Recovery, Battle Damage Assessment and Repair

[@ronshelleyburks6673]

After not being able to start our tank at a range at Ft Irwin after hours of work, we released the final drives and a M88 towed us all the way back to the motor pool, where "mechanics" continued to work on the problem. Eventually a dude who had been a tanker in Viet Nam came by asked us what the problem was. He stuck his head in the drivers hatch, yelled "clear" and our tank immediately started. I found that it helps to put the transmission all the way in Park.

[@TheChieftainsHatch]

Ouch. The vehicle equivalent of "Is it plugged in?"

[@n147258noah]

Couple specialists in my Guard unit got pissed because we (me and two others, to do it fast) just did the PM on a Humvee, and it wouldn't start when they were about to go do something. Realized it was accidentally left in reverse, as I'd just turned the thing off and pulled the hand brake after verifying reverse lights. Whoops.

[@nilloc93]

We kept track of "recovery" calls on an exercise once, over half of them were in the category of "not in neutral/power turned off"

[@Soulessdeeds]

I was a Bradley mechanic for 15 yrs in the US Army. My first unit was 3rd ACR and my first section was Recovery. I have driven and commanded M88's for most of my career. And drove the hell out of them in Iraq doing Recovery missions and lifting missions. The M88A1 was my favorite vehicle as a mechanic/recovery operator. I loved that work and the M88's were extremely comfortable for 2 man crews in the field. 3 could sleep ok but 2 was the best. I can never see a M88 and not miss doing the work I did back then. Allot of hard times. But also allot of great times.

[@EliteAmmunition]

3/3ACR Tanker here.

[@kane357lynch]

Do they do anything different to the recovery vehicles? Coz it seems like it could be expected to pull a very heavy vehicle. In the case of MBTs it's certainly pulling its own weight.

[@SonsOfLorgar]

​@@kane357lynch they have several additional engines for various winches and hydraulics in addition to beeing somewhat lighter as the superstructure doesn't require the same level of armor as a gun tank.

[@kane357lynch]

@@SonsOfLorgar do they beef up anything or go for more torque and lower speed in addition?

[@EliteAmmunition]

@@kane357lynch Other than having the recovery vehicle upgraded along with the MBT no. An M88 could lift an M60 series tank and in fact we would use the M88 to lift our tanks to take pressure off the suspension when changing broken torsion bars. Also use the M88 to change packs. I never saw a situation in sand that a lone M88 could not pull out a MBT. Germany was different. Once you add mud, we had a M60A3 end up in a fish nursey pool. In the black forest the stepped pools were lined by old growth. tank drove into at night. Sank in all the way to the top of the Cupola. Lucking the driver was buttoned up so everyone got out OK and the inside did not get flooded. Due to mud suction it took two M88's and another tank helping pull to get it out. Chief was right, though, even back in the 80's we never learned recovery in school. It was ALL on the job training from senior tankers. Also like Chief commented on we pre installed our recovery cable on drivers right side. Also one tank in every platoon carried a tow bar. We never needed in my platoon anything more than another Tank to get folks unstuck.

[@tarickw]

Perun mentioned in his last Q&A, you helping him out in the beginning. I'm very happy to hear that you take such a positive attitude to others in the space

[@yankeetown3739]

Last time I was on an M1A1, exercise was over, it was pitch dark, and we were heading back to the motor pool after 2 weeks out. We slid off the tank trail into a huge ditch and the fun begun. Threw both tracks uphill, one of the downhill road wheels hit a nice boulder and blew out the wheel’s hub. Needed the M88 with 90 ton snatch block to drag us out. Break track on both sides and have 88 straighten out to put back on. Replace road wheel. Took all night. We got back to the motor pool next morning to see rest of the company squeaky clean and us coming in looking like dirty tired hell…. Good times!

[@dicebed]

Yah - my first field exercise in the M60A3 during my officer's basic course - I was the gunner, and in the twilight in a rainstorm we went off road down an incline and immediately threw a track to the inside so the belly was holding down the track - M88 comes up and cuts the track with a torch - drags the tank back to the recovery point, then goes out and drags the track back to us - Took us green cadets all night to put the track back on the tank - I went back to our squad tent about an hour before wake up and laid down - and my sleeping bag was completely soaked from a leak in the tent - I thought, I can get up and walk around for an hour - or I can sleep in a bath tub - I slept in a bath tub for an hour 🙂

[@kqc7011]

While working in a Navy repair shop, we had what was known as a "pre-expended bin", basically a small room full of parts. We could go in the room and take any part we needed without doing any paperwork. We did have a supply person that would keep the room stocked and accountable, while doing all the paperwork. 'Doing the maintenance on motors and pumps was made much quicker and easier by doing it this way. It was almost like a todays hardware store / large maintenance shops where distributor's will keep the shelves and bins stocked. It worked and us wrench turners would actually be doing maintenance instead of filling out 1250's and 1348's. (Note, this was back in the mid to late 80's.)

