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US Army's last tanks depart from Germany
Stars & Stripes ^ | April 4, 2013 | John Vandiver

Posted on 04/04/2013 11:58:49 AM PDT by Timber Rattler

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To: Billthedrill

“However did they (we) win?!?”


21 posted on 04/04/2013 12:18:42 PM PDT by PfromHoGro (Free citizens voted to become subjects of the state, how about that!)
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To: P from Sheb

“Oh, German, I thought there was something wrong with you.”


22 posted on 04/04/2013 12:19:35 PM PDT by dfwgator
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To: Conan the Librarian

Thanks to all of the people who stood at guard all of those many years, at least they kept the peace and kept the Russian Bear in his den.


23 posted on 04/04/2013 12:19:55 PM PDT by BooBoo1000 (Some times I wake up grumpy,,, other times I just let her sleep.)
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To: Gaffer

Tanks have used rubber track blocks for decades in all kinds of terrain, not just on autobahns.


24 posted on 04/04/2013 12:20:35 PM PDT by csmusaret (America is more divided today , not because of the problems we face but because of Obama's solutions)
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To: Born to Conserve
The only thing they’re good for now is running over unarmed civilians, and we don’t do that.

The military doesn't do that, but DHS still needs them.

25 posted on 04/04/2013 12:25:47 PM PDT by Mr. Jeeves (CTRL-GALT-DELETE)
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To: FreedomPoster; colorado tanker; M1Tanker

FYI


26 posted on 04/04/2013 12:27:49 PM PDT by SLB (23rd Artillery Group, Republic of South Vietnam, Aug 1970 - Aug 1971.)
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To: zot; Interesting Times

Those were the days! Now just a memory. Grafenwoehr without the sound of tank and artillery going off, had to believe.


27 posted on 04/04/2013 12:27:52 PM PDT by GreyFriar (Spearhead - 3rd Armored Division 75-78 & 83-87)
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To: Mmogamer

I can think of some uses for the money saved.


28 posted on 04/04/2013 12:30:33 PM PDT by count-your-change (you don't have to be brilliant, not being stupid is enough)
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To: Born to Conserve
Tanks do not operate as singles. Taking and holding ground requires lots of forces and drones are only a small part of that. Tanks and Infantry are still a big part of an offense.

It is odd you are saying tanks are obsolete so soon after a Brigade of heavy tanks and mech drove all the way to Baghdad taking so few casualties.

And yes, even in World War II a cheap bazooka could (and sometimes did) take out a Tiger or even a King Tiger tank. Yet the German tanks could still cause us lots of problems and casualties. Our best weapon against them remained our own tanks.

29 posted on 04/04/2013 12:30:42 PM PDT by Monterrosa-24 (...even more American than a French bikini and a Russian AK-47.)
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To: Gaffer

“I remember the M-1s in K-town across the river where I was stationed. I remember the 73 Israeli war. We tried to ship a bunch of them on freighters out to Israel from Bremerhaven...the effing NAZI germans wouldn’t allow them to leave.”

That would be impossible since the XM-1 wasn’t delivered for testing until 1978, and the production M-1 didn’t make it to Germany until REFORGER ‘82.


30 posted on 04/04/2013 12:31:13 PM PDT by 2CAVTrooper (Slaving away so obama supporting deadbeats can play)
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To: Gaffer
I remember the M-1s in K-town across the river where I was stationed. I remember the 73 Israeli war. We tried to ship a bunch of them on freighters out to Israel from Bremerhaven they were NOT M-1s they were M-60s and M-60A1s. My first platoon in germany in '75 had two 60s, three A1s and one of the co hq tanks. they were still painted in desert camo.
31 posted on 04/04/2013 12:35:44 PM PDT by bravo whiskey (We should not fear our government. Our government shoud fear us.)
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To: ansel12
Yep, it's time to come home and look after our own people for a change. And the Army would be the prime force with which to seal and patrol the Mexican border, if our government had any cojones to actually do it, that is.

I'm just sick and tired of foreign commitments that our government botch and get good Americans killed or maimed for life, for no real purpose.

32 posted on 04/04/2013 12:37:11 PM PDT by Timber Rattler (Just say NO! to RINOS and the GOP-E)
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To: Born to Conserve

Not saying you are wrong, exactly, but we aren’t quite there yet.

