Did any US Army M1A1’s during the early days of OIF have the MCR mount and the army style rear turret basket together on the same tank?
The first image shows the MCR mount but I can’t see if it has the rear turret basket or not. Second image shows the rear turret basket but can’t see if it has the MCR mount or not. I am looking for images that show both on the same tank.
Not a definitive answer by any means but I think those shop made racks were unique to the 3rd ACR but the roller mount is standard so any of their mine roller tanks would feature both.
Yes, 2BDE, 3ID tanks had the rollers and Kuwaiti-made extra basket on the rear.
@Seanmcandrews and @HeavyArty, thanks for the quick replies.
Would you know which specific 2BDE, 3rd ID tank had both on?
Hello,
I researched 3 ID and this Kuwaiti-made baskets are used by 1-64 and 4-64 AR only.
The only unit I know of that participated in the 2003 storm to Baghdad AND used the MCR mount was 2-69 AR.
So, unless I missed something, there is no tank that fits your question.
…but 3 ID kept its baskets up until 2005 - you may find some vehicle with both (basket and MCR mount) there.
Best regards
Lukas
Thanks for the information!
I found this Getty image showing the rear turret basket but can’t see the front. The captions says, Delta Company of Task Force 4-64 Armor guard on their gunner positions during a Traffic Control Point mission, as part of Operation Thunder in Karadah district in Baghdad, early 26 August 2005.
Link to image.
Most likely by '05, you would not see too many rollers. Mine rollers are to proof or find the edge of a minefield so breaching assets can be brought up to clear it. It is usually done on an assault. By '05, we knew where most of the minefields were and had already cleared most of them. By '05, we were deep into a counterinsurgency fight.
I am not sure only 2-69 AR used rollers though. Every tank company has one plow and one roller as part of their TO&E (Table of Organization and Equipment, list of stuff assigned to it). I’m sure at some point they were mounted and potentially used during the initial invasion.
Great point that there is little use for mine rollers in the mission profile of 2005! Thank you!
I know, every Company should have both, but I have a photo of every tank belonging to Alpha Company 1-64 AR in OIF and none of them has the MCR mount attached. It even looks like they have more mine plows than they should have (Although this could also be the consequence of multiple vehicles carrying the same plow at different time points.)
I must confess, I have much less info on the other Companies of 1-64AR, let alone 4-64 AR.
So there might be a vehicle that had the MCR mount attached. I would love to see it, really. My search for new OIF pics has run dry. But today I can only provide photographic evidence of 2-69AR in 2003.
Best regards
Lukas
This can also be how they were task organized. All the plows could have been put into one PLT as a breach PLT, maybe the rollers were in another PLT as the ones to find the edge of the minefield, then proof the breach lane.
