History and military technology: Interview with a former M48 commander in the National Guard of the US

A M48 veteran kindly accepted an interview for the blog. G. served in a M48A1 in the National Guard. This variant still had the 90mm gun and petrol engine.

1. Hello G. Can you provide us a brief overview of your service in the US Army as a tank crewmember?

Trained at Fort Knox Ky as an armored crewman in the loader, driver, or gunner positions. Upon being assigned to my unit I found they were equipped with the M-48A1 Patton tanks instead of the M-60A1 tanks I was trained on. I went to a military academy for the first summer after attending armor school and missed out National Guard summer encampment. The second year I was listed as a loader on the unit roster. In formation, prior to boarding the bus to Fort Drum and 17 days of annual training, I was told I was going to be a tank driver. That was changed right away to make me a gunner. On the bus ride (8 hours+) my Psg came and sat with me and asked me many questions about my training and knowledge of tanks. He left momentarily and upon his return, he informed me I was now the tank commander of one of the tanks in his platoon. We had no platoon leader then. I remained a TC until I became the platoon sgt of the same platoon I had been in. As a side line, I instructed for the Tank Gunnery Assistance Team as a guest instructor teaching armor history and vehicle ID. I also became the training NCO (there was no training officer) for a time prior to becoming the Psg of the 3rd platoon.

2. What was your first impression of the M48A1 tank? What do you think were the strong and weak points?

The tank was fast for it’s day but my tank was slightly younger then I was. It was built in 1955 here in Delaware, so it was outdated. The machine gun in the turret was WW2 model coaxal M-1919 Browning converted to fire 7.62mm Nato rounds from the old .30-06 ammo used in WW2. The tank blew jets of fire out of the exhaust and at night you could track a unit’s progress up a trail by the flames lighting up the column. The driver’s test I took the first week back did not prepare me for what was inside the driver’s compartment and the tester had to instruct me on how to start the tank. It did not have the simple master battery switch and push to start button the new tanks had. The oil system had a cooler that sucked air into the cooler to cool off the oil. Unfortunately, this was mounted inside the turret and sucked air through the turret into the cooler. This was no issue in the summer but in the colder months, it made the insides like an ice box with the air flow. The exhaust was good for cooking C Rations and stayed hot long after the tank engine shut down. The range finder that it had was unlike the M-60a1s (which we were not trained on) and the M-48A1 difficult to operate correctly (which we were not trained to do)

3. Early variants of M48 had a gasoline engine. In later models it was replaced by a diesel one providing more range. Can you comment on the engine? Did you find it reliable? Was the lack of range an issue? What about getting supplied with gasoline?

We had the A1 gas driven models until being issued A5 diesel models. We had tanker support and never had to wait for gas. The heaters inside worked off of gas and were prone to catching fire so they were never used. The flame gave us away at night but he diesel smoke as almost as bad, especially when 17 tanks were in a column.

4. What was the typical distance to the target when firing? And the longest distance at which you ever fired?

Usually between 1200 and 2000 yards. We were limited in distance by the ranges at Ft Drum. We could not shoot the main guns any where else, such as Fort Dix. Every other year our encampment was devoted to gunnery and we would stay in the field the entire first week shooting and humping ammo.

5. M48A1 had a M12 stereoscopic rangefinder. Could you comment on its use? Did you find it useful or you would have preferred to fire at battlesight ranges?

I had no training on the range finder. I had no cross training on the M-48A1 at all except the driver’s compartment when I got my M-48-A1 driving licence. Of course I played with it and learned how to “Fly-the-Geese” using the knob on the range wheel, but we did not use it that I was aware of. We used “Burst on Target” (BOT) to fire and adjust if you missed. I was fortunate that I could set up my main gun very well to hit what we aimed at using the binoculars and string method. Our range time was spent firing at usually 2000 yards although we did once shoot 1200 and out to 2000.

6. What was the maximum rate of fire you achieved? Did it change noticeably when the different bins were used?

We were never permitted to rapid fire on the range. Too many officers thought it a waste of ammo. We also did not practice platoon fire drills.

7. What was the typical ammunition configuration load (% AP/HEAT/HE/other)?

In the 90mm we usually fire HEAT TPT Training practice-tracer. When we got the M48A5s we fired only service SABOT. First time I ever fired SABOT.

8. Did you practice NBC scenarios? What was the procedure? How did it affect the crew performance?

I was “appointed” the NBC NCO. They did not let me go to school as it would have taken me out of the tank during field training or gunnery. As a result, no NBC was ever practiced except for one night when the Bn XO drove around in a jeep throwing tear gas grenades on the back deck of parked tanks late one night. I watched one of the most violent fights ever when two crewman fought over one gas mask. The rest of us had ours on the lag bags. Two men, gunner and loader fought over the main gun trying to get the mask underneath. Funny thing was one of those two had his mask on his leg too so he didn’t need it.

