This is a discussion on Abrams tank drivers within the Army & Security Forces forum, part of the Global Defense & Military category; And all of these track maintenance gets even more awfull when one has to do it at night, during a ...
And all of these track maintenance gets even more awfull when one has to do it at night, during a storm, standing in a ditch full of water...
Have fun!
You're bringing back bad memories *lol*. I recall a 4 week rotation at the CMTC in Hohenfels when on the last day in "the box", during the last "battle" our tank threw track hard to the inside, coming off the drive sprocket and actually wrapping around the outside of the skirts all the way forward to the front idler wheel. Oh, in 18" of mud of course. It took two M88 recovery vehicles in tandem, 2 broken tow bars, and several hours of winching with the tow cable to drag us about 400m up a hill to the tank trail. Then we had to dig all of the caked on, compressed clay-like mud out from behind the skirts and off all of the road wheels (which took another couple of hours) before we could even think of putting the track on. We threw track around 10am and didn't get to the wash rack until after midnight - and we had to have the tank spotless and completely mud free by morning so we could load them back on the train at the Parsberg rail head. Ah, yes those were the days..... *lol*
Try driving through concentina wire in the middle of the night going about 20MPH and shearing off a final drive sprocket and landing into a 50ft ravine. That debacle cost us alot of bruises to the entire crew and about 48 hours worth of HAAARD back breaking labor, maintenance was so pissed at us that all of them in our maintenance section gave me the stink eye stare for weeks.
________________
"Here, across death`s other river
The Tartar horsemen shake their spears"
I really hate concertina wire.
This stuff tends to lie everywhere on training areas because somebody was too lazy to clean up his stuff.
And you always run over it. It really ruins your day.
But managing to hit a ravine is really impressive...
Funny how a purpose built steel re-enforced "anti-tank" obstacle, like a tetrahedron can be pretty easily crushed and run over by a modern MBT , but a forgotten, rusted spool of concertina wire left behind by sloppy engineers can wreak so much havoc.
*lol*
Adrian
Quote:
Originally Posted by Waylander
Ooooh, that's bad.
I really hate concertina wire.
This stuff tends to lie everywhere on training areas because somebody was too lazy to clean up his stuff.
And you always run over it. It really ruins your day.
But managing to hit a ravine is really impressive...
I really hate concertina wire.
This stuff tends to lie everywhere on training areas because somebody was too lazy to clean up his stuff.
And you always run over it. It really ruins your day.
But managing to hit a ravine is really impressive...
I have actually driven a few times into ravines, desert type terrian is full of them, most of the time if you are hauling ass cross country you do not see them until it is to late, this is where a good driver proves his worth to the crew.
________________
"Here, across death`s other river
The Tartar horsemen shake their spears"
I have actually driven a few times into ravines, desert type terrian is full of them, most of the time if you are hauling ass cross country you do not see them until it is to late, this is where a good driver proves his worth to the crew.
Experience only in buckets (M113's) but one of our greatest worries were tree stumps obscured by long grass - the sudden stop was errr...Interesting apparently. Never happened to me personnally , but you'd hear stories about exactly these sorts of impacts by crews doing battle runs up at Shoalwater Bay.
Experience only in buckets (M113's) but one of our greatest worries were tree stumps obscured by long grass - the sudden stop was errr...Interesting apparently. Never happened to me personnally , but you'd hear stories about exactly these sorts of impacts by crews doing battle runs up at Shoalwater Bay.
LOL. thats why 5/7 RAR drivers look like boxers, knock out their front teeth on the dash!
I could see that with the old reliable tin cans, terrible steering mechanism along with driver positioning doesn`t give a whole lot of reaction time. I saw what happened to a driver once that did not have his hatch locked in place during a FTX, OUCH!
________________
"Here, across death`s other river
The Tartar horsemen shake their spears"
Usually all Leo gunners have small scars above their eyes because of that.
Once a tank of my platoon ran into a ditch and stopped violently out of full cross country speed.
The gunner's seat came loose and he got thrown through the crew compartment.
Went to the hospital with a concussion...
Something similiar happened to a guy in my company during a CMTC rotation. He was the loader, and was standing up in the loaders hatch manning the M240 MG and the tank slammed into a "dip" in the ground. The safety pin was not in the latch the holds the hatch locked open, and it came loose. The hatch slammed down on this guys head, knocking him down inside the turret. As he fell, he instinctively grabbed the edges of the hatch opening to stop his fall - the spring loaded hatch bounced back open - failed to latch - and slammed back down again on his hands, breaking 4 fingers on each hand. Ouch.
