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Hi Jeff! Hi Folks!

Jeff, Thanks for all the super photos!

- SFC_Jeff_Button

Question for all you tankers. I don't see an infantry phone box on this vehicle. Was it removed as part of the A3 upgrade program?

Sgt, Scouts Out!

Would you want to stand near a tank where the outer coating may blow up in your face?

Hi Bob! Hi Folks!

- bsmart

Would you want to stand near a tank where the outer coating may blow up in your face?

I guess I didn't ask that question right. Let me try that again.

Was the phone box removed from 'All' A3s or was it only removed from the A3s that had the ERA package installed?

AFAIK, the U.S. Army NEVER deployed that ERA package. The Army did develope it for use on the M60s in Korea due to an expected shortage of M1 Abrams tanks. The story I remember is the shipment made it as far as a west coast port were it was put on hold due to a change in the available of Abrams tanks. The USMC who at that time was not planning on buying the Abrams stepped in and took the ERA packages for use on their M60 tanks.
AFAIK, the USMC was the only ones to use that ERA which surpises me to see a set installed on a M60A3 in a US Army musuem.

Sgt, Scouts Out!

The explanatory plaque is a proofreader's delight!

- A2_Prius

The explanatory plaque is a proofreader's delight!

"Solid state ballistic machine gun....?"

Thankfully, the designers had the foresight to put that "external layer" of applique' armor (that explodes!) on the outside! Good thinking, that!

- Roy_A_Lingle

AFAIK, the USMC was the only ones to use that ERA which surpises me to see a set installed on a M60A3 in a US Army musuem.

Well, the plaque does say its one of 5 experimental M60A3s with the ERA... So presumably it was tested at Fort Hood, or maybe elsewhere and just wound up at Hood.

Neil

Hello Roy, Neil, Bob, Doug, Jeff and everyone else,
Great pictures Jeff, Glad you settled in to Hood finally, hope all is well. The M60 with the weird marks on the front is serial #504. I was at Hood in JAN/FEB when they were repainting the displays and got the number from the left front tow eye. Those marks are definately strange and they do not correspond to the mine clearing rollers we had. A 60 series tank would have the boss's welded at an angle to the front below the center vision block, they were rectangular with a rounded bottom. They also welded a square boss center about 10" on the lower front. By the time this roller kit came out (Late 70's early 80's) the straight 60's were in Gaurd units, retired or given to Israel. Besides, once those boss's were welded on they never took them off the A1's and A3's, even after rebuild, since it potentially could be used as a roller tank again. Those marks look like casting imperfections repaired but the uniformity and location make me think it could be for some test done. The bottom marks are cast imperfection repair.
I love the A1 plaque for #8800, I am afraid this tank doesn't have a solid state computer or laser range finder and the only smoke rounds it could fire were 105 White Phosphorus. The tube over bar suspension was one of the developements of the RISE program but was never adopted on any production 60's. In fact this tank was never converted to passive standards. From the outside it's hard to tell if it has been converted to RISE standards, The few ways I know how to ID a RISE is by opening the top deck right grills. The starter relay would be on top of the oil coolers (which were also larger) with all the electrical disconnects. A non rise had the connectors below and had to be accessed from the turret through the lower bulk head panel (pain in the A--). This panel would also have an air intake for the old air cooled generators, the RISE used oil cooled generators so the panel would have no vent. There are other ways too but you need greater access to the inside.
The A3 with reactive armor is actually serial #3079A, an Anniston rebuild/manufacture. The # 7241 was it's A1 number, at least the hull. The turret came from an older pre '74 tank since it lacks the chin armor. Yes, only the USMC used the reactive package, the Army only put it on 5 test tanks. The package was slightly different for the A3's since they didn't need to have the line of sight clear for left side range finder blister . They took the blister off and covered it with an armored plate. There was another reactive armor A3 at Hood. It was located behind Range Control in the hard target lot. It had all the plates removed but still had all the mounting points. Looked like a porcupine. I posted a picture of it a while back. It should be still there.
About phone boxes, around 86/87 a message came out that phone boxes would not be repaired anymore and we were authorized to remove them. Not everyone cut them off though, since it was a useful item. When active army A3's were rebuilt at anniston before issue to gaurd units they welded a circular plate over the hole in the right rear hull for the cable. Hopefully my long winded post answered some of your questions. I tried posting a few times earlier but had trouble doing so.

Joe D

Thanks Joe, Its good, REALLY good to be back on here. I did have 3079A as the serial # for the M60A3 but it was barely readable. This Friday, the 11th, I plan to go to range control and check out the tanks there. It's my day off, but I'll probably go to these places in uniform to avoid the hassles of "who are you and what are you doing here?". I plan to visit a few motorpools as well if I see something of interest. Are you getting this way again any time soon? I'd love to "tour" the post with you and pick your brain for tips on tank ID. Take care.

Sorry Jeff,
As of right now I'll probably be returning through Fort Bliss but I sure would take you up on that offer if I get that way. When you check out those tanks behind range control you might want to check with them before hand. They kinda got upset when I climbed on them. Being in uniform helped but coveralls might be better if you climb inside. They've been plasma cut when they prepped them for range duty so there's a lot of sharp edges. I could sure could use a shot of the side hull and suspension of #2593A (reactive armor) and #3290A. The others there should be #'s 2921A, 3264A, 3274A, and 6378. If you find any others I'd sure be interested in them. Thanks.

Joe D