I just got home for SPRING BREAK and decided to put together a Tamiya 1/35 M1A1 for a quick build. But I want to do something different from the usual sand and European camo. Yet I want to depict an accurate model.

What is up with the green M1A1s?

Watching the news lately, they have been showing some of these green Abrams disembarking in Kuwait. So what is the story behing these green Abrams?

Cheers,

CDT Reimund Manneck
U.S. Army ROTC

They might be old Cold War leftovers. The 11ACR used to have all green equipment while they patrolled the Fulda Gap. When they deactivated, these could have been their tanks that were put into storage. This is just a speculation on my part, they were the only M1A1 equipped unit that had all green vehicles as opposed to either all desert tan or NATO 3-color.

I don't know "what's up" with these, but at Noreastcon 2001 in Albany, there was an all green Abrams. I don't know if it was an A2, uparmored A1 or other designation. I bleieve this was a National Guard vehicle. Also, if you look back several month in FSM to find the showcase on John Smith's M1, you'll note that one is all green as well. John based the kit on the tanks in his Guard unit.

IIRC, this is all equipment from the pre-positioned supplies in Europe or Sierra Diego. Stuff that recieved the plain Forest Green paint job, then went into storage. I suppose they want to "recycle" it, paint scheme and all.

I have not Idea what units (if any) would have been assigned to this pre-positioned stuff, (my understanding is it would have been doled out as replacements, or mated up to entire units and then given proper markings). I would guess these tanks, as theya re unloaded, are unmarked.

Thanks alot guys! I found another picture of a green Abrams.


The caption said those were Marine M1A1disembarking in Kuwait on Jan. 2003.

Cheers,

CDT Reimund Manneck
U.S. Army ROTC

Kinda hard to tell, but by the smoke grenade dischargers in Bombshell's picture it could be USMC. Several of the Abrams used in Somalia were overall green also, according to Concord's UNITAF in Somalia book.

I believe these are indeed tanks from pre-positioned stocks. Equipment put into this kind of storage typically underwent a thorough mechanical check and recieved a fresh coat of CARC (Chemical A-?-?-?-? Reactive Coating) paint before going into storage, either aboard ships or other forward storage areas, like Diego Garcia in the Chagos Archipelago, in the Indian Ocean. I don't know for certian but based on the photos available, and reports from my friends in the gulf, Green seems to have been the standard color for these stocks. Perhaps paint availability played a part too.

There are other instances when the Army has sported all-green equipment, like the 11th ACR mentioned previously. I was a tank 3rd ID platoon leader in Germany from '92-'94 and my tanks had returned from Desert Storm the year before. Before leaving Kuwait, they had been hastily painted in solid green, which by the summer of '93 was chipping away to show the desert sand color underneath. You could still see the sand color on the inside of the commander's and loader's hatches of many of the tanks in my battalion. Our A1 Heavies were pretty scrappy looking by the time they were finally repainted in the standard, 3-color european scheme later that year.

Chemical Agent Resistant Coating.

Thanks, Rob. I've been out for 5 years and I'm starting to forget some of the acronyms!

I know Egypt keeps some of their M1's in this color (maybe a little greener) as per Concord's reference book.

They've got to be early prepositioned stuff. I was in Europe when the new 60A3s came out they were green and we had to camo them ourselves

Several Abrams used in ex- Yugoslavia were painted green, too.

Michal

Back in the early 80s when the new CARC was first used, all vehicles were painted in dark green at the factory while NATO waited for the completion of camoflage tests by the West Germans. Once the camo patterns were finalized, current vehicles were painted by the units while the factory painted all new production/rebuilds. The M60A3s in the 8th ID were solid green in 1983 as were all the newly issued Bradleys and Abrams being issued to the 3rd ID, first USAREUR units to receive them.

As a note, CARC can no longer be applied by crews, except for spot painting, as CARC can also stand for carcigenic

I was just watching Fox news and they showed a picture of about 15 Abrams lined up - 14 desert sand color and the one one the end...green.

The stuff a person notices when they've been hanging out here

Ok my son is in the 4thID and is currently in Iraq.

The Green Abrahms you are seeing(90%) are Marines. Some are also Reserve vehicles. as for about 5% unaccounted for.....who knows why they are green.

What´s the FS. No. of this green?

Thomas

FS 34127.

There are pictures of overall Forest Green M1A1's in the Concord M1A1-A2 book.

Dave S.

Thanks for the help! I have this book and I was always guessing which FS. it could be. Now I have a clue.
I have the Testors colour charts with original colour chips and I couldn´t decide, weather it would be 34095, 34102 or 34127. But let me annotate, that for my taste 34127 might be a little too yellowish- I´m not sure, but I would still go with 34095 or 34102. Or is 34127 the official colour? I know, that 34127 is the green of the three tone colour scheme, but is it really used all over, too?


Thomas

Actually, according to TB 43-0209, the FS on the Nato Green is 34094. I plan on doing a single color Forest Green M1A1 eventually.
I plan on using the MM Forest Green for that.

Dave

Thanks for the help!

Thomas