I don't post AAR's 'cause my spelling sucks, so heres a crash course on a little known fact on the M1A2.
There was once a tanker in the US Army named Cdat. He was stationed at Ft. Hood, Texas. The largest Armored froce concentrated in on place in the world. The Army was in the first/only stages of purchasing the M1A2 Abrams tank. At that time they were using the M1A1 Common Heavy varient of the Abrams. Cdat was part of the "opposing force" or in other terms "the bad guys". The "good guys" had 16 M1A2's to play with. The bad guys had 8 M1A1's to die with. Every other day, the good guys were given a mission either to defend, assault, move to contact or other such manuvers to put the newest tank through its paces. The good guys had 24 hours to come up with a plan, recon the area and prep for the oncoming battle. After they were prepared to do battle, they posted a guard or twenty around their beasts and went back to the barraks to sh#t/shower/shave and enjoy a night out on the town with the General Dynamic support team that was there to correct any issues/problems with their new pride & joy. The bad guys stayed in the field and waited for the next mission because they were trying to test their limits of stress. Day 2, first battle. Good defend / bad assault. Final tally = 16 M1A2's dead / 4 M1A1's dead. Not good to the congressmen watching from a ridge overlooking the fiasco. Day 4, repeat of 1st battle. Final tally = 16 M1A2's dead / 2 M1A1's dead. On to next battle. Day 6, MiA1's defend / M1A2's assault. Final tally = 16 M1A2's dead / 0 M1A1's dead. Must be that Cdat and friends are cheating. In come the cavalry from 2nd Armored Divison to verify our MILES ( laser tag) systems were tamper proof and working correctly. Next battle, this battle takes place a week later as Good team practices it over and over till they have it down pat. Good defends, Bad attacks. Bad team is reduced to six tanks to make it more of a challenge (2/1 odds were pretty easy). Place of battle = valley with sparse scrub brush. Defenders near a ridge line with unobstructed view for 2 miles down the valley center. Final tally = 3 M1A1's dead / 15 M1A2's dead. The last M1A2 was given orders to withdraw from the position before it was over run. Only smart thing they've done so far. Halt put on war games. Congressmen come to our Assembly Area and inform us that if the M1A2 keeps losing that congress will pull the plug on the M1A2 program and that none of us want that. A battle a week later. Movement to contact ( both forces start moving toward one another and once contact is made its a free for all). The bad guys lose some tanks and are given M113's, an old APC with no tank killing capibilities. 3 M113's and 3 M1A1's to 16 M1A2's. Final tally = 3 M113's & 1 M1A1 killed / 16 M1A2's killed. Now a general comes to the assembly area ( actually 3 generals, but since one was a four star, no one paid attention to the other two). He gives Cdat & friends a direct order to die in the next battle or our careers are over. Cdat refuses and is withdrawn from the battle by his commander. Last battle, 3 M1A1's & 3 M113's on the defense against 16 M1A2's on the offense. As the A2's swarm over the objective they notice all the bad guys are still in their sleeping bags or eating poogy bait and no one is defending squat (just following orders). The A2's win, end of mission, the Army buys the A2. Cdat takes a buy-out and leaves the Army after 12 + years of service ( a very handsom buy out/off). Cdat joins the National Guard (Nasty Girls) finishes his last 8 years & retires and also gets hired by GM, who pays him 5 times what he made in the Army. The End. I'm not saying this is true but you never know?!
P.S. Cdat retired a SFC/ E-7. He was a master gunner (expert on weapons systems and everything to do with the turret/fire control systems and electronics). He was last seen near Flint, Michigan.
