That gun is for clearing obstacles, not engaging enemy armor at long distances

We used to have to tie them up to keep them from falling off during field problems.  It was a wierd three-pronged dog actuaated by one handle if I recall correctly, and the driver could hit the handle with his heel by mistake and cause it to drop away from the vehicle if you had one with a worn seal. We were constantly changing the seals on the damn things.

Seeing threads like this make me wish I had gone across the hall at MEPS back in August of 1980 and joined the Army instead of the USAF.

Being a tanker in the Army was my original intention but I let my dad talk me into the USAF.

The USAF got my enlistment so screwed up that when a passing Army NCO learned about it at MEPS he invited me to switch branches
and I wish I'd takin him up on it.

Always wanted to be a tanker and still have an interest in armored vehicles.

M-60 would have been my first tank, or maybe M-551.

Treadhead,

Thanks for the great thread and for your service!!

Believe it or not, the M-60A3 had some advantages over the M-1 series, especially the M-1 straights and IPM-1s

1.  TTS instead of TIS
2.  Not having to refuel twice a day
3.  easier to access ammo (and faster reload vs. the M-1A1)
4.  Much roomier (which reduces crew fatigue and makes loading even more easy)
5.  Better main gun depression
6.  More ammo choices against everything except tier 1 MBTs
7.  Higher ground clearance


That said, in a generic situation I would take an M-1A1 or 2 every time, and an IPM-1 9/10.  But in a handful of scenarios, M-60s are not at any real disadvantage.

ETA, do we have a recovery vehicle that can tow an M-1A1 from any aspect on a slope yet?

'been gone for a few days and just found this again  BOR and Phocks I agree with both of you (And everyone else who chimed-in).  BOR, I would always take an

M1 series tank over a '60 series if I was given the choice but, the '60 was just a lot more "Fun" and "Tankier" than the M1 (Which I've always seen more as a TD

than a Tank...that's just Me).



Phocks, I can't speak to your 1ST item on the list ( I never crewed the 'A3) but I agree as far as the rest go.  That said, without some sort of ERA or additional

protective measures I always thought that, had it come down to a shooting war in Europe, the ubiquitous RPG (Forget the REALLY scary stuff) teams would've

had me shitting Myself.



Thanks for all the nice words and memories (And pics) folks and glad you liked the thread!