Can anyone tell me if the 3D ID M1A1s have the bustle-mounted APUs? None of the photos I have seen of them in action show them, but of course good ol' American tankers pile so much in the bustle racks that you can't tell what's in there (I know, I was one and I brought it ALL to the field!)

I do not believe so. The APU was more of a good idea/money saving idea that allowed units to save money during training. Shutting down the turbine engine and using the APU to power thermals and radios saved on fuel, and in turn OPTEMPO costs. In war time, that engine is probably cooking unless it is being refueled or during laager operations.

Thank you, Sabot! My Trump A1 can go on as planned...

they used them in Bosina while deployed there...so I would say it would make more sense keeping them mounted to the vechicle then spending the extra time removing them that could be used else ware.

Is the unit that easy to install/remove?
Is it considered BII?
The pics I have seen of "Cojone, Eh" have it missing from the bustle rack after it was destroyed and abandoned. Another pic I saw was an M1A1 being ofloaded in Kuwait, and it clearly had no APU attached. Therein lies my confusion!

I just read a reply to this same question over on ML. Major John Charvat, who is "in theatre", said they are being used. They are hard to see due to all the external stowage on the tanks.

HTH
Mike

Here's the pic of Cajone being removed by the Iraqis:

Notice the APU is not present. Can it be stripped off?

Cojone, Eh was stripped before it was abandoed I believe. The APU is fairly easy to dissconnect...but moving it might be a different matter since its a 2 stroke diesel engine and would have a fair amount of heft to it. The other weird thing I noticed was that the MPS on the barrel was removed on the vechicle.

I remember seeing somewhere that the MPS is a hard to replace item, so it may have been stripped off before abandonment.
As to the engine, yeah that would be a pain. I hated hauling the generator up on a 577, and that was a little gas generator and we had a hoist!