[@tomhenry897]

Off the books parts I had this then Battion came down on a weekend and took it all

[@coolmikefromcanada]

works like that for smaller parts in aviation, i don't need to talk to stores for a bolt i just need to go to the drawer full of different sizes of bolts, grab the right size and note the batch number for that size, we only need to talk to stores about it if we run low

[@viandengalacticspaceyards5135]

Having worked in (civil) logistics, one thing impresses me much since a long time. Ukraine fields just about every bit of kit (not just tanks) made in east & west for the lat 50 years (and then some, down to Maxims). Getting spares to the right place must be wild.

[@derrickstorm6976]

What do you mean by this? Clearly they're already using all the spares they have, since their active inventory is so varied

[@hendrikvanleeuwen9110]

The vehicles are the spares.

[@kenandbarbie-b6c]

Most people don’t understand military Logistics. It often does not get the credit it deserves. The Ukrainians must be masters of canibalisation (not sure how that is spelled) & improvisation by now. Crisis is truly the mother of invention. Of course this is frowned upon in normal circumstances by the Army, per AR40-61.

[@scottmacgregor3444]

@@derrickstorm6976 He's saying they have such an stupidly wide range of equipment from so many suppliers and producers AND from such a wildly varying year of production (ultra modern to early cold war), supplying the right part to the right unit or motor pool, must be an incredibly complex undertaking.

[@viandengalacticspaceyards5135]

@@derrickstorm6976 I mean that if you run spares for US tanks, it'll be Abrams. If you do it for Ukraine, one place will need Abrams parts, another Leo i, another Leo II, T64, T72 etc. And then you start with the battlefield taxis...

[@jastrapper190]

In Iraq, I was a Marine Infantryman in the early 2000’s. My highest billet on the vehicle was as a Vehicle Commander of an LAV-25 (briefly…. Few weeks to a month or two before a new VC was assigned (I was not a School trained 0313). I was a Sgt and the bulk of that deployment I was a Chief Scout for the dismounts). On one of my deployments I once cleaned out my friend’s remains from an LAV-AT. An RPG round detonated against the vision block while he was popped up out of the gunners hatch and cut him in half (for all intents and purposes). I still remember his face and name to this day and I always will remember it. The turret of the AT vehicle was a “hammerhead turret” and it was completely shot out and destroyed from the blast and fire. Small arms fire which also hit the vehicle in the ambush had punctured all our POL amd spare diesel and flattened almost all eight of the tires and detonated the smoke grenades (the smoke grenade clusters on armored vehicles are not made out of “armor”. They are a softer metal and when hit with 7.62x39 they deform and get holes (i can attest this is a fact). There was no “higher echelon”of care for the damage that was done to the turret. The sights could be swapped out easily but the hydraulic system and some of the turret framing were bent and destroyed so we replaced it “in the field”. I remember “cleaning” my friend out from all the nooks and crannies below the turret. The spaces you never get to. We had to pull the “drain plugs” on the vehicle. It was a horror. Because the platoon was short a gunner. I was “promoted”. So not only did I clean my friend out of the vehicle he was killed in. When we dropped in the new turret and did two days worth of wrench turning and cleaning. When the vehicle went back into the fight. I was the new Gunner. We had other vehicles that were “deadlined”. Any breaching of the USMC LAV hill was a “no go”. They would never let the vehicle operate in Iraq again. Back in depots in California or wherever they probably had the capability to mend the armor plates or replace. We hit a lot of IED’s and I remember at one time taking a picture of Ffive different LAV’s in our FOB. In an “out of the way” place if there is such a thing on a tiny base. But those vehicles had all been destroyed beyond repair. Marines had died in some of them. We once had a Sgt that was crushed inside of an LAV turret cage. The vehicle was flipped upside down by a massive buried IED. That was also a horror. My vehicle once hit a mine. Blew off A-Arms. The brake drum looked like the hammer of Thor had flattened an entire side of it at an inhuman type of bending for a whole brake drum. Punched holes in differentials. Flattened five or six tires (I forget how many. I just remember “building tires” or getting the run flats in the new tire in the field involved hours of cussing and ratchet straps and hammers. That mine strike vehicle was put on a Low boy recovery truck and we got it functional again in a few days. The mechanics and crews. Not combat related but we once bogged down and entire platoon of LAV-AT’s. Four sixteen ton vehicles eventually were bogged down in a wadi that was not on maps and indistinguishable unless you really knew the desert. It was going on hour 50 something. We had spent over two separate days digging in sleep/dig/ radio watch cycles. We had all our pioneer tools plus engineering stakes and sand bags on the vehicles which we used. The half filled sandbags can be used to form a “road” on a wadi which will keep the tires from sinking if done properly. Some headway can be made but we were almost a 600 yards into the morass when the vehicle bogged down and subsequent vehicles bogged down in the recovery efforts (every LAV has a winch). We sweat and bleed and worked for days burning hot and not a stick of shade for miles and miles. The only shade was under the vehicle or in its shadow. Until finally some higher authority got us an Abraham’s tank recovery vehicle which spooled out it’s massive recovery cable and “snow plowed” the vehicles the entire distance needed to reach solid ground. Hit boulders and did major damage to some of the vehicles just recovering. Flattened and destroyed tires. Damaged suspensions. Damaged trim vane. Etc. the vehicles once recovered went again directly on the “low boy” big recovery trucks. From my essay you can tell I was very interested in this video. It’s excellent btw.

