Which Abrams were used by 69th Armored Reg, 3rd Inf Div in Iraq, 2003, A1's or A2's, during Thunder Run? Some sources say A1's, other sources say A2's. Or were they mixed?

3ID only had M1A1s during the '03 invasion, including on both Thunder Runs. They did not get fielded M1A2 SEPs until after they returned to Ft Stewart, GA.

Apart from C Co's names on gun barrels starting with "C", did the tanks have any tactical numbers or symbols on the sides?

Usually each company has their barrel names start with the company letter; ie: A Co - a names, B Co - b names, etc. Also, the Bn Id number was the 30 series. HQ Co used 30, A Co used 31, B Co used 32, C Co used 33.

Echelon does a set of decals for C Co, 3-69 AR during the invasion.

Check out Vodnik's review of them here.

"An M1A1 Abrams tank with the US Army's 3rd Battalion, 69th Regiment Armor Task Force, Task Force 3-69, provides cover as the Army takes control of the Saddam International Airport near Baghdad, Friday, April 4, 2003."



Another one :



H.P.

I'm trying to understand the US numbering system. 'COJONES EH' had 53 under an upwards-pointing chevron, and other tanks have 33 under (or beside) various pointing chevrons. Do the numbers refer to different platoons? I was wanting to do an Abrams from the run through Mahmudiyah only a couple of days before the run into Baghdad. Jason Conroy writes a good account of that action in "Heavy Metal", but he doesn't ID the involved tanks, such as in "Thunder Run..." by David Zuccino. So, my question would be what would be typical markings from any of the Mahmudiyah Abrams? I'm using Flyhawk's 1/72 Abrams so I have to source or make up my markings.

The number is a Bn ID number. 3-69 AR was assigned the 30 series. I described the subsequent numbers in my above post. The second number denoted the company.

"...the Bn Id number was the 30 series. HQ Co used 30, A Co used 31, B Co used 32, C Co used 33."

3-69 AR also has a silhouette of a panther on the grenade storage box as can be seen in the above pics from Frenchy. They are called Panther due to their regimental crest.



Cahone Eh:
The 50 series was assigned to 1-64 AR. 53 was for C Co, hence "Cahone Eh" a play on the Spanish word cajones (slang for balls), for a barrel name starting w/ the letter C.

The chevron denoted platoon. Left facing was 1 PLT, up was 2 PLT, rt was 3 PLT.

Thanks for your replies, but I found Echelon decals for 2nd platoon in 1/72. Didn't know they made them in that scale.