Marine Corps Begins Shutdown of All Tank Battalions

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

The end of the Marine Corps' tank missions has officially begun.

Marines with 1st Tank Battalion recently watched the last of their unit's tanks depart Twentynine Palms, California. Photos taken of the event show Marines surrounding an oversized flatbed as the tanks were loaded up onto the vehicle and driven away.

Less than two weeks later, Alpha Company, 4th Tank Battalion, held a deactivation ceremony at Camp Pendleton, California. The unit is the first of several companies with 4th Tanks facing deactivations this summer, Maj. Roger Hollenbeck, a spokesman for Marine Forces Reserve, said.

The changes are part of an aggressive plan the Marine Corps' top general set in place earlier this year called Force Design 2030. The plan, leaders say, will set Marines up for future fights, defending ships while at sea and operating in hotly contested spots near the shore.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/marine-corps-begins-shutdown-tank-155102826.html

[jeffreyi]

1. Gee, surplus tanks!

Who could possibly want those?

[Ilsa]

2. I'm sure Hollywood will take a few, but

they'll probably be in line behind the White Supremacist groups.

[qazplm135]

3. well the army could use some

which would be a savings over buying new ones, and our allies.

They aren't giving M1s to the police.

[SledDriver]

4. Can the tanks now be procured by local police departments?

[zipplewrath]

5. Obsolete

It will take some time, but the tank as we know it is going to disappear. They are easily defeated by at least 2 or three other technologies. We've probably seen the last tank on tank battle. From here on in tanks will be basically just mobile artillery, possibly with a troop transport angle.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

6. I was told the same thing when I was in the Army over 40 years ago

Yet the M1A1 Abrams was used by the Army and the last vestige of the M60 by the Marines during Desert Storm.

Not trying to be an armchair General. Just want to point out how unpredictable things often are.

[zipplewrath]

7. Yup

But it was obsolete then. Of course the military frequently wants to use as many of their assets in wars if for no other reason than to see how the training and tactics are still working. But we also demonstrated in that war that the opposition tanks can easily be defeated from the air, or even from shoulder mounted weapons. They also have troubles in urban settings, mostly because of their size. Like I say, armored vehicles will always be of interest, not to mention armed ones. But the Abrams was probably the last and largest of the type. Truth is, over the last 10 years or so, the vast majority of military vehicle work has been on armored troop transports and hardened military vehicles.