[@grahamstrouse1165]

Jesus.

[@readhistory2023]

I got to see an M88 ski down a hill in South Korea where it ended up in some farmer's living room at the bottom of the hill. It was like watching a car wreck in slow motion.

[@catlee8064]

2008 Musa Qala Afghan. Came under contact just as we were crossing the river outside the FOB....driver nails it to get out of the ambush zone....breaks the transfer box....had to tow rope it out underfire.....I was upto my waist in freezing water, trying to attach the rope blind as the towing eye of the other vehicle was underwater...an arse twitching moment.

[@scott2836]

Damn. Earned your BBB that day, not to mention not paying for your drinks for a while…

[@Blackjack701AD]

Rolled into Baghdad back in April 2003, was the driver of a M113A2 in the combat engineer battalion. With the supply lines still being built we were always short of parts. We were running 5-6 missions a day disposing of UXOs and other munitions. We put a lot of hours on the tracks. I need new track as the rubber bushings in the track pins had worn out and my track tension couldn't be set properly. I kept blowing out the seals on the piston connected to the idler to keep track tension. Thankfully we had some old shot up Iraqi M113s that we cannibalized to get parts. I took both pistons but broke them too. Finally when I deadlined my track due to safety issues all of a sudden a pallet of new track showed up. Of course it showed up at 1800 so I had to do a full track change in the dark. Good times.

[@jayffemt]

"If the soldiers can't break it, it won't need repair" As a retired track and truck mechanic, I know that soldiers take the term "Unbreakable" as a challenge. I worked recovery in SPFA units. I appreciate this video, thanks for explaining how we keep them working from crew up through dpeot.

[@MBkufel]

Finally, a good military tech related video this week

[@samholdsworth420]

FINALLY!

[@derrickstorm6976]

Follow fewer bad accounts ;)

[@MBkufel]

@@derrickstorm6976 True, gotta unsubscribe from Lazerpig

[@amerigo88]

Former Maintenance Platoon Leader from the Cold War. Great to see my M-88A1 (ARV on the M-60 tank chassis) guys getting some love from The Chieftain.

[@derrickstorm6976]

Truly a great picture

[@scottmacgregor3444]

Perun mentioned that when he was first blowing up, you gave him a lot of help and advice on the YT game. Good on you.

[@whya2ndaccount]

7:49 Commonwealth usage tends to be "Equipment Collection Point" (ECP). Effectively where 1st line hands off to 2nd line. Level of repair tends to be driven by repair times, the longer the repair time, the further back the repair is conducted (say swap out of power pack = 1st line, turret lift and repair turret ring = more a 2nd or 3rd line).

[@michaeleastes1705]

Good one. My medic track blew its radiator one day at Ft. Irwin, and we got recovered by the squadron M-88. My driver and I were impressed by the raw power of the vehicle.

[@trioptimum9027]

Saw a video of the aftermath of a runway overrun one time, where they'd rounded up some kind of Soviet ARV to get the airliner back onto the tarmac. Admittedly, that's a case of a very dense vehicle towing one built to be as light as possible, but it was still pretty amazing just from the sheer mismatch in scale, like watching a dog tow a bus.

[@wesleyfravel5149]

Watched this before but this video was well put together and tackles a part of war that few think of but is Majorly important.

[@DSS-jj2cw]

Across the street from our barracks at Fort Leonard , MO in the 80s there was a compound with armored recovery vehicles. The two types I remember seeing were the heavy (on a M60 chassis ) and a smaller lighter recovery vehicle.

[@m-n18]

Lost in the woods!!!!

[@DSS-jj2cw]

@@m-n18 afraid so

[@michaelcanty4940]

The lighter recovery vehicle was M578, based on the M110 howitzer.

