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From the 1487th TC. Just south of Baghdad, early 2004.
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M915A1 Bob-tail
- Thread starter oifvet
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gimpyrobb
dumpsterlandingfromorbit!
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Looks like a 105 bed on the back. Were you guys taking tips from this site?
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That was something that the maintenance guys in our Company built pretty quick. When we first got there in February 04, there was no "armor" of any kind on any of our trucks. (Notice the truck skin has nothing additional). And by-the-way, that's plywood all the way at the top. That was just to deflect wind and dirt. That particular truck rode the rear of the convoy. The weapon mounted there was only an M-60. That's about all we had in the first few months. Nuts!
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One of my biggest fights in the 80's was with my transportation regiment in getting CONOPS for armoring our medium trucks. It seemed many had their heads in the sand and when I went to Desert Storm I surveyed drivers all over the theater and only a handfull in a hundred knew anything about harding their trucks or even the proper way to disperse on the MSR when coming to a halt.
As a company commander of a medium truck company in the Pittsburgh area we had plans for local steel companies to fab us armor in the event of a contingency. I about went nuts when the Army got mad at the company commander who did this for his trucks before getting deployed it just took too many Soldiers dieing in the trucks for the Army to let units make this kind of protection.
We called it mom and pop armor in 2005 as we were trying to replace all of it with high tech armor kits. Now no vehicle without armor leaves the FOB for any reason.
As a company commander of a medium truck company in the Pittsburgh area we had plans for local steel companies to fab us armor in the event of a contingency. I about went nuts when the Army got mad at the company commander who did this for his trucks before getting deployed it just took too many Soldiers dieing in the trucks for the Army to let units make this kind of protection.
We called it mom and pop armor in 2005 as we were trying to replace all of it with high tech armor kits. Now no vehicle without armor leaves the FOB for any reason.
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Yep. I went home on 2 weeks R&R in June '04, (got married), and when I got back, my truck had been taken down into Kuwait and was up-armored. It now had 1/4" sheet steel on the doors and just below the cab. It wasn't much, but it made us feel a little better about smaller IEDs.
We started seeing some of the M915A3s with the full armor "capsule" in late '04/early '05. They had the ballistic glass and everything. They were Freightliners that would run about 65 mph. (Our 915A1s would top out at about 60, heavy). Anyway, the armored A3s worried me. If you got hit and crashed, if the cab twisted and the doors were bound, you weren't coming out. Pray you don't start burning. Eveything seemed to just catch on fire, too.
We started seeing some of the M915A3s with the full armor "capsule" in late '04/early '05. They had the ballistic glass and everything. They were Freightliners that would run about 65 mph. (Our 915A1s would top out at about 60, heavy). Anyway, the armored A3s worried me. If you got hit and crashed, if the cab twisted and the doors were bound, you weren't coming out. Pray you don't start burning. Eveything seemed to just catch on fire, too.
TacticalTruck
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Attachments
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Same truck?????? I remember the little plywood "fenders" that didn't hold my weight one time when I had to climb into it. And the door! And NAPA mud flaps!! I wasn't assigned to it, but it was assigned to my platoon.
One or both of ours was passed down to us from a unit from South Dakota in early 04! Looks like the same truck!
The gun mount kept breaking from all of the jarring. The roads beat it to death. I think we shut it down or gave it away later in the deployment. I can't remember. I just know that our gun-trucks were all HMMWVs at some point. That 915 saw some @#$%!
Could it be?
One or both of ours was passed down to us from a unit from South Dakota in early 04! Looks like the same truck!
The gun mount kept breaking from all of the jarring. The roads beat it to death. I think we shut it down or gave it away later in the deployment. I can't remember. I just know that our gun-trucks were all HMMWVs at some point. That 915 saw some @#$%!
Could it be?
halftrack
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FMTVs sure do make some crappy gun trucks.
TacticalTruck
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Looks like the same truck and I think they both have a grenade launcher. I would guess it's probably about the fastest gun truck in the fleet and thankfully NOT an FMTV. Was there a ladder or just a platform inside the shack?
Jeff
Jeff
beaubeau
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Say OILVET, What exactly is a M915A1 suppose to be used for and what exactly is this suppose to be?!! I thought we had a shortage of equipment in Nam, but this is bad!! What the heck is a 5 ton Cargo being used for if this is what you do with a Tractor?
We used Tractors to pull trailers. Doesn't the Army have any kind of Training for this!?? L
U know what Marines Say? "We can do anything with nothing, the Impossible takes a little longer!"Semper Fi.Phil
We used Tractors to pull trailers. Doesn't the Army have any kind of Training for this!?? L
U know what Marines Say? "We can do anything with nothing, the Impossible takes a little longer!"Semper Fi.Phil
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The 915 is the "road' tractor. They were made by AM General. The 915A2 and A3 are Freightliners. They just took this one bob-tail and made a gun-truck out of it. It was early OIF. They were faster than a 5-ton tractor and do not have a front driving axle. Again, primarily a asphalt loving truck, but was often in the sand.
TacticalTruck,
I cant remember what the gunner stood on. Some kind of fabricated platform, I think. I was in it a few times when I had to catch a ride for one reason or another out on a route. The crew of 4 had all of their ammunition and weapons in the shack. Also some soft stuff like sleeping bags so you could survive the ride. Really not much room. The Mk- 19 was heavy on the mount and caused breakage. The SAW or M60 was better. The 915 is a stiff ride as a bob-tail. Crap-a-flyin' inside! The bed was good for water, MREs, fuel, cots, and junk. It was agile inside the base-camps and could go for ice for the other trucks (w/ trailers).
TacticalTruck,
I cant remember what the gunner stood on. Some kind of fabricated platform, I think. I was in it a few times when I had to catch a ride for one reason or another out on a route. The crew of 4 had all of their ammunition and weapons in the shack. Also some soft stuff like sleeping bags so you could survive the ride. Really not much room. The Mk- 19 was heavy on the mount and caused breakage. The SAW or M60 was better. The 915 is a stiff ride as a bob-tail. Crap-a-flyin' inside! The bed was good for water, MREs, fuel, cots, and junk. It was agile inside the base-camps and could go for ice for the other trucks (w/ trailers).
beaubeau
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Only thing to say about Freightliners, Us proffessional truckers call them FRUITSHAKERS!! Low life of the trucking wourld. The only thing that makes them popular is the Price! Its Cheap, piece of crap. Resale on them is Nothing. This is why the Govt. has them now because FRUITSHAKER under bid other Comp. Now I really feel bad for our Millitary men who must ride in them!! Good luck, Phil
i
i
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I have a CDL and consider myself a "closet trucker." I've always admired big-rigs. I don't know as much as I'd like to, but I believe what your saying about the Freightliner. I drove the one in my avatar when my truck (an A1) was down. The ONLY think I liked about it was the air conditioning and seat. Other than that, they were fiberglass IED magnets.