Maybe one way to think of it is that the 1911A1 is a tougher weapon to master. For SpecOps that have much higher ammunition allocations and can fire their weapons much more often, it's great. But for the majority who only get to fire their pistol rarely, it is much easier to become proficient with a Beretta or other 9mm.
@Maj. Bill Martin Excellent observation,and one I hadn't really considered.
I don't know much about the regular army other than what I have been told,and even that is decades old data now.
When I was wearing the uniform,the only people I heard of being issued sidearms in the non-combat arms branches of the regular army were the officers,and the first sgt. Truthfully,these people needed a handgun like they needed a saxaphone. More of a "Badge of office" than anything else.
Then came the second tier,not REALLY combat arms people,but so close at times it was hard to tell the difference. People like MP's,couriers,tankers,redlegs,and even truck drivers. They not only had a legitimate need for a handgun (awful hard to carry a rifle while running with 105 rounds or mortar rounds),but due to the nature of their jobs it was often the only firearm they might have at hand in an emergency. I have no idea how often they got to the range to shoot or how much ammo each was allocated each year for qualifications,but I sense the correct answer is "Not enough".
Then come the infantry folks and the special operations people. From what I saw from the 82nd Abn Div those times I was stationed at Bragg,they did a hell of a lot of training,but it was all done firing blanks. I do understand the dangers of large groups of people firing live ammo in the same area at the same time,but I still got a sense that the correct number of live rounds they got to pop off each year for training purposes was "not enough".
Special operations folks generally got all they wanted and had time to train with,and were told to come back if they needed more. I don't think I ever heard the word "no" when walking into an arms room and asking for anything from a case of grenades to a mortar or a silenced (suppressed,these days) weapon. If if it was anything other than "Is that all you need today?",it was "We don't have/out of stock on that,but I will have it for you tomorrow."
Which,IMHO,is how it should have worked with the conventional rifle companies. The Company Commander and First Shirts in these companies have a very good understanding of deployment probabilities and requirements,and those are the people,along with their battalion commanders who need to establish how much of what they get to send downrange,and how often they need to do it. Not some geek in Division Command bookkeeping.