[@jannarkiewicz633]

I watched this on Perun's channel but I wanted to watch it again. You are dah man, Chieftain.

[@johndilday1846]

My father was a motor pool noncom during WW2 assigned to a AAA battalion. During the Allie’s drive across France, he would at times be assigned to combat vehicle recovery, and sent out to find restorable vehicles to be towed by he and a partner back to a repair depot. I don’t know what vehicle he drove for these duties, but I remember him saying that he drove a 17 ton wrecker at times for these jobs. He said that at times they would be shot at, and he had many adventures doing these “extra duties”.

[@ditzydoo4378]

Ya! Ordnance to the fore. BDAR was always the easy part. The hard part was keeping units from turning any non-op systems into a convenient Cann-point (cannibalization).

[@nothingtoseehere1221]

Troops always gotta strategically transport that equipment to another location!

[@ditzydoo4378]

@@nothingtoseehere1221 Yep! it keeps the recovery teams and unit teams busy.

[@RileygoodVideos]

The chieftain continues to be a unique gem on KZbin. Love the content Sir

[@johngilbert6036]

You have never seen a vehicle get stuck until you stick an M-48 tank and then his buddy gets his tank stuck trying to pull him out and the M-88 comes and pull both out at the same time. the M-88 was an awesome machine. GIs will be GIs.

[@johnc.3701]

I hate to admit it, but as an FA BTRY commander in the mid-90's, my driver got my HMMWV stuck in a small stream...like, water rushing over the hump stuck. My BTRY's M88 drove right up to the HMMWV's bumper and immediately sunk to the top of its tracks in mud. I had to call a sister BTRY's M88 in to get both of my vehicles unstuck. I never heard the end of that from the other BTRY CDR and 1SG.

[@johngilbert6036]

Our M88 driver Would stay on the road and use his cables when possible. 1/10 Cavalry secured QL-19, there was no other VTRs within 40-50 clicks. Ours was hit with a B40 RPG scared the driver but just made a black spot near the front star. He used the VTRs speed and ran away before they could shoot again.@@johnc.3701

[@JDK73772]

As a former tool and parts attendant I got to do a few controlled exchanges with a UH-60 Hanger queen we had and the other air worthy air frames.

[@wacojones8062]

Great report. I trained as a generator mechanic instructor depot level, then 19D4H ending as 11B4X. Most on the reserve side as an instructor. Lots of fun on everything from M113 worn out training use only from Nam to M901 ITV WW II Jeeps to various Hummers with no doors installed. Never had a crew under me throw a track lots of time helping others with broken tracks bogged a M113A3 in soft mud good training getting it out. One LT almost died when the crew forgot to put all the drain plugs in before we did a improvised creek run another officer had a M48 rating on his license and was able to get a M48A5 from the motor pool at Joliet Training area and a lot of Tow Cables. Followed by some messy diving by the Crew to get everything rigged then a smooth pull to high ground. Fools did not drain and refill the final drives so by the time it was checked by permanent staff it was off to rebuild heaven. I warned the officers twice on the Final Drive issue. One of my dad's friends served in Korea as a machinist on one of 6 LST set up as an ordnance depot at Pusan. Lots of rebuilds done on the Ships.

[@geofftimm2291]

Excellent! I now have a better understanding of modern maintenance, in the US Army. Things have changed since 1982. Geoff Who will go at the manual again.

[@omarrp14]

3:20 this is something that I do not understand why it’s not part of initial training. I think that after AIT or as a required part of in processing to a unit a soldier should have to do some form of vehicle/generator/mos related maintenance class. Whether that be an actual drivers training course or just a quick 16 hour course on the PMCS of Generators & Whatever Vic the unit/mos commonly uses. I say this because I’ve been in 8 years and have never had to do any sort of “serious/difficult” vehicle maintenance (I’ve been lucky) so I just don’t know how to. And units I’ve been in always struggle to have enough licensed drivers. It’s kinda funny I have the military drivers license for Korea & Europe, but not the US so I was told I can’t drive here till I go through drivers training. I’m still asked to drive though because I’m one of the few that at least has some form of military drivers license, despite having only driven less then a dozen times in those 8 years. My first unit had a unique approach, command was tired of vehicles being poorly maintained. So they made mechanics do the 10 level maintenance with us helping!

[@99Racker]

Great memory excercise. And you kept it in a manner that is entertaining. Thanks

[@ObligedOrca9161]

quick question: where do you access the Aberdeen Proving Ground test results, used in so many of your videos? Do you plan ahead than visit every now and then to look for what you need, or is there an online database where it is all stored (and if so, can the public access it)?

[@TheChieftainsHatch]

Some are found online on the DTIC site, but a lot were personally scanned at the National Archives in College Park, MD. I just scan as many boxes of whatever looks interesting at the time, and figure out what to do with it later.

