M1A1 Abrams Operation Desert Storm Question

Wow, you liked that thing! Most of the people I knew hated it.

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Sort of a Quigley Down Under moment. “Said I didn’t like them. Never said I couldn’t use them.”

Odd- it was unnatural, until it wasn’t! I had a killer rep in Gunnery: my .50 cal and TC engagements were always ON! Loved it. But I’d practiced for years!

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Thank you so much for sharing! I loved hearing your insights.

Thank you so much,
Lukas

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DS2 kit

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If that desert palm logo had crossed sabers instead of the EGA, it would be perfect for a Ghost Troop vehicle because they were the first to cross the berm in Desert Storm.

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Its interesting how the tactical markings differed between each Squadron or even between Troop to Troop within 2ACR except for the ID panel on the back of the turrets.
On those panels, each Squadron was assigned a number, and each Troop was assigned a number. So 33 = 3rd Squadron, Lightning Troop.
In 3rd Squadron their Troops were named Iron, Killer, Lightning, and Mad Dog.

In Ghost Troop (battle of 73 Easting), I dont recall seeing any photos of their vehicles having tactical numbers on the sides, but their IFF(?) chevrons were closer to the rear of the vehicles and had about a 6in wide white stripe painted along the top sides of the chevron.

Both books Days of Fury (Ghost Troop @ 73 Easting), and Fires of Babylon (Eagle Troop @ 73 Easting) have decent B&W photos to give an idea as to how other Troops in the Regiment marked their vehicles.

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I have been doing some research and have another question.
Does anyone know what unit the tank in this picture belongs to?
The code on the back of this vehicle says “I-IX” (?) and HQ66, so it should belong to Battalion HQ, but which battalion is unknown to me.

And does anyone have any good references for 1st Armoured Division during Desert Storm?

Thanks for your help and kind answers.
Lukas

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If I am reading that left bumper correctly it says I-IX. Confirm?

I-IX refers to Infantry - Ninth Division. They had the 1-33 Armor organic, but I thought that 9ID (anglicized I-IX) and 1-33 Armor were inactivated before ODS.

I’ve dug about, and I have to be reading that incorrectly.

The main US units and subordinates:
VII CORPS

  • 1AD
  • 3AD
  • 1ID
  • 1st CAV (HEAVY)

So by elimination, only CORPS units had a Roman numeral on the left rear. Since 9ID was not there, I have to guess that this is the Regimental CO of the 1st Cav in his M1A1. The subordinate Divisions would’ve had a Roman numeral followed by the triangle, base down on the left side. But my guess is a really big swag.

00 is definitely a HQ element of the unit. 66 tells us it is the CO of said unit. The upward-pointed Chevrons on skirts and turret were new in 1990-1991, and SOPs differed because the US Army TACOM standard did not address them. See TB 43-0209 (1990).

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The upward chevron was the Coalition Chevron. Every vehicle in the Coalition had them to ID them as friendlies.

Not too sure on the I-IX being 9th Div nor 1st CAV. I would assume IX in 1st Corps, but they didn’t have any combat units in ODS. Also, 1st CAV DIV used 1 CAV as their Div ID in bumper numbers.


“1st Cavalry Division and the Tiger Brigade of the 2nd Armored Division wheel convoy to port and deployment for Desert Shield.”

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That HMMVW is a subordinate vehicle (my Dad’s old Horse Cav: 8th!). Their parent is 1st Cav. SO I’m not sure how the 1st CAV CO would mark his left bumper, subordinate to CORPS. And Corps just had (by the TB) the Corps designator, not an I-X as appears to be seen in that pic. Weird. Thanks for the pic!

I thought the Chevrons was universal to the Coalition, and IFF device before the CIP (combat ID panel). I remember we didn’t paint the markings on my ANAD-new M1A1 HC (independent Cav unit) until 1994. I had nine M1A1 and thirteen M3A2.

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@HeavyArty

Could it be a Marine or Tiger Brigade tank?

I got the idea from the burning oil fields in the background.

Best regards
Lukas

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The Marine smoke dischargers is the M257, which is shown on top here:

Marine markings on the MBT would be completely different, and the markings are definitely US Army, vice USMC.

