In July 2020, the United States Marines Corps (USMC) began retiring its M1A1 Abrams tanks and M88A2 Hercules recovery tanks, as part of a so called modernization plan called Force Design 2030.

The units affected are California based 1st Tank Battalion (1st Tanks) of the 1st Marine Division (my grandfather’s Alma Matter) and 4th Tank Battalion (4th Tanks) 4th Marine Division, as well as North Carolina based 2nd Tank Battalion (Iron Horse) of the 2nd Marine Division.

The 2nd Tank Battalion was an armor unit for almost 80 years, but apparently that ends under Force Design 2030.

1st Tank Battalion was created in 1941, originally in North Carolina but quickly made a new home in Twentynine Palms, California.  After 79 years the 1st Tanks is no more:

From my grandfather’s files, 1st Marine Division unit citations for actions in World War Two and Korea (click on each to make bigger):

Alpha Company, 4th Tank Battalion, 4th Marine Division, Marine Forces Reserve, Camp Pendleton, California, said good bye to its armored vehicles on 18JUL2020.  Alpha Company is the first of the six companies of 4th Tanks to deactivate.  4th Tanks was created in 1943, during World War Two:

In August 2020, tracked armored vehicles located on the Marine Corps Logistics Base Barstow (after being a TC on Sherman tanks during the war in the Pacific my grandfather worked at the Yermo Annex), California, were loaded on rail cars and shipped-off to the U.S. Army.

All the Marine Corps’ tank units are expected to be deactivated by the end of 2021.  The vehicles could be ‘sold’ to the U.S. Army, or to foreign militaries.

Don’t blame Trump, Force Design 2030 is part of the Obama era plan referred to as Pivot to Asia:  2013, New York Times reports that U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel was pursuing a “pivot” against China.

According to U.S. Naval War College “Starting in 2010, the U.S. and Vietnam accelerated this process effectively forming a partnership on several fronts. The Obama administration identified Vietnam as one of the new partners to cultivate as part of its ‘rebalancing’ of U.S. priorities toward the Asia-Pacific region, a move commonly referred to as the U.S.’s ‘pivot’ to the Pacific.” 

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Harvey: MARINES USE AMPHIBIOUS COMBAT TANKS TO SAVE LIVES!