The moral of the story? Check those safety pins!
And yes - tanking is FUN!
Adrian
Quote:
Originally Posted by eckherl
I could see that with the old reliable tin cans, terrible steering mechanism along with driver positioning doesn`t give a whole lot of reaction time. I saw what happened to a driver once that did not have his hatch locked in place during a FTX, OUCH!
so finally today the army rang me. they have been looking for my paperwork for about 4 months and now they have found it everything can proceed. looks like im going to basic training in november and then on to school of armour afterwards. thats ok because im not the fittest at the moment so i have time to prepare. what sort of training should i be doing besides the regular pushups, running and sit ups. do you need to be super strong in any area to be a tank crewman?
also is there any other things i should be studying? like map reading or anything that could help me in regards to being a driver?
thanks heaps and keep the replies coming, they make interesting reading.
so finally today the army rang me. they have been looking for my paperwork for about 4 months and now they have found it everything can proceed. looks like im going to basic training in november and then on to school of armour afterwards. thats ok because im not the fittest at the moment so i have time to prepare. what sort of training should i be doing besides the regular pushups, running and sit ups. do you need to be super strong in any area to be a tank crewman?
also is there any other things i should be studying? like map reading or anything that could help me in regards to being a driver?
thanks heaps and keep the replies coming, they make interesting reading.
For physical fitness you should be fine for what they are going to put you thru during basic training and ait, just be sure to on occasion to work with the 120mm dummy rounds (practice with HEAT because they are heavier), especially for timed loading.
Good land navigation skills is a plus also, especially when conducting mounted warfare, a good tank driver during a crew briefing can look at a map and get a good feel for what type of terrian that you will be moving thru and learn the contours of the terrian, my last tank driver was just amazing and knew actually how to use the terrian to our advantage to move and not present ourselves as a target, never had to yell at him for sky linning our tank. You can also assist your TC with land navigation when positioned at the loaders station.
________________
"Here, across death`s other river
The Tartar horsemen shake their spears"
so finally today the army rang me. they have been looking for my paperwork for about 4 months and now they have found it everything can proceed. looks like im going to basic training in november and then on to school of armour afterwards. thats ok because im not the fittest at the moment so i have time to prepare. what sort of training should i be doing besides the regular pushups, running and sit ups. do you need to be super strong in any area to be a tank crewman?
also is there any other things i should be studying? like map reading or anything that could help me in regards to being a driver?
thanks heaps and keep the replies coming, they make interesting reading.
I agree with eckherl, the army will ensure you get the fitness you need if necessary the hard way. So you don't have to do it the hard way, the fitter you are the better you'll cope - why make it hard? That said, don't do anything stupid and bust a knee or something else that's totally debilitating.
Feel free to bone up on some of the basics, but get the right advice first (nothing worse than learning the wrong thing because you found it on the net (the military uses Mils for instance not degrees when working with bearings). The army training systems are geared to teach someone everything they need to know from scratch, so if you are of average inteligence you should be fine. If you do a little extra work before going to Kapooka, don't be too quick to start answering all the questions - you'll just end up drawing unwanted attention to yourself from instructors (who may consider you a smartarse or know it all) and your now 'ex' mates.
Be on time, be a team player, have the answers if asked have a 'can do' attitude, don't lie and look after your mates. That's not a bad starting point.
so finally today the army rang me. they have been looking for my paperwork for about 4 months and now they have found it everything can proceed. looks like im going to basic training in november and then on to school of armour afterwards. thats ok because im not the fittest at the moment so i have time to prepare. what sort of training should i be doing besides the regular pushups, running and sit ups. do you need to be super strong in any area to be a tank crewman?
also is there any other things i should be studying? like map reading or anything that could help me in regards to being a driver?
thanks heaps and keep the replies coming, they make interesting reading.
I can't comment specifically on the Australian Army's basic training - but if it is anything like the US Army's (I imagine there are a great number of similarities) the better cardiovascular shape you are in when you go, the easier your life is going to be during training. Build up your endurance, and do a lot of running (just don't go crazy and over train and hurt yourself). I would imagine a good basic understanding of the rank structure, organization, and customs and courtisies of the Australian Army will help as well. There is a fair bit of rote memorization in the first few weeks of US Army Basic Combat Training - rank, chain of command, general orders, army history, army values, etc. and knowing some of that stuff in advance certainly helps - but like the previous poster mentioned - don't show off. The nail that sticks up gets the hammer. The best thing your drill sergeant can say to you on graduation day is "Who the hell are you?".
