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Unboxing the Tamiya Gama Goat!

Havoc I think the Goat was only used in Grenada back in 83 . I want one or two of these for my stash

We had them in Germany in the Infantry units in the mid 70s to early 80s. I bruised many a rib in the things as a CSC XO. When they were operational, they were great...when they were operational I've got mine on order, with a promised delivery by the end of this month. Dave

Going up to upstsate NY w/my parents as a kid in the summers in 1980's there CONVOYS of these things heading up to Ft. Drum. I think they NJNG vehicles. As far as I can remember, the only "combat" deployment of these things was in Beirut and Grenada.

Possibly in Panama, too. Tested in Thailand. Grant

I remember these at Ft. Bragg in 1984. The 82nd Airborne used them. They were very loud and very slow. Lots of smoke.

As part of a large, early AMF(L) exercise on Salisbury Plain (southern England) we watched these things roll accross the training area. It was the first time I had seen one of these beasts and they were laden with stores of some kind. My driver asked me what was it that we were looking at (being a recce vehicle commander) I quickly informed him "I have no idea but it is a 'joined in the middle' and looks like a bl@@dy cold ride"... We were experiencing very low temps with constant blowing snow and I knew they didn't have boiling vessels for constant hot tea and coffee. The driver was really bundled up... I will have to build one of these for posterity reasons if nothing else. Keith.

It seems that with the Goat there's no in-between. You either loved it or you hated it. Of course, I find it somewhat amusing that you had to drive it wearing hearing protection. Not great for a "tactical" vehicle. I'll post some pics of mine later. Now, which aftermarket company is going to come out with a FAAR radar to stick in the back?! Jon

We used the Goat in the Support Squadron of the 3rd ACR in Fort Bliss TX in the early '80's. I was in the ground surveillance radar platoon of the regiment's CEWI company. Our TO&E called for M-113's, but those were some lean times in the late 70's early 80's. It was an interesting vehicle, to say the least. Easy on maintenance, but as Keef said, 'a cold ride'. They werer supposed to be amphibious, too. We never did find out, thankfully, being in the desert and all.

LINK has a good walkaround, by the way. Most of the stowage and gear was carried in the back, not outside. The large came net was usually stashed on the engine cover, as seen in the photos.

I found some prints from 1975 when I shot some vehicles at Schofield Barracks. Pre-MERDC OD. 25 3-4 Cav HQ-56 in white. US Army * NGO36K in black. HQ-36 (also in white) was next to it, but you can't see the sn. They all had the soft top cab and the canvas covered rear section. A different one in a different park had a trailer (also with the canvas cover) parked behind it, but we couldn't get near it. HQ-56 had two small boards hanging from the front bumper. Red with white crew member names in white. There was the yellow bridge weight disc with 04 in black with a small red c above it. Possibly black stenciling on the left fuel tank. US Army and SN in black on the rear section. I had to shoot it from the front with a 200mm lens as we couldn't get near the goats. About 10 years later I shot a MERDEC goat at a weekend display in Waianae. 25-I-27 CS - 64 in black. The tan in the MERDEC was replaced with a red brown, the bridge disc was OD with 04 in black. No star or US Army or SN in the front. The fuel tank on the right side had three rows of black stenciling. None of the goats I saw had the winches in the front. In 74 or early 75, I visited Kaneohe and shot some Marine Goats. Green with the unit shield, from what I can remember. Don't have my pics easily available. Grant