let me guess...to keep them from hitting the ground, you gave them a 'setunitpos "UP"' command? well, this has the unfortunate side effect of not allowing people (AI) to unsling their weapons, maybe because it's built into their code to hit the ground automatically...or something.
so, either let them stand with their weapons unslinged, and use the "setcaptive" command (info on how to use in comref), or somehow work it into the script to set their unitpos to "AUTO", let them unsling, and then do a "UP" again. Or somesuch.
right, g'luck. And happy new year
Wolfrug out.