9. What is the maximum speed you reached? And reversing?

About 25-and maybe 30 is level ground and no load. Too hard to stop fast at high (25mph) speeds on the roads. Never allowed my crew to back up without ground guide so we were limited to the ability of the ground guide to walk in front or rear.

10. How different is the typical range you get countryside and in a motorway?

Well, of course you got less in mountainous country where we \trained in the summer. On road marches at home was blacktop roads so it was much better.

11. When performing exercises, what was the maximum distance you covered in a day? Were there any issues with the maintenance of the tank?

We left the cantonment area at say, Fort Drum, and drove out on Antwerp Tank Trail about 10-15 miles. From there we would assemble and then start tactical. If gunnery was the goal we would administratively road march the entire way to the ranges.

12. How was the night firing conducted (Did you use flares or projectors)?

We had search lights on many of our tanks. Never fired under flares but supported another company who was firing under flares with our searchlight as a back up.

13. The M48 is one of the largest (and most comfortable) tanks. Do you think it was worth it (it was also a larger target)?

Nice and roomy turret but no real good places to lay down! The back deck of the A1s were great as a hot plate. The back decks of the A3s with the diesel engines were great to sleep on in the high elevations of the mountains we camped in as the deck stayed warm from the engine. Nine feet tall and shiny green with a huge white star in the canter of the turret sides was not my idea of the perfect war machine!

14. What was the component that requires more maintenance/attention?

Oil and the oil coolers. Some crewmen sabotaged oil coolers by putting field jackets in the cooler intakes and caused the cooler to overheat and blow. The sign was a large oil cloud behind the tank. This would side line the crew for the day or two.

15. Did you have the opportunity to train with other NATO Armies? What were your impressions? Did you like/dislike any specific equipment?

We were promised a trip to the Fulda Gap as that was where we were to go in time of war. Never got to go. Too expensive.

16. What about the Soviet Army/Warsaw Pact, what was your impression on their tanks? Was there any equipment you particularly liked/disliked?

They were the “great boogeyman”. “You guys have to kill 10 Commie tanks for every one of ours” was the mantra. Our tank was a 1950s design. Even the T-64 was much more developed then ours. The then top of the line T-72 was the hot tank of Europe. If we knew then how badly they were it would not have been so scary!

17. Did you receive any feedback on the M48 performance in different conflicts? What about future upgrades (105mm gun, diesel engine)?

Watched the Israelis use them and the Indians and Pakistan armies use them. They held their own until the Yon Kipper War when the Sagger AT missiles came out from Egypt.

18. During the Cold War the US Army would organise REFORGER exercises to deploy troops in Europe. Did you participate in one? How was your experience?

We were the poor step children of the US Army. Never got anything new. Korean War C Rations, WW2 ammo and machine guns. WW2 submachine guns and .45 caliber Colt pistols. Sleeping bags and wool uniforms M1950 style from Korea. They sure as heck would never send up on Reforger.

19. The M48 is still in service with some countries, and Turkey used them in Syria. Are you surprised by it's longevity?

No. Many countries still use them but the gun or fire control system, engines, and armor are upgraded. And they are camouflaged!

20. Is there any anecdote you would like to share before we finish the interview?

Being a NG tank company, we were in the middle of a small middle class town in NJ. They invited us to participate in the yearly Independence Day parade. AS a TC I was assigned to crew a tank we were taking to march in that parade. (We often ran two man crews, driver and TC on just movement or demos) As we drove in the parade at a slow rate of speed due to the bands etc in front of us we had to make a 90* right turn onto the main street. It was in the high 90degrees out that July 4 and as we turned the corner, the tank tracks pushed up the softened blacktop into ridges 12 inches high! Last parade were took a tank in.

We took a tank down to our CO’s shooting range about 30 miles south of our armory one weekend. Shot the machine guns and came back the same day. One the way home I was driving as I was the most experienced and trusted driver to navigate thru the narrow strets with parking on both sides. We had NJ State police as escorts in front and the rewar of our small convoy (1 tank and a could of 2.5 trucks with the company riding in them). On the way home it had gotten dark and as I appro\ached the stop sign from the country road to the double laned state road, a girl in a small Japanese car went flying past me. I could just make her out as the turret was facing backwards to keep the gun in travel lock and not poke anyone’s cars on the road ,so I was sitting in the driver’s seat with the seat all the way up. She got to the stop sign right in front of me between the police car and my tank. I hit the bakes and steered up a small rise along the road to keep from squashing her car not 50 feet in front of me. She had stopped without warning when she saw the sign and cops. As I sat in the now stopped tank, I watched the state police officer jump out of his patrol car and was so mad he was leaning into her car screaming at her and his feet with off the ground. I laughed about it later but was too scared right then. Closest I ever came to running a car over with a 54 ton tank. The guy acting TC above me was full of compliments about my driving but I was too scared to understand much of what he said.

History and military technology

Tuesday, 18 October 2022

Interview with a former M48 commander in the National Guard of the US

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