I'm Not In "The Military"

Army FM 3-22.9 Rifle Marksmanship M16-/M4-Series Weapons.
12AUG08 with 10FEB11 updates.
Chapter 4 Section 1

2011 is rather more recent than my service dates...

It refers to Army TM 9-1005-319-10 aka Air Force TO.11W3-5-5-41 aka Navy SW 370-BU-OPI-010 Rev 1.
Here's 30JUN10.
Chapter 2 Section 6

Of particular note is the Air Force loads from the closed bolt while everyone else uses the open bolt.

Also of note is how both recent manuals show the charging handle's use (with brand new 2010 photographs replacing the God knows how old line drawings!) in accordance with how I said the designer's intended it to be used.

These manuals get revised and updated all the time, these are the newest ones I could find on the internet.  I would love to see a newer revision showing a different means of running the charging handle.  I kind of collect TM's and FM's...

The one-sided method of operating the charging handle that's de rigueur puts side loads on the thing it wasn't designed for.  It's been known to break them, in fact.  I've broken one this way, an expensive retro gray one too!  Guess how well your gun works with half a charging handle up inside the upper.

Guess how long that takes to fix.  Well, it's a good thing I'd learned how to transition to a handgun.

Most replacement charging handles, which I derisively refer to as "doo-dads and gee-gaws" don't much mitigate the stresses.  The work is mostly on making the latch less likely to tear out because the one-sided technique puts all the load on a teeny roll pin or making the latch unlatch from both sides.  There's a scant few that upgrade the slender stem to better take being pushed at an angle.