in his memoir Inside Delta Force that every soldier going through the Operator Training Course trained on the M14. According to Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War, the well-known account of the Battle of Mogadishu, Sergeant First Class Randy Shughart used an M14 for sniping from helicopters to provide support fire to ground troops. The U.S. Army Special Forces ("Green Berets") have made some use of the M25 "spotter rifle". The M25 was developed in the late 1980s within the 10th Special Forces Group, which was charged to support Special Forces sniper weapons and the Special Operations Target Interdiction Course (SOTIC). The M25 was first planned as a replacement for the old M21, but after the Army adoption of the M24 SWS as its standard sniper rifle, the M25 was intended to be used by spotters of the sniper teams, while the snipers use the bolt-action M24. The M14 has remained in service longer than any other U.S. infantry rifle, surpassing the M1903 Springfield rifle, and holds the distinction of serving one of the shortest periods as the standard infantry service rifle of the U.S. Army, only second to the US Springfield Krag–Jørgensen rifles and carbines. International service The Philippines issues M14 rifles, M1/M2 carbines, M1 rifles, and M16 rifles, to their civilian defense forces and various cadet corps service academies. The Hellenic Navy uses the M14. In 1967, the Springfield tooling and assembly line for M14 production was sold to the Republic of China, also known as Taiwan. In 1968, the State Arsenal of the Republic of China began producing the Type 57 rifle, and from 1969 to the present, produced over 1 million Type 57 rifles. The Type 57 is currently in service with airport guards and the reserves. In mainland China, Norinco has produced an M14 variant for export, some of which were sold in the U.S. before the importation ban of 1989 and the enactment of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994. Rifles made by Poly Technologies were imported to the US in the 1980s, but were banned from further import in 1989 by the George H.W. Bush administration. They were being sold in Canada, Italy and New Zealand as of 2008. They have been marketed under the M14S and M305 names. Rifle design Receiver markings Stamped into receiver heel: U.S. Rifle 7.62-MM M14 Springfield Armory (or commercial contractor name)