62 years ago today

[Tom Smart]

My CO told me once that it wasn't the platoon leader's job to run the equipment but I always felt like I should at least know the basics and know what we expected the operator's to do. Can't rely on the platoon sargeant all the time.

Agree!

I used to get kicked out of the motor pool by the PSG all the time. He viewed that as his domain. When we went to the field the platoon was mine. When you are fixing or replacing track on a tank, a crew level job, all 4 crew members should be there or the job just became 25% harder.

One of my tanks was a blade tank with an add on hydraulic dozer blade to prepare positions. The thinking was you engineers would be too busy and never around when needed. The hydraulic lines ran from the engine compartment under the hull to the blade. They often were torn off in normal operations and thus useless most of the time. The added weight in the front did make for a very stable firing platform though.

 

[Nubsnstubs]

Agree!

I used to get kicked out of the motor pool by the PSG all the time. He viewed that as his domain. When we went to the field the platoon was mine. When you are fixing or replacing track on a tank, a crew level job, all 4 crew members should be there or the job just became 25% harder.

One of my tanks was a blade tank with an add on hydraulic dozer blade to prepare positions. The thinking was you engineers would be too busy and never around when needed. The hydraulic lines ran from the engine compartment under the hull to the blade. They often were torn off in normal operations and thus useless most of the time. The added weight in the front did make for a very stable firing platform though.

"The thinking was you engineers would be too busy and never around when needed."

Tom, this is in reply to your comment in bold above. My answer to that is; We, Combat Engineers, are always busy clearing the way for the Infantry. Minefields, destroyed bridges and roads, downed trees, and such all had to be either Cleared, Repaired, Removed and Other things had to be managed before the Infantry could continue. ................ Nubs

 

[Tom Smart]

"The thinking was you engineers would be too busy and never around when needed."

Tom, this is in reply to your comment in bold above. My answer to that is; We, Combat Engineers, are always busy clearing the way for the Infantry. Minefields, destroyed bridges and roads, downed trees, and such all had to be either Cleared, Repaired, Removed and Other things had to be managed before the Infantry could continue. ................ Nubs

Yeah, those infantry guys always needed babysitting. I'm armor/cavalry!

 

[DLJeffs]

Doug, were you an officer. I think I asked once, but can't remember.

"Articulated in the middle". That was the term I was looking for in the above post, but CRS set in and it vanished............. Nubs

Yeah, because we lived in the Panama Canal Zone all through my junior and high school years, I was out-of-state tuition for college. There weren't many full ride scholarships available to us either. I took the National Merit test and got a firm handshake, thanking me for taking their test. The congressman who represents the Zone offered me one of his two positions to one of the military academies but my eyes were too bad to fly jets, plus I didn't think I could understand the petty stuff like an upper classman rubbing the top of my doorsill wearing a white glove and if there was any sign of dirt I would be restricted to campus for the week end. Anyway, I got an ROTC scholarship which allowed me to pretty much go anywhere I wanted to that had an ROTC program. The scholarship deal requires 4 years of military classes in addition to our regular engineering classes, 6 weeks of ROTC summer camp which is essentially basic training, and comes with a commission to 2nd Lt and a 4 year active duty commitment after graduation, plus 2 more years in the reserves. And because I went to the Colorado School of Mines, I went into the engineers.

 

[DLJeffs]

Agree!

I used to get kicked out of the motor pool by the PSG all the time. He viewed that as his domain. When we went to the field the platoon was mine. When you are fixing or replacing track on a tank, a crew level job, all 4 crew members should be there or the job just became 25% harder.

One of my tanks was a blade tank with an add on hydraulic dozer blade to prepare positions. The thinking was you engineers would be too busy and never around when needed. The hydraulic lines ran from the engine compartment under the hull to the blade. They often were torn off in normal operations and thus useless most of the time. The added weight in the front did make for a very stable firing platform though.

Our combat engineer vehicles were essentially an M60 tank but with a blade in front and a different main gun. It was a 165mm howitzer and the round was made to be a bunker buster - to bust up enemy bunkers and obstacles. It flew so slow that if you stood right behind the tank you could actually follow the round downrange. One of my favorite things to do was to take the 50 cal off the tank, put it on a tripod, and shoot it like a sniper rifle at a 55gal drum full of water that was 600- 1000 meters down range.