Hi,

I've started this Abrams from Dragon. I want it to be a little different from all the M1s that are built out there or on the net. So I found one I have never seen depicted :




http://www.toadmanstankpictures.com/abrams.htm

I have no idea of the unit, and only know it is in Iraq circa 2005. Any info welcome !
The details making it different are the side skirts extensions for the drivers protection and a turret glass MG shield.

The Dragon kit is a must. Though I experienced some hard times with the engin deck ...



Lot of options in the box, some will be used while others won't.







Evergreen skirts









Soon fo more !

Cheers

Richard

nice work will be waching
dave

Nice build so far, keep it going as I'll be watching too! Just even more inspiration to get my own modern Abrams build going. Those Dragon kits are nice!

judging by the bumper #s on the fuel truck the tanks are from 1st inf 1st bn 26 inf
i don't think their were any HBCT's in 05 so the tanks were Task Force organized so that's a start maybe some big red one vets could shed more light on what tank bn loaned 1-26 some tanks and where they operated from

Thanks David & Ronnie !

Special thanx to Bill for the id start ! I'll try and look for some more with these information you gave I did not notice on the pics.

Richard

i found that the tanks belonged to B co. 1-77 AR and B co. 1-26 INF went to TF 1-77 and they operated in Baghdad from 06-07

... are you sure about the 1-77 AR ?
In Germany they had M1A1 AIMs and when they transformend into 3-66 AR they got new M1A1 AIMs all in Sand CARC ... don't think they used M1A2 ...
but I could be wrong
Here is some footage of the 1-77 AR in 2010I believe it was:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8W938BdC7hQ

Cheers
Christopher

Hey,

Thanks for your help.

For sure in these pics we can see 1-26 trucks.

So following this link : http://64.78.33.72/history/ you'll read :

...In the spring of 2004, the 1st Infantry Division (Mech) (-) from Germany deployed to Iraq as Task Force Danger. Organic elements of the Division included the 2nd, 3rd, 4th (Avn) and Engineer Brigades, DISCOM and Divarty; 1-18 Inf, 1-26 Inf, 2-2 Inf, 2-63 Ar, 1-77 Ar, 1-4 Cav, 1-1 Avn, 2-1 Avn, 9 Engr, 82 Engr, 1-6 FA, 1-7 FA, 1-33 FA, Troops F and G 4th Cav, 4-3 ADA, 101st MI, 121st Sig, 1st MP, 1st ID Band, 12th Chem, 201 FSB, 299 FSB, 601 ASB and 701 MSB. Also assigned to TF Danger were the 30th Brigade Combat Team, Based in North Carolina and the 2nd Brigade, 25th Infantry Division from Hawaii, and the 2nd Battalion, 108th Infantry, NYARNG, as well as many other support units. The Division returned to Germany in February/March 2005. Task Force Danger assigned and attached casualties during this period were 123 KIA and 807 WIA .
...
The 2nd Brigade Combat Team from Schweinfurt, Germany consisting of the 1-18 Inf; 1-26 Inf ; 1-77 Armor; 1-7 FA; Trp E, 4th Cav; 9 Eng Bn; 299th FSB; A/121 Sig Bn; C/101 MI Bn; and 2Plt/1st MP Co deployed to Iraq in Aug/Sep 2006. During its tour, units from other divisions were attached. It returned to Germany 15 months later in the fall of 2007. 103 soldiers in assigned and attached units were killed during this deployment.

The 1-77 Armor seems to have been sent to iraq in the meantime, but was equipped with M1A1...
What other unit in those mentioned could have fielded M1A2s ????

Richard

yep i'm quite sure 1-26 got tanks from 1-77 but looking back at toad mans pic's the tanks behind the fuel truck are A1's and i doubt that they the same unit as the rest of the series and your video is quit old as the Soldiers are wearing BDU's and black boots and not ACU's plus the only close up of bumper #'s i saw they were 1 quater CAV, 1-77 AR was deactivated in 08 and reactivated that same year in Ft. Bliss and redeployed again from 09-10 while at bliss they did recieve A2v2 but that is well after 06 so they would not have had A2's. So the A2 unit with the wierd skirts are a mystery again.

non of those units were issued A2's i don't think Toadman's pictures are all of the same unit so the A2's are once again a mystery

ok round 2 i looked at the units deployed in 05-06 and only 4th ID had A2 so i called a buddy of mine who was with them at that time and the unit was 3-67 AR which was deactivated in 08 he is going to try to send me some photos which i will pass on you and hopefully we will now know the unit

Am I on the track ???

Look at that pic from toadmans' site : http://www.toadmanstankpictures.com/abrams_08.jpg

See the handwritten "Hood" ? I guess it stands for Fort (Hood)
In the series of pics from the site one can also see lotsa Bradleys.

According to Globalsecurity.org ( http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/agency/army/armor-unit-ac.htm ), the only unit based at Fort Hood that fields both M1A2s and M3A1s is the 1-7 CAV DIV CAV

...

Richard

Am really looking forward to seeing these pics !

That'd be cool to know for sure what unit these M1A2s are from.

Cheers,

Richard

that MTOE was from 1997 1-7 cav is the DIV CAV for 1st CAV the tank belong to 4ID note the blue conex in the frist photo it has the 4 lost LT's DIV patch painted on the conex, just what Bn is the only question now, i believe it to be 3-67 based on what my buddy stated hopefully he will provide some photos to confirm this

Ya right, I did not notice the MTOE at globalsecurity was outdated...

So 4ID 3-67 is most probable...

Looking forward to your confo !

Thanks.

Richard

Hey ya guys,

Well, ok the last update was a looooong while ago... But the Abrams is on tracks...





regs

Richard

KeroJP8, You did an inspiring job on this Abrams! Great job on the build. Great job picking the unique subject, as well!

OK, so why the reactive tiles hanging from the skirts? I have never seen that used like that before.

Additional protection for the driver.

I think you did a great job with those unusual features on your tank, but wondering why you painted the 'mounting hardware' black instead of tan/sand color... oh, never mind...I was only looking at the first photo of the real tanks, didn't see the second and third photos had the 2x4s painted black. Really nice work!