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- Joe_D

Don,

Yep, during that time Fort Hood/ 1st CAV became "God's Gift to Armor", receiving all the latest stuff and influencing Doctrine and Training dis-proportionally to what was actually going on. Sometimes referred to "Desert Storm Syndrom" Meanwhile other units Stateside had to make do with scraps left over, some even being forbidden to fire up their tanks for maintenance due to fuel limitations. Even "Real" deployable Divisions (3 ID ) had to do without. Places like Korea, which had an ongoing mission, were hit too. We got M1A1's in '95 and were told NOT to let the crews do breech maintenance because if they broke something we could not get the parts. I don't know how many times I would cringe when conducting training or in meetings when someone would say "At Fort Hood......" .
We also stayed very busy, just nothing fancy, Did four NTC rotations in one year at Riley, that's because we were so under manned you ended up filling other units so they could go. After all, the commands had to get their NTC rotation in for their OER/NCOER's. All in all pretty crazy times.

That E-mail just reminded me of all that.
Joe D

BTW, 1st ID, 2nd "Dagger" BDE under COL Tony Moreno went to war with M1/105's, only unit's to do so.

Joe

A few things,....

1) 91-92 in ROK- Remember the 'start / no start' weeks due to No fuel availability? (Hard to do 'Monday Maint' when you can't even fire up your tank).

2) 'Team Spirit' 92 Cancelled due to no funding?

3) Were you at Carson in 92-93? 1st CAV turned over 3 Bns
of 'ODS issued' M1A1'a, 3/8 CAV being the last. That turn-in, in Nov/Dec 92, was the hardest I've ever been a part of . There were some 19K20's from Carson making up the 'Turn-in Maint Team'. (Talk about getting the 'sandy vasoline' treatment,....!! ) Not a fun time!!



Being at Ft Hood, during that time, wasn't all that fun. BUT, it was certainly not boring on 'our' side of POST.

'The Happy Tanker'
Don

Don,

Friend of mine was there doing that turn in at Hood, said some guys seriously were talking of tracking down those so called "Experts" from Carson to give them an attitude adjustment.

I got to Riley right after DS from Korea (JAN 92). We had 3rd ACR's cast off M1A1's they turned in prior to the war. Our Battalion turned in their M1/105's after hostilities ceased and were given them on the way home. All were slick backs and some didn't even have the "Man-Hole" cover for the CITV installation. By '93 the desert damage from Bliss and Saudi had many turrets locking up, literally jamming tight and unable to move. That original turret ring design was pretty poor. I still have some of those ball bearings laying around from all the turret rings we worked on. Eventually we ended up going to Bliss to draw a Battalion of loaners while ours went to Anniston for repairs. The irony was the loaners we drew were 3rd ACR's M1A1's they drew for ODS and then turned in right after getting back for M1A2's. Those loaner M1A1's eventually followed me to Korea in '95 when my old BN got their tanks back from ANAD. Finally shook them when I went to Knox.

Sabot,

I cannot imagine the pain you went through going over an FSB, most during that time were known as the best Anti-Tank Battalions in the Army. There is a very good reason why you remote fire a tank after the gun has been worked on by 3rd shop. Had too many go out of battery that potentially could have killed someone if they were inside. They'd also have some E- nothing doing borescope of tubes with no supervision most of the time. I'd always asked them what they were looking for and what the condemnation criteria was. Got some very interesting and sometimes scary answers. Glad they were 120's and didn't have to do pull-over's. God knows what they would have come up with. Things are much better now from what I've seen the last few years.

And the Baaaad Flash-Backs continue

Joe D

Some of the problems I ran into when I took command of HHC 215th FSB were:
1. Women from the S1 shop could not go into the S3 shop and the S3 shop women could not go into the S1 shop.
2. PAC NCOIC was removed and sent to the PSB that serviced 2AD because whe was caught "selling leave" (you turn in a leave form to her with some money, she gives you back your DA 31 and never processes it through Finance, in effect giving you uncharged/free leave).
3. Of the 12 soldier mess team, 5 of them at any time were pregnant, on convalescent leave or just coming back from con leave. I doubt I went to the field with more than 6 cooks at any one time.
4. One of my female PAC NCOs ("SGT L.") was messing around with married men. I got several irate calls from an unknown older black woman who wanted me to keep my sergeant away from her husband. She would not tell me who she was (I knew she was not a wife from my company). I finally had to tell her that it would be easier for her to tell her husband to stay away from SGT L. than it would be for me to tell SGT L. to stay away from some unnamed NCO who is married.
5. One of my PAC soldiers married a mechanic from another company. He was abusive to her and was quickly kicked out of the Army. He then showed up on my doorstep as a homeless Army spouse civilian and demanded that I move the soldier into the barracks so he could live in the quarters. My soldier had to pay for a place for that loser to live until we could get her a quick divorce.

Bottomline, the FSB is a bad place to be.

Damn Sabot,

I bet you were one very happy Troop when you left Command there.

Unfortunately a lot of those problems with Females give the good ones bad reputations. I rarely worked with or dealt with female troops, having neither served or supervised any (Including my time in Recruiting). I do know some Senior female NCO's that are fine Soldiers, but also have my horror stories too. One that sticks out the most was a Female turret mechanic from the FSB. One look at her fancy, manicured, long fingernails told me right away the EL-Mech of my 23 Tank was not going to get changed out anytime soon. She was a little-bitty thing too who couldn't carry her own tool box by herself.

Joe D

Oh, I've worked with plenty of super female soldiers. When I was the BMO of 1-12 CAV, we had a string of lazy, no good MST team chiefs from the FSB. Then one day, a female SFC showed up. She was by far the best MST chief I ever saw. My Bn Cdr was surprised to see a woman in the UMCP, but I assured him she was a squared away troop and the best E7 we had on site (which included my own Co. Maint team chiefs).

In the FSB, my SSG commo chief was my master fitness trainer was literally a weightlifting stud (studette?). Super soldier. Also one of my 63Bs was one of my best soldiers (although I believe she preferred women to men). One of my Lts was a West Pointer, 300 PT scorer and a great officer, although a little too green.

It's just that the lasting memories are of all the problems I had to sort through. I commanded this company when "don't ask, don't tell" was implemented. We went out of our way to look the other way as far same sex relationships went. I had a cook who complained that her roommate always had an overnight female visitor from within the Bn. She did not approve of the alternate lifestyle and wanted her out. We compromised and moved that cook in with another female who was straight and moved the female cook who was gay into a room with another female who was probably gay.

Oh what fun. It was my first unit I served in that had women.

Gee, everything from global geopolitics and disarmament to all-around-the-mulberry-bush tank handovers to unsafe maintenance to bad and good female soldiers and civil rights (or is this case called personal rights in the US Army). A fella gets an education every time he logs on this board!

And, I did think it was France not recognizing the drawdown subtraction connotations. They do have nukes don't forget.