On 6/17/2015 11:01 PM, Greg Chalik wrote:

Kurt, initial deployments in 1990 were by units from continental US, not Europe.

Ft Hood, TX is not known for its mild climate.

Sure the coalition forces crossed that terrain.

Terrain crossing for 100 hours isn't however a particularly demanding requirement for an AFV.

This is what I'm saying. The Desert Storm performance is not indicative of the threat environment that the NATO forces faced in Europe, and is not to be used as a design retrospective.

I really don't know what you're trying to say, Greg, other than pretty much every weapons system that the US has developed in the past fifty years is the wrong thing, doesn't work, is a failure, and was a boondoggle. Foot Hood is closer to Europe in terrain than it is to the Iraq-Saudi border. For one, you can graze cattle over most of Foot Hood...you can not graze cattle on the Iraq-Saudi border.

If the vehicles are such failures, then why are the crews pretty much universally singing their praises? I know a lot of tankers and mech infantry guys who swear by both the M1 and the M2, and have taken both into combat. I'll take their first hand AAR on how they work over someone who pretty much puts down everything the US has fielded and follows it up with a claim that no one in the US Army understands warfare.

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Kurt Feltenberger
kurt@thepaw.org/kfeltenberger@yahoo.com
“Before today, I was scared to live, after today, I'm scared I'm not living enough." - Me