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I have the Concord Thunder Run title and the Echelon decal sheet for the M1A1 Abrams platoon that named their tanks after the aircraft involved in the 9/11 attacks. Does anyone know of any other sources of pics of these specific tanks? Thanks, MK

That's the first I've heard of this. Usually the name of the tank starts with the letter of the company it's in. Like in 'A' company all the tank names start with the letter 'A'. I have a list of many of the tank names from OIF. I worked at Sierra Army Depot where the M1A1's went after OIF. This is not a complete list. "ANSWER TO THIS" was there. Many of the Thunder Run tanks were there. Below is the list:

And yet 'United Flight 175' is on the list. I'll go through my Abrams pics on the HD and see if there's any to post.

Jim

You're right Jim! I'm not paying attention

Black Jack,

Here's a picture I took FEB 2003, in the background you can see "American Airlines Flight 11" . That platoon was in the same Company as the tank in the foreground, "All the Way to Baghdad". I thought I had more images but this is all I could find. I'll keep looking. The quality isn't so hot since the camera I was using was an early digital which used a 3 1/2" floppy disc (Army Issued).

"American Airlines Flight 11"

I apologize for hijacking this thread, but Joe, do you have any more photos of All The Way To Baghdad? Your photo appears to be pre-war as the 4 red stripes have yet to be added to the fume extractor. Early in the war, this tank suffered roadwheel shear as it was on the attack over broken ground. I plan on doing a small vignette of the aftermath with the roadwheels laying nearby and the sideskirts open. But I only have one or two photos of it. It will make an interesting modeling exercise as I will have to show lots of detail not normally shown - maybe even some interior too through open hatches.

The irony is interesting w/ this tank as it never got any further, despite its name, and was stripped and the crew broken up. The barrel shroud was taken to Baghdad though!

Bob

Interesting,....

In Joes photo, the 'Comp Idler' roadwheels show signs 'chunking' usually the case from throwing track over the idler RWs, if not, then it could be the case of excessively loose track tension, thus causing the track center guides to cut up or chunk the rubber off the roadwheels.

Of course, manuevering in sand,....THAT can easily cause throwing track when turning heavily......

Been there, done that,....Too many times....

Cool stuff
Regards
Don

Burik, BlackJack,

Sorry, all I have is one other picture of SFC Gains (TC/PSG) standing next to this tank, the rest are technical pictures of the recoil system. Also couldn't find any other shots of the rest of the Company, was kinda real busy to take candid shots. You might try LIFE magazines archives, since they took quite a few pictures of 1-64 in Kuwait, especially during the big FTX phase and Service round screening at Range 8.

Don,

Track was removed on this tank to service rotary shock leaks, common problem with this lot drawn from stocks pre-positioned in Qatar. Happens when all you do is take new tanks, cocoon them, and never run them hard. Bigger issue was with the puddle you see below the gun above the two and three skirts. Recoil seals were bad, had quite a few like this and the FSB (aka Anti-Tank Battalion) refused to fix them, saying they were serviceable. Claimed a new change came out that stated this was acceptable. When pressed no one could produce the change, instead, it was more like "They said....." or "We were told...." BS. Took CFLCC C3 getting involved before they were told to fix them, and this was after the standards were produced in the relevant manuals and a TACOM confirmation that no change came down. Typical smoke screen for what turned out was their inability to do their job. This was proven when they attempted to fix their first tank and botched it up. Tank ended up crossing the border without a gun, being used as a rolling parts vehicle. Here she is after recovery in April.

Wreck

Civilian contractors eventually got the job done. My experience during the 90's with FSB's was exceptionally horrible. And I served in 5 different Tank Battalions/Squadrons during that time. Having witnessed on quite a few occasions (one is too many) guns go out of battery during screening after being "Repaired" by them. Only once did I get great support (a SGT Albert was in charge). The above case just confirmed what I always suspected. OIF changed all this for the better, along with all the other nightmares we suffered through back then. I'm sure you have some horror stories too

Joe

leaky recoil seals, huh......yup.

I had to draw one at NTC in 2000. When I tried to deadline the tank during draw, based on 10/20 standards, I got the standard story...... Well that is NOT a Deadline,'NTC Standards' don't deadline a tank for leaky recoil seals! You HAVE to draw that tank...... (and I did...!?)

When I screened it, I was holding my breath......

In 86, at Ft Hood, we had an M1 (slick) in the Bn, that had an 'egg shaped' gun tube. After FSB replaced it, the 'Mike Golfs' did a remote first round fire, and 'launched' the 'new' gun tube, guess they forgot to tighten up something...!?

Regards
Don

Joe_D "Anti Tank Battalion" is a good name for some units!

Dontos- I think one of the dirty tricks at NTC was to issue it as serviceable and then say it's unserviceable on turn-in so the unit gets stuck with fixing it.

- MarkHolloway

Dontos- I think one of the dirty tricks at NTC was to issue it as serviceable and then say it's unserviceable on turn-in so the unit gets stuck with fixing it.

NO!!??....

You think?

Amazing,....but THAT was the worst kept secret for an NTC rotation. The battle was against the draw/turn in 'inspectors'.

The OPFOR was an inconvience between the draw / turn in battles....


Regards
Don

I think one of the dirty tricks at NTC was to issue it as serviceable and then say it's unserviceable on turn-in so the unit gets stuck with fixing it.

Yeah,

But we had a term called "Yuk" maintenance. Sort of a BDAR but camouflaged to appear as a proper fix. Many a vehicle slid through the inspectors so called "Expert" eye.

Couple of good ones I seen were these two,

Fuel sensor was bad in the rear tank of an M1, so instead of draining her, pulling pack, and replacing it. The Driver's Instrument Panel was opened and rewired to show full when ever the master power was turned on. Took all of 20 minutes for someone to do this, incidentally, then all cells read full after that. They just had to make sure she was topped off when the tanks were inspected.

CD850 transmission on an M60A3 had the dip stick/fill tube removed and the screen between the transmission casing replaced with a gasket. Then filled with "Good" oil from another tank in order to pass AOAP under the watchful eye of the inspectors. Was a back log trying to get replacement transmissions and the stuff that was put in this one to make it work just long enough for turn in would never be accepted.

Anything to get the Hell out of there and make your "Chock". The attitude was pretty much "They screwed us during draw, we'll screw them during turn in, what goes around comes around" . Unfortunately, the only ones getting screwed were the next rotating unit. Which BTW, none of this would have ever happened if they weren't trying to use us to fix their crap and repaired the stuff between rotations. They also stacked their odds with the Command by issuing them the better Bradley/Tanks. "I'm not having any real issues, must be the crews lack of maintenance". A premier training ground eventually turned into nothing more than a maintenance/logistics exercise for most Enlisted tank crews by the late 90's. Not uncommon for a crew to never participate in a fight the whole rotation.

Thank God all this has gone away.

NTC = The Army's official Hazing ground .