexts. The Baghdad International Airport record documented an M60 door gun on a UH-60 before a mission over Baghdad on 21 April 2003, the Butler Range record documented a soldier manning an M60 aboard a UH-60 near Baghdad on 2 December 2003, and a Kirkuk Air Base record documented a 506th Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron instructor firing an M60 during a nighttime live-fire exercise on 22 December 2003.
Sources: NARA Basra Convoy M60 Image, NARA Qalat Sukar Marines M60 Image, NARA Baghdad UH-60 Door Gun Image, NARA Butler Range UH-60 M60 Image, NARA Kirkuk M60 Live-Fire Image
Operational role
In the Iraq record, the M60 appears primarily as a supporting and protective weapon rather than as a newly introduced system. The sources show it mounted on convoy vehicles, carried with Marine infantry, installed in UH-60 door-gun positions, and used by Air Force security personnel for readiness training at Kirkuk Air Base.
The records also separate combat deployment from training and security use. The Basra, Qalat Sukar, Baghdad International Airport, Butler Range, and Al Asyria records document M60s carried or mounted during operations and patrol-security activity in Iraq, while the Kirkuk record documents live-fire training to maintain security-force readiness during Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Sources: NARA Basra Convoy M60 Image, NARA Qalat Sukar Marines M60 Image, NARA Baghdad UH-60 Door Gun Image, NARA Butler Range UH-60 M60 Image, PICRYL Al Asyria Foot Patrol M60 Image, NARA Kirkuk M60 Live-Fire Image
