Vehicle I-D: M1A1 ‘Day at the Range’ with the USMC

U.S. Marine Corps photo by Corporal Clarence A. Leake.

USMC 1st Tank Battalion, 1st Marine Division, during a Large Scale Exercise (LSE) on Twentynine Palms, California, August 2016.

USMC photo by Corporal Clarence A. Leake.

Being a ‘tanker’ is more than just ‘humping’ rounds; there’s lots of busting wheel hubs and tracks, fueling, a little mine/lane clearing and then finally some live fire:

USMC photo by Corporal Clarence A. Leake.

USMC photo by Corporal Clarence A. Leake.

Notice the 120mm round has a shell casing made of clear combustible plastic/cellulose, the silver-grey color is the explosive charge.  The steel end-cap on the combustible shell-casing is called the afcap, it contains the primer charge.  The afcaps get recycled onto new 120mm rounds.  Kit bashers note that USMC M1A1s have features not found on U.S. Army M1A1s.

USMC photo by Corporal Clarence A. Leake.

A Mine Clearing Line Charge (MCLC, pronounced mic-lic) fired from an amphibious AAV.

USMC photo by Corporal Clarence A. Leake.

MCLC explosion.

In this video a Marine officer tells you how proud he is of his tankers:

USMC photo by Corporal Clarence A. Leake.

USMC photo.

USMC photo by Corporal Clarence A. Leake.

M1A2: 116TH SNAKE RIVER’S 2015 NTC ROTATION