[@ObligedOrca9161]

are the documents in the DTIC site able to be accessed by the public, or do you need a certain level of clearance?

[@TheChieftainsHatch]

@ObligedOrca9161 The ones which are declassified seem to be publicly available.

[@ObligedOrca9161]

thank you so much!

[@katarjin]

@@TheChieftainsHatch I forget the NA is in College Park too....bit of a drive from Southern Maryland. (I really need to check more of this area out, not even really been to DC yet)

[@denisrobertmay875]

For an historic perspective there are some WWII REME Recovery training films in the IMW Archive. They have been uploaded to KZbin. I'll try for links

[@denisrobertmay875]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/jqfKnKSahtukp5osi=VhPHnIAmfxW__NsF kzbin.info/www/bejne/bpabeauebs-KbcUsi=MEcULnfgD9I2jKQU

[@18robsmith]

Best gasp was perfect - I'm still gasping for breath after you race through RBDAR And a Happy (if breathless) New Year to you and your family

[@Token_Civilian]

Great talk Chieftain. More....more.

[@frankgulla2335]

Thank you, for grand tour of repair and recovery

[@davidford85]

3:30 I would be that weirdo, I would happily sit there and read the manual for fun, because I'm a geek, a nerd, and I love collecting knowledge 🤣🤣

[@pithicus52]

The military is full of hurry up and wait. What better thing to do if you have time to kill. I had a platoon commander once who seemed to think that there was something wrong with reading the manuals.

[@slateslavens]

same here. I was also in charge of the BN motorpool library. :D

[@echoredfour]

I’m so glad I didn’t have much OJT on recovery. Only few in my career mainly because I was lucky. Best JOB I ever had , stay in the Tank.

[@the_amazing_raisin]

How has it taken me this long to notice the tank round behind the desk wearing googly eyes and a hat? 😂

[@UncleJoeLITE]

Well, I've watched it twice now! Enjoyed this more as I wasn't thinking about all the other stuff. Cheers.

[@gallendugall8913]

Awesome. Thank you for the education.

[@swj719]

"captain, if the repairs are done 'by the book,' hours would seem like days."

[@brucestarr4438]

Scotty : Oh, you didn't tell him how long it would really take, did you? LaForge : Of course I did. Scotty : Oh, laddie, you have a lot to learn if you want people to think of you as a miracle worker.

[@andrewreynolds4949]

It really felt like Perun had “made it” on KZbin when this segment came out

[@iDuckman]

Good stuff! Thanks, Chief.

[@YouTubeIsRunByMarxists]

War Story: I was stationed in Darmstadt, GE, in the early 90s. An adjoining unit had the M88 series tank recovery vehicles. While on routine maintenace and basic operation, one of the guys in their unit moved between two of the vehicles while of them was engine-on, preparatory to moving. This was a NO-NO! The ground guide did not see him, the driver could not hear or see him. As the M88 moved forward at a 1.5mph pace, the guy moving between the M88s was snagged by the track. No one could hear him screaming over the roar of the engine. They learned he was there when a river of blood ran out from under the moving M88. He was snagged somehow and pulled under the track and crushed to a paste. No one had any clue why he did something so stupid when he should have known better. Ugly business.

[@Yeeren]

Fuck me, what a stupid and gruesome way to go...

[@Trucksofwar]

Damn, similar thing happened to one of my mates crewmen. Driving an abrams up onto ramps in reverse for whatever reason the crewman was standing behind the tank driver screwed up & the tank rolled off the ramps backwards & crushed the other bloke against the wall of the building.

[@lovetotruck78]

That sounds Amazing 👏

[@ianjardine7324]

As a recovery mechanic in the British army we operated on the crate system. Officially if we were called to a job caused by crew negligence we were supposed to fill out a form and the crew would be billed 10% of the cost for recovery however that only ever happened if the crew didn't spontaneously donate a "crate" case of beer to the recovery section.

[@mattsharkey311]

What would the appropriate manual be for the World War II version of this procedure?

[@TheChieftainsHatch]

That's a very good question. I have no idea off the top of my head

[@mattsharkey311]

@@TheChieftainsHatch OK thanks for getting back to me! Are you going to be at Sullivan cup at Fort Moore in April?

[@R.Sole88109]

The 1946 British Army manuals were called Manual Of Recovery then, Recovery vehicles by type, A part I: Scammell tractor 6×4 heavy breakdown (each for different vehicles) or Eg. Recovery appliances part II: Ropes-hemp and steel wire. From, War Office. Directorate Of Mechanical Engineering

[@TheKencoffee]

As a retired 91X this video made me feel seen

[@russwoodward8251]

Excellent. Thank you.

