I know, I'm a month behind, but I had to chime in. I'm too young to have ever been issued a 1911, but I shoot them myself. I was a pistol instructor last summer at the Naval Academy, so I had a good perspective on the M9. The first time I shot one when I got into the Navy, it was also the first time I'd ever fired a pistol. I got expert, and so did a number of my students this summer, so the M9 is definitely easy to learn. It is also a bit safer than the M1911 for an untrained person.
I would never choose the M9 as a sidearm for myself. The selection of the M9 was largely due to two reasons (aside from not wanting to simply order more 1911s): one, the U.S. thought it would be cool to adopt a high-cap 9mm auto (all the European countries were doing it, and they know more about guns than us, right?) Two, they wanted something that was easier to train people to use. What a sorry excuse. Now, we know better about the 9mm round, and the M9 is an example of the continuing trend of overcoming ignorance with technology. You don't want to spend time training someone properly? That's okay, we'll invent something that takes less time and attention to learn! Doesn't matter if it's less effective!
We had plenty of stovepipe jams due to those wimpy high-school grads limp-wristing the pistol, along with a few FTFs and slide-lock failure due to worn mag followers. This weapon will not last forever, even with meticulous daily cleaning. Still, we had fewer alibis during the rapid fire strings than the rifle range did (don't believe too many M16 reliability stories). Never had any parts breakages on my weapons, but I can't say whether the same was true for all of the M9s.
I really dislike the DA pull on the M9, and manually cocking the hammer is too slow in a firefight. But once you get those SA pulls, they're pretty nice. Not much creep. But they are nothing like the pull on a 1911. Yes, I did get expert on the first time with an M9. But the first time I shot an M1911, my group was better than any group I had ever shot with any other pistol - Glock, USP, Beretta, or Ruger.
As for the training issue, I proved it to be a moot point after I got off of Weapons Detail. I went home, rented a Kimber Custom, and taught my mom to shoot it. She'd never shot before, and I had no trouble teaching her to safely handle and fire the 1911. So much for the idea that you can learn to accurately shoot an M9 more easily. Oh, yeah, I taught my brother and my dad, as well.
Sorry if you found all this a waste of time; it's a minute or two of your life you'll never get back!