The drones that shoot the Hellfires don’t go for $10K.
We are talking pretty expensive drones. The Predators go for $4M each.

And in a “real” war, where the other side actually has effective air defense systems, the relatively simple Predator won’t do. An anti-tank missile-shooting drone that could survive long enough to be effective would be an order of magnitude more expensive.

On the other hand, there are many other ways of delivering an overhead attack with a “smart” missile. Many such potential systems are unimplemented ideas at this point. And of course there are countermeasures also. Active defense systems (which have been in use for some years now) and even, maybe, just a simple armored “umbrella” could complicate things enough to foil the best laid plans.

We are in one of those times where there hasn’t been a high-tech cutting edge war recently enough to show us through experience where the technological balance actually is.


33 posted on 04/04/2013 12:39:22 PM PDT by buwaya
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To: dfwgator

OMG! I actually watched that episode within the last couple of weeks!


34 posted on 04/04/2013 12:44:54 PM PDT by colorado tanker
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To: GreyFriar

“Those were the days! Now just a memory. Grafenwoehr without the sound of tank and artillery going off, had to believe.”

Graf was OK, I preferred going there compared to Hohenfels.

My last time at Graf, the entire 1AD road marched from Graf to Hohenfels.

The first convoy out of the gate onto 299 ended up having some LN pancake himself into the back of the M-88 trail vehicle. I want to say that it was 2/68 Armor. After that, every convoy had a heavy MP, German MP, and Politzi escort, and every vehicle had at least on VS-17 panel draped over the back.


35 posted on 04/04/2013 12:45:43 PM PDT by 2CAVTrooper (Slaving away so obama supporting deadbeats can play)
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To: GreyFriar
Graf was one of the more boring places, but at Wild-flicken (Bad K for Infantry ~ a pun) we went up the hill on a nice late July day to get an ice cream cone ~ and by the time we got to the top it had snowed 6 inches!

On the way out some of the guys tried to abscond with an old piece of WWI equipment but they got caught at the railhead ~ so we had to give it back.

Most of the time our unit would have the troops ride the rails with the tracks on flat cars (tofc) and a few of us would ride down the autobahn, et al, mostly et al, to whatever training area they wanted us.

Once we returned to Kitzingen (Harvey Barracks) in our tracks ~ it was well below freezing ~ I was TC ~ WOW! Even a hawk jacket has trouble with that. The guys inside were roasting though.

Earlier that year we were up on the border with a radar watching a Russian/GDR guard post ~ major minefield in that area, and the Russians came down a road on the otherside just across from us IN A TANK COLUMN.

So, you might ask, did the guy at Tianamen Square wet himself up against that tank? ~ from experience I'd say he never noticed if he did. Tanks are impressive. Tanks that can be or could be aimed at you and fired are very impressive ~ a thing you'll never forget. When there's nothing between you and a bunch of them and what immediately seemed to be a very inadequate mine field, it's time to deedee out.

36 posted on 04/04/2013 12:46:42 PM PDT by muawiyah
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To: dfwgator

Considering how the EURO crisis is going it looks like Germany has found a way of conquering the Western and Southern Europe without firing a shot, and demanding and getting reparations $$$$$ too.

They are doing much better than Japan is.


37 posted on 04/04/2013 12:47:13 PM PDT by sickoflibs (To GOP : Any path to US citizenship IS putting them ahead in line. Stop lying about your position.)
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To: Snickering Hound

Spent 4 years in Berlin, 84 - 88. Most interesting assignment of my career.


38 posted on 04/04/2013 12:49:05 PM PDT by ops33 (Senior Master Sergeant, USAF (Retired))
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To: SLB; archy; Gringo1; Matthew James; Fred Mertz; Squantos; colorado tanker; The Shrew; Darksheare; ..
Thanks for the heads up, SLB.


Free Republic Treadhead Ping


39 posted on 04/04/2013 1:00:21 PM PDT by FreedomPoster (Islam delenda est)
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To: Born to Conserve
The only thing they’re good for now is running over unarmed civilians, and we don’t do that.

Not yet................

40 posted on 04/04/2013 1:00:30 PM PDT by varon (USA Nationalist)
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