[@T3hderk87]

Thank you Chieftain!

[@lewiswestfall2687]

Thanks Nick

[@Waltham1892]

The XO's circle X can be your best friend and training on the 105D sight is never time wasted.

[@NullElemental]

10:46 if you are looking for the photo Chieftain XD

[@jasonz7788]

Awesome thanks 👍

[@MGB-learning]

Great video

[@sapperjaeger]

Love this!

[@swj719]

I'm proud that I can say that I followed you before you got all famous from Perun's mention. 😀😉😏

[@jmiller475]

Remember the standard cost of a like vehicle recovery is a case of beer

[@SonsOfLorgar]

Or, in the case of Swedish or Finnish tankers, a log of Snus. A "log" of Snus is a warehouse stack of ten hockey puck sized and shaped Snus boxes in clear shrink wrap plastic and snus is a moist paste of ground up fermented and flavoured tobacco leaves similiar in consistency to fresh planting soil. It is sold either as is loose in the box, or in factory serving sized bags about 1"×0.5"×0.2" the latter is the default among infantry and mech inf. as the loose self-packed form will instantly redistribute itself to all the users facial orifices and sensory organs in the presence of AT4s and Recoilless rifles...🤭 Both forms is used by stuffing a portion of it under the upper lip.

[@Bialy_1]

That is some very high capitalistic price right here... In Poland when Soviets soldiers were finaly going out, some Polish pilot took a trip to a Soviet airport with few bottles of vodka and bought a functional MiG-29 for it... then he returned in it to his home base, where it was then used as a good source of spare parts...😅 And for the record in Soviet Union there was a saying: "He who was in the army does not laugh in the circus". Because Soviet/Russian Army is the circuss, full of clowns and regulations that demanding something that was never delivered in the first place, so i laughed hard at this idea that they recording everything in Russian Army. My father also told me about a foreign mission in which the Soviets were supposed to provide military cover to our Polish mission, one of the Soviet pilots took a Mi-8 when he was drunk, tried to fly it through a gap in the cliff that got the width of the fuselage... that was also recorded nowhere and our mechanics were also using this Mi-8 as a source of spare parts.

[@chiseldrock]

Happy new Year Chieftain

[@KPW2137]

The video we've been waiting for!

[@derrickstorm6976]

I'm asking this when it wasn't mentioned at least immediately, but when the question came to me At which point does the crew's own recovery attempt take place? If their tank is hit once and can't continue fighting, do they abandon the vehicle until they can return to it, or do they (have to) attempt recovery before leaving? For example, let's say the suspension seems broken becuase the tank is tilting to one side, the tank *might* be able to move but they are under fire and feel like they can't spend the time to risk the attempt for getting hit again and most likely with more internal injury? Is there penalty for not attempting to recover or repair a vehicle, or approximate and note its sustained damage, before abandoning it?

[@dieselhead7961]

Speaking of recovery operations and equipment, given the interest in developing and adopting new armored vehicles (particularly M1E3), is there any news or expectation of development of new recovery and transport vehicles? It seems like there have already been reported instances of M88s being insufficient to cover the most-upgraded Abrams in certain field conditions, not including the experiences with them in Ukraine.

[@troykauffman3963]

Yes the M88A3.

[@anaphylastiks]

Interesting because our bulldozer has no breaks (well minimal on one side) and on a hill I need to use the blade as a break. A blade could have been used on a tank, did any tanks have a blade?

[@avnrulz8587]

Oh, I remember BDAR for aircraft lessons when I taught ANCOC.

[@MajesticDemonLord]

Okay - The Chieftain - I have a question on this (if you can answer) - What is the process by which an Expedient Repair gets 'approved' to an Official Repair? I'm thinking of the Cope Cages and other Battlefield modifications which later became 'Standard' - or is there no such process and it's more a case of doing what others are doing?

[@TheChieftainsHatch]

There is an official process, but something like a 'cope cage' isn't a repair as much as just a modification. I'd need to look up the specifics.

[@densonsmith2]

Gasping at the amount of improvement in my grasp.

[@Schaneification]

Ok If your track jacks are missing and you sign for the tank YOU BUY IT : tie tow cable to the tracks get a good size log throw between the tracks , dig a hole if need be : you should hook the cable to the oppoity side get in close the hatch : first uphook the finnal drives . Sorry I am writing this as you talk -- At Fort Hood I had a battalion maintenance first sergeant as our First Sargeant I was a E2 so spent most of my time in motor pool are the field (oh I am a Tanker) in a tank company . Well our First Sergeant love to spend his time down in the Motor Pool . SO he train me on all kinds of thing about tank repair :=) Sound good right Hell word got out so every time a tank Broke , Guess who had to work on it ! Worst was spending 70+ hours replacing 2 packs on 2 tanks that WAS NOT MY TANK . I can not remember how many 24 hours I spent working on tanks in our company . Replace parts , how much booze you have !?

