M25 with M26 armored semi-tractor

 

M26 Pacific Dragon Wagon

 

How long you going to dig, using that shovel, should that thing get stuck up to the axles in MUD ? ? Best ask John, I bet his been there.

 

Believe it or not, even loaded it's hard for that truck to get stuck. If it did, they would tow it with a tank or another truck. Those shovels most likely are used for digging trenches or latrines! LOL
Also, for just general cleaning clay or mud out of the wheels or off of the suspension.

 

M60A3 crews in training.
The first is practicing "hull down" firing and learning firing commands. They must have a new driver, because he's way to slow and you can hear the frustration in the commander's voice.
The second is "stabilization firing". The gunner locks the tank's main gun onto a target. The computer will track that target and keep the gun aimed at it while the tank is moving.
The gunner only has to make a final adjustment and then destroy the target. Practice ammunition is being used in both videos. Regular ammo would lift the 58 ton tank's front end almost 2 feet.
The dust cloud in the stabilization video would be much bigger and the tank would slow for a second when the main gun was fired.
It still brings back the memories and I can smell that tank in the video. If you know, you know. It's still the best job I ever had.

 

Additional information for the video above:
The firing commands are hard to understand in the video so here's how it should go as I remember it. These commands may have changed in the last 40 years.
Commander - driver! move out. (tells the driver to go from turret down position to hull down position.
Commander - gunner! SABOT! moving tank! Alerts the gunner to look for a moving enemy tank. Also alerts the loader as to the type of ammunition he wants loaded.
Gunner - Identified! Lasing! The gunner sees the enemy tank and is using the tank's lasers to compute the distance to the target. The tanks computer is factoring in weather, wind speed and speed of the tank.
Loader - UP! This means the loader has loaded the SABOT round into the breach and locked it. He is out of the way and the gun is ready to fire.
Commander - FIRE! This let's the gunner know to pull the trigger when he's locked on and ready.
Gunner - On the way! The gunner let's the crew know he is firing the main gun.
Commander - Target destroyed! Driver reverse! The enemy tank is knocked out. The driver should move the tank back to the turret down position to make it less of a target in case there is another unseen enemy tank in the area.

 

The Canadian "Leopard" 2A6M Main Battle tank.
Produced in 2009 and in service at present. The main gun is a Reinmetall RH 120mm smooth bore. Top speed is 42 mph/69 km/h.
The 2A6M is the Canadian variant of the German Leopard 2A4 and has extra belly armor for protection against mines and IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices).


A Canadian Leopard 2A6M rolls down the street during the Calgary Stampede 2012

2A6M in Afghanistan with "Barracuda" camouflage and anti RPG side armor.

2A6M column in Afghanistan

 

Here's one for John. from USS Alabama Battleship Park, Mobile AL:

 

That's awesome Zip!

 

The Soviet Klimet Voroshilov 2 (KV-2) Heavy tank. This tank was produced in 1939 and was in service from 1939 through 2020.
The main gun was a 152mm M-10T Howitzer and it only held 20 rounds of ammunition. Maximum speed was 17 mph/28 km/h, with an operating range of 140 miles/225 km.
It had a crew of five in very cramped quarters.


Abandoned KV-2 during WWII

KV-2 on a road during WWII

A KV-2 at a museum in Russia.

 

Here's a picture my friend and fellow tank driver made as a joke.
I call it Chrysler Vs. Chrysler.
The tank is an M60A3 Patton like the ones my friend and I used to drive. It was made by Chrysler. Of course the car is the Chrysler Crossfire.

 

You mean the car "WAS" a Chrysler Crossfire.....LOL

 

Yes, was would be the correct term! LOL

 

NOT a Tank but worthy of posting. General Douglas MacArthur's 1942 Packard Clipper Eight sedan.

 

These pictures are from one of the classes that I taught for Veterans' Day at a local middle school.
I bring in some of the equipment, uniforms, manuals, etc... that I used when I was a tank driver in the Army.


Training manuals, life vest and flack vest

Flack vest, Field jacket and dress uniform

Uniforms, cap and helmet. I use the WWII German helmet to compare with the American helmet also A WWII design. The new helmet is a design combining both of those helmets.

[img alt="I restored a 105mm HEAT round (the brass one). Next to it is an aluminum practice round.
I fired both of these from my tank. "]https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.crossfireforum.org-vbulletin/2000x1504/veterans_day_11112018e_91d64cd03c3e50f42ec7572cd75 611577ee59008.jpg[/img]
I restored a 105mm HEAT round (the brass one). Next to it is an aluminum practice round. I fired both of these from my tank.

 

The Italian Carro Armato M15/42 medium tank.
Produced 1943, in service from 1943 - 1945. Crew of 4 (driver gunner/loader, commander and radio operator).
Main gun 47mm L40. Maximum speed 24mph/38km/h. Operational range 120 miles/200 kilometers.

 

Here is a short clip of two surviving World War II Tiger tanks. In the front is the King Tiger followed by a Tiger I and a Panzer Mark VI.