I think the area that was up armored was around the turret ring , not the front cheeks.
Very nicely done. Spent a lot of time on these guys as gunner/TC/PSG. Just as an FYI we always covered our gear in the bussel rack with the tank tarp for protection from the elements the duffel bags and Alice packs were not water proof.
Thanks for the info. I will keep that in mind. Never knew that either.
Standard procedure was to use the issue waterproof bag to line your rucksack in grunt units. A field expedient method was to use garbage bags for the same purpose. The bigger ones worked well for a duffle bag also.
Yes exactly what we did stik