[@R.Sole88109]

That's the trick, not letting anyone know you're good at a task or you'll being getting volunteered for it or every needy bastard will come to you to unfuck it for them!...

[@Schaneification]

@@R.Sole88109 I think someone of my tank said something about me knowing how to rebuild the blower motors on the air filters . FYI the 2 pre air filter but the regs say you only need 1 per side to work . Word got out I had more than 4 because I rebuilt the broken ones ;=)

[@ScottKenny1978]

If you have ever seen a cable or mooring line snap, you will understand why you want to be under armor when you take up the slack. A mooring line will come back at most of 800 feet per second (240m/s). And will quite literally cut you in half if you happen to be in the way.

[@richwalter3107]

For those not paying attention, that's the same velocity as a mid power .45 ACP slug, with a lot more attitude and danger involved.

[@WhatIfBrigade]

I imagine damaged tanks shipped to Poland for repairs/rebuild follow the procedures, but the Ukrainians seem very good at adaption, I think they are making more ad hoc decisions about field repairs.

[@petesheppard1709]

Are 'goodie boxes' (unofficial stashes of extra parts) a common practice? Hypothetically, of course...

[@MajesticDemonLord]

10:47 - Friendlies down! I repeat! Friendlies down!

[@tankfixer59]

My MST often carried one spare M1 turret traversing gearbox and a bunch of rebuild kits. The 45K would swap our spare into a tank then rebuild the take out unit to put on our spares shelf.

[@EliteAmmunition]

In my unit we ran the cables pre hooked up instead of on the turret.

[@EdAtoZ]

Chieftain, How do you fix bounce hit on a tank that left a groove in the tank armor ?

[@TheChieftainsHatch]

I doubt one bothers with it.

[@richwalter3107]

​@@TheChieftainsHatchThat includes overhaul at Anniston

[@foldionepapyrus3441]

Good idea to make it easy to find your segment in support of the black and orange presentation master easy to find.

[@thoms5207]

Hi Chieftain, I like the RCD shirt in the intro!

[@ulissedazante5748]

Confused about 'combat capable' - as per example, the tank with broken thermal sight is sent back to unit. But is it in the system? Request for a new thermal sight is on file and tank earmarked as 'as we have the spares and time to fix it, unit must send the tank back'?

[@TheChieftainsHatch]

Yes. Just because the tank is sent back to fight doesn't mean the replacement part doesn't get ordered anyway

[@ulissedazante5748]

@@TheChieftainsHatch thank you, sir

[@SlinkyTWF]

OTJ... Kind of like knowing to keep a cheater bar for the tensioning wrench in the sponson?

[@memonk11]

I wonder how drones are going to affect when/where/how combat vehicles are repaired in the future.

[@jdblc1]

I am appreciative of knowing the thought that goes behind the the tanker aspect of operations. What goes behind the whole combined operation is mind boggling. I don’t think the Russians are there yet.

[@Stand_By_For_Mind_Control]

Once upon a time I threw a sprocket on a hot summer day on Route Irish in Baghdad. That was a fun ride back to Camp Falcon. But we were pretty good at not being a boil on the 88's ass :) They hated us way more for how much we brought them beat up HMMWVs as opposed to tanks. Because we were there in that early period where everyone was hanging heavy metal panels on trucks that weren't designed to drag around so much weight and it was killing those poor engines :(

[@TheChieftainsHatch]

I had one of those HMMWVs for about half my tour. Looking at the angle the rear wheels were at due to the compressed suspension was disconcerting

[@Stand_By_For_Mind_Control]

@@TheChieftainsHatch And the sad thing is we felt so lucky to have them in 2004 because we just replaced 82nd airborne who were still using paper mache as armor :)

[@davidgoodnow269]

I was one of the _many_ who spontaneously _came up with_ improvising armor on HMHVVs in 2003! _My_ C.O. said no, but the very next day he was looking at vehicles with welded scraps of BTR armor assembled by and for the maintenance company for _themselves_ rolling past him!

[@Stand_By_For_Mind_Control]

@@davidgoodnow269 Haha one of those 'I wish I never spoke up moments'. I remember probably every week or 2 we'd have to go to the motorpool and get some kind of goofball modification then one day the 1114s showed up and the chaos finally ended lol. But hey any port in a storm. Like I said about 82nd, they were still using the canvas covers and pickups full of dismounts. Them boys were crazy AF :)

[@davidgoodnow269]

@HitchensImmortal Crazy? My unit forgot all of its pintle-mount pins back home, and our Rear Detachment _refused_ to send them. So I _was_ in the back of a deuce, _cradling_ my Fifty like a freaking Uzi, escorting convoys the first couple of months!

