felixgrey

Hi I've seen alot of mentioning of elite units - like SF, Delta, Rangers, etc. I only have the experience that I saw while I was on the ground. We conducted raids in conjunction with 3 different SF teams and a couple of different "elite" outfits. Without an exception, all the teams we worked with wore IBA outside the FOBs. Now their IBA looked different and a bit lighter then ours, but they wore armor. Of course, this is Iraq experience only - which is a different monster then Afghanistan. Scott

Antawar, For our experience in OIF II an RPG can disable a M1 fairly easily if the shot hits the right area. Back deck, Back of the tank where the exhaust is, etc. However, actual penetrations into the crew compartment is very rare. Most of these tanks can be recovered pretty quickly and repaired. I have never seen a penetration from a front arc on an M1. All the penetrations I saw were from side, back, and underneath. Scott

As for Brads and Tanks serving organically together in the same company the only organization that I can think of that does it is the Cav Troop for a Mech Division. 9 M1s and 13 M3s, plus two 120mm Mortar tracks. And they get OH-58Ds assigned to them as a force modifier. I wonder if OH-58Ds are simulated. Unlike the rest of the Helos in the US inventory - the 58 is the only one that would routinely be on a CM2 type battle field. Scott

I agree with Kurtz about the IEDs. I have seen on numerous occasions where IEDs were the trigger for a complex ambush. IEDs hitting the target in the kill zone, followed by small arms and RPG fire, then a break in contact. Just because it is an IED doesn't make it a political weapon, it's just a weapon that the enemy is comfortable using against a stronger force. IEDs allow for greater survivability as opposed to classic ambushes. An IED is just another means of delivering a planned attack on an enemy, like artillery. The person laying a command detonated IED is pulling the trigger as effectively as if he pulled a lanyard. Scott

US Army 97-Present. Served with 1-4 CAV, 1ID in Samarra Iraq, OIF II.

Hello all, About staffs in the US Army this is the way it is layed out. S-1,2,3,4 -is Brigade and below (S tands for Staff) next level G-1,2,3,4 - Is Division and Higher (G stands for General Officer) J-1,2,3,4 - Is joint level staff usually at Joint command levels - very high up - in command of Army, Air Force, Navy ,and Marines in a certain area. I am currently an Assistant S-3. So I'm very familiar with the layout. :cool: Scott

Hello Doc, In a modern US tank platoon it is set up like this. (However do to lack of soldiers this is not always the case) 1 Tank (PL) TC- LT Gunner - SGT or SSG Driver - PFC or SPC Loader - PVT or PFC 2 Tank (PL's Wingman) TC - SSG (E6) Gunner - SPC or SGT Driver - PFC - SPC Loader - PVT or PFC 3 Tank - (Platoon Sgt's Wingman) TC - SSG rest as above 4 Tank - (PLT SGT) TC - SFC (E7) rest same as above When the TC gets killed the Gunner will move to the TC seat. You can fight an M1 with a three man crew (ie shoot from the TC's seat. When you get replacements then you will figure out where the new guy will go based on rank. Hope this helps [ March 07, 2003, 07:43 AM: Message edited by: felixgrey ]

I thought JP-8 was a diesel product. (At least that is what I was lead to believe in the army) In my M1A1 I could blow through the 550 Gal fuel tanks in a day or less depending on what we were doing. As for desert sand - the problem we had in Kuwait was that our air filters became clogged with the fine particles of sand. We had to stop ever three hours to hook up a hose to the engine and blow the sand out of out filters. The newer tanks (M1A2s) have automatic sand filter blowers. The engine can blow out the filters with out needing to stop. However a good crew will manually blow out the filters after a day of manuver. Hope this helps. Scott [ March 05, 2003, 08:15 AM: Message edited by: felixgrey ]

The TC has a couple of shields that he puts up to protect him from the main gun, but it is still real easy to get your elbow crushed by the gun when it goes off. The loader doesn't have any real protection b/c he needs the freedom of mobility to load rounds.

See ya JJ- midnight here also. Sleep sounds quite good. Take care all and remeber "Gunner, Sabot, Sniper is a waste of ammo" according to murphys laws of armor. Scott

The place I hated was NTC. It was a great fight, when you could make it too the fight. The Tanks they give you out there are beat down. It is good to have an OR rate of 60% for a fight. One of the tanks my troop drew was L0002 - the 2nd M1a1 off the factory floor - L0001 is in a museum and that one should have been too!

I totally agree! Helos are scary. Let the stingers or the Brads take them out with the 25mm.

