 |
Inside the M60-A1 battle tank. This is the tank commander's position. The machine gun turret is visible at top. Also note the sights, turret and radio controls. |
 |
In the front of the turret, to the right of the gun tube, is where the gunner sits. You can see his various sights, turret controls. The old ballistics computer is to the lower right. The gunner entered the type of round he had loaded and the target range and the computer would adjust gun tube elevation for that particular round's trajectory characteristics. Also in the center of the picture is the crank for turning the turret if the electrical controls are knocked out. |
 |
The driver's seat as seen from inside the turret. They were great fun to drive and just like a huge riding lawn mower... a T-bar for steering, accelerator, brake, one lever with forward, reverse, and neutral. |
On to Twenty-Nine Palms. Some of the places we'd go for training included a cold weather training center in Yakima, WA, a place in Boise, ID, and a Marine Corps Base in the high desert of California called Twenty-Nine Palms.  These trips usually would last a month and involve a company of tanks (seventeen - plus support vehicles). Three corpsmen would typically go along. I went on two of them, once in the winter (froze!) and once in the summer (roasted!).
This was one of our base camps. Usually we'd stay with the entire group of infantry, artillery, etc., that were participating in the operation but we had set up camp away from the main encampment for about a week to boresight the guns and practice firing. |
 |
Replacing an engine back at the main camp. Some of these pictures had paint spilled on them. I was able to photoshop some of the paint away in a few pictures but others were beyond repair. |
 |
Left: Another corpsman. I can't remember his last name... his first name's Jim. Sorry, Jim. In this shot I think he was warning me not to take his picture.
Below: On one trip we shared a GP tent with a few marines. They definitely took their Spades games seriously. I became a cutthroat Spades player after a month out with these guys.
 |
 |
That's me in the painted picture. |
| Another Fine Marine Corps Morning out in the desert.
Q: What does a tank under camouflage netting look like from 10,000 ft?
A: A tank under camouflage netting. |
 |
 |
Ummm... No, it's not Saddam posing as a marine. Here's Hospital Corpsman Michael "General Rommel" Neil leaving for a morning of fun. |
| And last but not least, here I am reenlisting in 1984 just prior to returning to shore duty. |
 |
| Since scanning these pictures I've discovered that the First Tank Battalion is no longer at Camp Pendleton. They've gone to the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center at Twenty-Nine Palms, CA. Wow. What a change from good old 41-area. I knew something was up when, a few years ago, I looked at 41-area using Terraserver and didn't see any tanks.
Oh, and they've got the bad-to-the-bone M1 Abrams tanks now instead of the M60's. Awesome. Maybe one day I'll get to see inside one of those.
Here are a few Tanker sites:
|
|
