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Description
*A commission for veterans charity, part of Memorial service project.
**Commission by active U.S. Army 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division Tanker, PFC Andrew Dale King. datgreywolf :3
With a 68-ton armored vehicle packing a 120mm cannon, U.S. Army tankers can take the fight to the enemy in just about any environment.

Tankers consider themselves part of a brotherhood with roots in World War I. The tanker tradition that dates back to WWI when the first combat cars and tanks took to the battlefield with tank crews leading the way into mechanized warfare.

Today, US crews continue the tradition, carrying armored combat into the future. Which is now driving the M1 Abrams tank, these soldiers continue that legacy today. Here is a taste of what their life is like...

-Crews generally have four members. There is a tank commander, a gunner, a driver, and a loader. In which Grey is a driver.
To become a US Army tanker, the crews are tested at twelve different levels, referred to as tables. The tables demand crews prove they can drive, fire, and coordinate together in battle in a variety of conditions.

-The Abrams can fire different rounds for different purposes, and tank crews have to train in a variety of environments. That means they get a lot of time on the range.
The main gun is what most people think of when it comes to tanks, but crews also have to certify on the machine guns mounted outside, as well as the M9 pistols and M4 carbines they’re equipped with because
sometimes the mission calls for tankers to operate on foot or from other vehicles.

-The inside of the tank can be a little cramped with equipment and crew, especially a driver position. They have to sits in a small hole in the front of the tank. His control panel is located immediately in front of him.
Sometimes while on deployment, tankers can end up working for 20-hour days.
Considering everything the M1 is designed to withstand, it can be surprising that tanks sometimes break down because of soft sand or loose soil pushing a track out of place. And much of the maintenance for the tank is done by the crew.

Tankers sometimes refer their tank as the “Office” or "Home" mainly because they have to live with it for most of the time.

In my wholly un-biased and completely objective opinion, it is quite simply the best job in the history of the Armed Forces.

First, your equipment is insane. You get to play with things like the 120mm, M256 smoothbore cannon. Yes, it’s just as much fun as you think it is!
Now, imagine that you get to do awesome, fun things like tear up the countryside with a 70 ton monster at insane speeds (well, it will seem insane while you’re riding it) over 35+ mph cross-country and shoot main gun, coax, loader’s 240, and TC’s .50 cal with three other s**theads* just as excitable as you are about the experience. Those other three will be closer than your own family, as will your wing tank crew, and the rest of your tank platoon. You’ll hate every single one of them at one time or another. They’ll poke you in your earhole just to piss you off, but you’ll get them back by ripping a nasty fart in the driver’s hole and letting the heater carry it up to the turret, where they’re all closed off to keep from getting soaked by the torrential, near-Biblical rain. You’ll sit in the barracks at the gunnery range at night between tank tables, playing spades or hearts or other card games with some shifty mofos. Shifty mofos who will, if need be, jump tanks in the middle of a firefight to pull your stanky ass out of your loader’s hatch so you don’t die after an IED disables your ride, then punch you in your scar twenty years later at the reunion and force you to buy their drinks all weekend.

You’ll operate sleep-deprived, angry, muddy, wet, sweaty, and ready to chew nails. You’ll throw track at 2 am in the most God-forsaken hellhole any human has had the displeasure to be in, and have to crawl on your belly into clay mud (cursing, the whole time) to put the end connector pullers on so you can get that damned track off and get back to your mission. Then, when you finally get back to the barracks and clean everything, you’ll do it all over again. And again. And again. And you’ll hate it—except, you won’t.

And, to add to my note at the end: those same grunts who badmouth you at the bar and talk s**t in the mess hall will be the first ones to amble sheepishly over to your tank and beg you to start the engine, so they can warm up and dry out in the turbine exhaust when the weather is cold or when they get wet.

One simple word for tankers...
"Awesome!"

Description
*A commission for veterans charity, part of Memorial service project.
**Commission by active U.S. Army 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division Tanker, PFC Andrew Dale King. datgreywolf :3
With a 68-ton armored vehicle packing a 120mm cannon, U.S. Army tankers can take the fight to the enemy in just about any environment.

Tankers consider themselves part of a brotherhood with roots in World War I. The tanker tradition that dates back to WWI when the first combat cars and tanks took to the battlefield with tank crews leading the way into mechanized warfare.

Today, US crews continue the tradition, carrying armored combat into the future. Which is now driving the M1 Abrams tank, these soldiers continue that legacy today. Here is a taste of what their life is like...

-Crews generally have four members. There is a tank commander, a gunner, a driver, and a loader. In which Grey is a driver.
To become a US Army tanker, the crews are tested at twelve different levels, referred to as tables. The tables demand crews prove they can drive, fire, and coordinate together in battle in a variety of conditions.

-The Abrams can fire different rounds for different purposes, and tank crews have to train in a variety of environments. That means they get a lot of time on the range.
The main gun is what most people think of when it comes to tanks, but crews also have to certify on the machine guns mounted outside, as well as the M9 pistols and M4 carbines they’re equipped with because
sometimes the mission calls for tankers to operate on foot or from other vehicles.

-The inside of the tank can be a little cramped with equipment and crew, especially a driver position. They have to sits in a small hole in the front of the tank. His control panel is located immediately in front of him.
Sometimes while on deployment, tankers can end up working for 20-hour days.
Considering everything the M1 is designed to withstand, it can be surprising that tanks sometimes break down because of soft sand or loose soil pushing a track out of place. And much of the maintenance for the tank is done by the crew.

Tankers sometimes refer their tank as the “Office” or "Home" mainly because they have to live with it for most of the time.

In my wholly un-biased and completely objective opinion, it is quite simply the best job in the history of the Armed Forces.

First, your equipment is insane. You get to play with things like the 120mm, M256 smoothbore cannon. Yes, it’s just as much fun as you think it is!
Now, imagine that you get to do awesome, fun things like tear up the countryside with a 70 ton monster at insane speeds (well, it will seem insane while you’re riding it) over 35+ mph cross-country and shoot main gun, coax, loader’s 240, and TC’s .50 cal with three other s**theads* just as excitable as you are about the experience. Those other three will be closer than your own family, as will your wing tank crew, and the rest of your tank platoon. You’ll hate every single one of them at one time or another. They’ll poke you in your earhole just to piss you off, but you’ll get them back by ripping a nasty fart in the driver’s hole and letting the heater carry it up to the turret, where they’re all closed off to keep from getting soaked by the torrential, near-Biblical rain. You’ll sit in the barracks at the gunnery range at night between tank tables, playing spades or hearts or other card games with some shifty mofos. Shifty mofos who will, if need be, jump tanks in the middle of a firefight to pull your stanky ass out of your loader’s hatch so you don’t die after an IED disables your ride, then punch you in your scar twenty years later at the reunion and force you to buy their drinks all weekend.

You’ll operate sleep-deprived, angry, muddy, wet, sweaty, and ready to chew nails. You’ll throw track at 2 am in the most God-forsaken hellhole any human has had the displeasure to be in, and have to crawl on your belly into clay mud (cursing, the whole time) to put the end connector pullers on so you can get that damned track off and get back to your mission. Then, when you finally get back to the barracks and clean everything, you’ll do it all over again. And again. And again. And you’ll hate it—except, you won’t.

And, to add to my note at the end: those same grunts who badmouth you at the bar and talk s**t in the mess hall will be the first ones to amble sheepishly over to your tank and beg you to start the engine, so they can warm up and dry out in the turbine exhaust when the weather is cold or when they get wet.

One simple word for tankers...
"Awesome!"