JJ, Do you guys use the "Gunner MPAT Air?" It's been a couple of years since I was last in a COFT, but I could of swore we were using "Gunner, Sabot, Air" By the time the loader got the MPAT wrenched up to anti-air, I would imagine the helo would be gone. SGT G, I hope that happens to me....stuck on the beach...what a hard life!

Dr. R, That was the MPAT-A (Multi Purpose Anti-Tank / Air). The round is supposed to detect electromagnetic energy put off by the rotars (at least that is what they said in school). Like JJ and I said neither of us have ever seen a real one. None of the senior NCOs I've worked with have seen one either. As far as I know they have never been issued to US troops in combat. (Now some guy is going to come along and tell me he used it ) Scott

JJ, I know what you mean. It is a big privledge to be living here in Germany. Any chance that we get the wife and I get on a train and do some traveling. I love Europe. The last battle fields I made it too where the Market Garden bunch - Nimegan, Veghle (sp?), and Arnhem, Really enjoyed the trip. Hope to make it up too Normandy this summer. Scott

Yep, When I was at Knox they brought out the working sherman so we could climb on it. Sure was unconfortable inside, felt tight. I have alot of respect for the guys who had to fight that thing. When I was in Macedonia this year, we pulled out 3 M36s TDs out of Kosovo (I think that's what they were)and sent them back to Germany for a museum. It was real cool to climb all over them, however they were in bad shape.

JJHAYS, Nice to see another tanker here. 1AD, eh? How you like it over there? 1ID is a day to day kinda thing. :cool: Scott

Ace, We used SABOT to fire at helos because of the speed of the round. SABOT are very quick. HEAT has a very noticible arc in it when you fire - SABOT goes very straight when you fire it. Thus it's much easier to hit a target like a helo. SGT Goody is right about the HEAT rnds. Scott

CA, As far as I know (and I'll ask around if you like) we still use HE with the M1s. We fire HE at anything other than a tank. So BMPs, BRDMS, Trucks. etc we train the fire commands to shoot HE. The only things we are trained to fire SABOT at is tanks and helos. We used to have a round called the MPAT (Multi Purpose Anti-tank) which I think they phased out because I've never seen one. As for our basic load, when I was in Kuwait in '99 we carried (if I remember correctly) 25 Sabot 15 Heat 10000 rnds 7.62 and 5000 rnds of .50cal. You of course can change your load out deppending on missions/ ammo availibility. Hope this helps. Scott

Jaws, I find it very interesting how different our fire commands are from country to country. I guess it goes to show there are any ways to do the same thing. Scott

30? Well I guess I have a way to go. Cape, Firing commands are different depending on the equipment. I was a scout PL for a while on Brads and the firing commands were different then on tanks. Other interesting facts. As you know, when your buttoned up you can't see very much - you be surprised how many times my driver picked up the target before those of us in the turret did. So a good driver is moving you from cover to cover doing sagger drills and is calling out targets. While buttoned up the loader has one job - to feed the beast. Unlike WWII tanks - our shells mostly disentigrate when we fire them, so we only have the back part left after we fire. The TC is directing the Gunner, Driver and is trying to talk on the radio at the same time. The gunner is just searching for targets. As a tank PL - I was talking to my crew, the tanks in my platoon, to my CO, to the scouts (sir and Ground) I was working with and sometimes I was calling in arty. It gets really busy in there. Hope this helps. Scott

I'm currently working on a brigade staff. Believe me, I miss tanking. I just got back from Macedonia and looks like I'll prob. heading back out fairly soon. Wonder how many posts it takes to loose my newb status. Cape, sorry to hijack the thread...did we answer your question? Scott

I'm sitting in Bamberg waiting for the day to end. Good to meet ya!

SGT Goody, Thanks for the back up. I've had my loader put in the wrong round on a gunnery before and you either get a dirt diver or a round that looks like it was launched by arty. I've also seen gunner for get to switch between coax and maingun. So you either get a tank round at troop targets or coax at a tank. SGT Goody you at NTC? I'm sitting here in Germany Scott

My tanker knowledge is a little rusty, so if I screw up someone come help me out. US Tanker commands - M1A1 (They have changed for the A2s) TC- (sees target) Gunner, Sabot, Tank (This alerts the gunner, tells the loader which ammo to use, and IDs the target) Gunner - Identified (Spots and lases the target) Loader - Up (Means round is loaded and the maingun is armed) TC - Fire TC - (after hit) Target, cease fire (tells the gunner he has hit and destroyed the target and that no more rounds are needed) There are lots of variations depending on target types and which ammo you need to use. But that is the basic fire commands. If you want more just ask. Scott