Whether the pistol is of least importance or not, that's not the question here. I'd rather carry a Glock than an over weight over complicated M9 or 1911, it's shear logic and boggles my mind why it wasn't the sidearm of choice from the beginning of its existance. So because the Army puts sidearms low on the list of priorities, does that mean the troops can't have a better, cheaper, back up sidearm?? If i had to go to my pistol I'd rather it be something other than a 1911 or an M9 , preferably polymer.... it is almost 2015.
Well for one thing you don't know your history very well. The Glock only made it to our fair shores about the time the Army was looking for a new sidearm and it was really radical. The idea of a plastic pistol with no external safety was more than most people could even fathom. You have to remember that law enforcement then and most shooters in the civilian world were still wedded to revolvers and it was the era of the wonder nine. The story of the Glock and how it became the preeminent police sidearm and popular pistol among many shooters is a story of marketing and a remarkable tribute to the genius of curtain rod maker Gaston Glock. I suggest you get a copy of Glock: The Rise of America's Gun by Paul M. Barrett that tells the whole story in detail.
The type of gun the Army was looking for in 1984 was a traditional double action 9mm .Smith & Wesson Model 459A, Sig-Sauer P226, Heckler & Koch P7M8 and P7M13 (which weren't traditional DAs but sq, Walther P88, Steyr GB and Fabrique Nationale ADA were the guns that were tested and Glock wasn't even on the list !
Son, you have to simply do your homework. You might be a great pipefitter but you know nothing about soldiering, military weaponry or procurement or the history of firearms. What you would rather carry is of little importance because you don't wear a uniform and I doubt if you ever have or if you ever will. I appreciate your commitment to the 2A, and your enthusiasm for Glock firearms, but your mixing your youthful idealism with what you think things should be with the way things are, and believe me, by the time the .gov got done with things, it wouldn't any cheaper.