[@matthayward7889]

Comment for the algorithm (and also because it’s very interesting)

[@hmsverdun]

Wait so using duct tape to strap armour on is officially in the manual. At this point my assumption if mechanical part is fixed but has not moved then apply copious ammounts of WD-40(or equivilent) and then tension the track is also in the manual.

[@viandengalacticspaceyards5135]

At my work, the rule is that if duct tape doesn't hold, you didn't use enough duct tape.

[@viandengalacticspaceyards5135]

@@ItsCarl94 Of couse not; those are for highly skilled workers.

[@xMario209]

TankDaddy returns to entertain us

[@vicpecka7356]

What is the new guidon on the "Love Me" wall?

[@Plaprad]

Just had a flood of bad memories when I heard "Cannibalizing". That was pretty much life for a while. I think I did three or four canns a week on one deployment. Which reminds me, I should check and see if that GTC ever made it. Had the GTC "aquired" from my aircraft one night. Ordered a new one. This was in 2004. Supply said my new GTC would be delivered Aug. 2023. It's probably rusting away just off the flightline.

[@MsZeeZed]

One incident has shown that Russian tanks come with documentation that has a contact number for the factory. This allows a Ukrainian tank commander in the mood to call Chelyabinsk and troll the factory managers about the quality of captured equipment 😹

[@JohnLee-sm8op]

The most replayed scene is the picture falling down. 10:44

[@fratercontenduntocculta8161]

Retired 19K here. If there's one word I hate even to this day it's Recovery. You just haven't lived until you've field replaced a torsion bar.

[@edl617]

I wonder how many people notice when you slide into Cold War speak. Soviet. On a separate note I like that desk

[@CrazyLikeATiger]

I think I would have LOVED to been a logistics officer for an armored unit! But they don't take flat footers anymore🤗😅

[@samholdsworth420]

Greetings 🤗

[@LeadHeadBOD]

General Gasp, the best commander the Army ever saw, taking wind out of men's lungs, opposition's and subordinates alike!

[@glynwelshkarelian3489]

The following is the second part of a two part British Army training film explaining how to recover a tank with a Scammell recovery lorry. Genuinely fascinating, and the 2 would still teach something. kzbin.info/www/bejne/bpabeauebs-KbcU

[@jimbo9305]

The fallen picture needs expedient repair? Some Scotch tape should do the trick.

[@Aethelgeat]

You noticed that, too?

[@mymomsaysimcool9650]

10:46

[@viandengalacticspaceyards5135]

If it fails, use more tape.

[@jimbo9305]

@@viandengalacticspaceyards5135 That or glue. Welding takes time and money. That's why we use super super glue.

[@Malphazar]

love the book "how to kill a panther tank" on the shelf

[@armoredinf]

11:43. expedient repair: bubble gum and bailing wire, rubber bands and bailing wire, spit and bailing wire, bubble gum and shoe strings, ‘shoe strings and sealing wax, "MacGuyvering", any others?,

[@SonsOfLorgar]

Boiler plate, high amp battery, jumper cables and steel wire liberated from a chainlink fence 🤫

[@jpc6235]

Greetings from the Old Country, Nicholas. Do you really resort to taping armour in place ? That tape must be good stuff 🙂

[@TheChieftainsHatch]

It's what the manual gave as an example

[@caseymuzio7609]

1 question I still have is at what point in say the us system does a repair go from crew level to battalion level

[@SuperchargedSupercharged]

I do not know how I feel about you calling me old school. LOL

[@LAHFaust]

You mention using spare tracks and parts on the tank, where are spare track links kept on an Abrams? I dont think I've ever seen an Abrams with tracks mounted to the side/turret like on, say, a Sherman or Panzer.

[@bluntcabbage6042]

It's usually only a few extra links, you can see them on or in the turret bustle racks on some Abrams.

[@LAHFaust]

@@bluntcabbage6042 that makes sense. Thank you!

[@bluntcabbage6042]

@@LAHFaust No problem 😃

[@tomhenry897]

Peace time won’t be able to get a lot of them Combat Id different

[@anaphylastiks]

I have no knowledge of tanks, but can imagine most would just be repaired to the minimum for the task at hand

[@TheLightLOD]

I do hope the army's 'temporary' is more temporary than the one used by programmers, where it generally goes as follows "there is nothing more permanent than a temporary solution". In software the temporary solution is often someone building a prototype, and before you know it everyone likes using the prototype to the point it can no longer be replaced. I think the US army actually had something similar, even though they did replace the field prototypes with proper solutions like the gunner shield on M113 or the up-armoring of HMMVW.