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Possibly, it is in Kuwait. The caption from the Photographer’s page says

"A U.S. Army M1A1 Abrams main battle tank in the burning oil fields of Kuwait, Operation Desert Storm, 1991. " ©Allan Tannenbaum

Also, the USMC M257 smoke launchers were not installed until after ODS. USMC was issued standard (Army) M1A1s during ODS.

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Beat me to it, the USMC smoke dischargers were not on USMC M1’s during Desert Shield/Storm, the markings and dischargers on this tank are correct for a Marine Corps tank


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I don’t know about Tiger BDE (1 BDE, 2 AR DIV, attached to support USMC in Kuwait). If Echelon is correct, they still had 2 AR markings, like below.

They were in Kuwait though.

From official US Army ODS History Report:
“The Tiger Brigade (1st Brigade, 2d Armored Division), supporting Marine Corps units, pushed directly north from Saudi Arabia through blazing Kuwaiti oil fields set on fire by retreating Iraqis.”

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The Corps got the Heavy Common M1A1, and you’re correct about the M256. Thanks

The unit markings on the rear plate are not USMC, for certain. IIRC, the Corps has USMC on both front and rear at the highest point on the nose and tail-piece. But it’s been a long time.

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More info on USMC Abrams markings in ODS. Seems to support that the pic is not a USMC tank.

From the official USMC ODS History.
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwil1sTMs_CJAxVHEGIAHW3hNloQFnoECD8QAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.usmcu.edu%2FPortals%2F218%2FWith%2520the%25202d%2520Marine%2520Division%2520in%2520Desert%2520Shield%2520and%2520Desert%2520Storm.pdf&usg=AOvVaw2A5Hc9MB7Zvw2RcM0yo0GW&opi=89978449

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@JJohnson59 Thanks for the detailed answers!

That’s actually pretty strong evidence that it’s not a USMC BattalionHQ tank, I guess the markings don’t add up, as Ted also pointed out. @Ted_Dannemiller

Also, all the ODS USMC Abrams I have seen so far (which are not many) have the newer T158 tracks.

From the photographic evidence I could find on this Tiger Brigade tank depicted by Echelon, the Deacals match pretty perfectly. This means that Tiger Brigade still has the old Markins. The style of the sprayed numbers seems to match and they also used wooden battleboards.

What would be the bumper code of 1-67 Armor Battalion HQ or 3-67 Armour Battalion HQ?

Best regards,
Lukas

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Basically the same as on the Echelon sheet, which represents the 3-67 A Company CDR’s tank (A-66), or the A Company XO’s tank (A-55)

The Bn CDR and XO are the only tanks in the Bn HQ. The Bn S3 fights the TOC (Tactical Operations Center) and the other staff sections do their thing from either the TOC or ALOC (Admin and Logistics Ops Center), which has M577 Command Post Carriers.

1-67 would be 2^1^67 (^ being a solid triangle) HQ-66 for Bn CDR’s tank, HQ-55 for Bn XO.
3-67 would be 2^3^67 (^ being a solid triangle) HQ-66 for Bn CDR’s tank, HQ-55 for Bn XO.

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It says the 2nd tank BN was the only M1A1 equipped unit with the Second Marine Division, but that is wrong. 4th tanks also had the M1A1’s. 8th Tanks had the M60A1’s The two reserve Battalions were attached to the 6th and 8th Marines and the 2nd Tank Bn was held in reserve.

6th Marines
1st Battalion, 6th Marines
Company C, 8th Tank Battalion
Company B, 1st Assault Amphibian Battalion
2d Battalion, 2d Marines
Company A, 8th Tank Battalion
Company B, 2d Assault Amphibian Battalion
3d Battalion, 6th Marines
8th Tank Battalion
8th Marines
1st Battalion, 8th Marines
Company B, 4th Tank Battalion
Company C, 2d Combat Engineer Battalion
Company D, 2d Assault Amphibian Battalion
2d Battalion, 4th Marines
Company C, 4th Tank Battalion
Company B, 4th Assault Amphibian Battalion
3d Battalion, 23d Marines

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