previous post next post  

Inaugural Firepower

By The Armorer on January 21, 2009 | | Comments (20)

Ah, the 3inch anti-tank rifle.  Nice looking gun, sweet to serve.


The cannon of the Presidential Salute Gun Platoon roar in succession, a rolling volley honoring a new president. The ceremonial unit is part of the U.S. Army's Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 3rd Infantry Regiment, "The Old Guard," based on Fort Myer, Va. More than 5,000 men and women in uniform are providing military ceremonial support to the presidential inauguration, a tradition dating back to George Washington's 1789 inauguration. DoD photo by U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Kathrine McDowell

The cannon of the Presidential Salute Gun Platoon roar in succession, a rolling volley honoring a new president. The ceremonial unit is part of the U.S. Army's Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 3rd Infantry Regiment, "The Old Guard," based on Fort Myer, Va. More than 5,000 men and women in uniform are providing military ceremonial support to the presidential inauguration, a tradition dating back to George Washington's 1789 inauguration. DoD photo by U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Kathrine McDowell

Of course, let's hope this isn't a metaphor for the new President... a nice looking, yet obsolescent tool that was not terribly effective to begin with, firing blanks, all smoke and fire, little impact except visually and aurally.

Of course, better that than an 8incher in direct fire, blowing apart the institutions, either...

H/t the 8 of you who thought I might have missed this.  Which I did, until this morning.

Share This Article:

Share |

Categories:

20 Comments

By BillT on January 21, 2009 8:45 AM
Didn't know they could elevate that high.

Giving an anti-tank gun indirect fire capability seems a bit *much*...
 
By John of Argghhh! on January 21, 2009 9:18 AM
Function of the carriage, Bill.  Same one as for the 105mm howitzer.

Besides, sometimes you're on the valley floor, and the target is rounding the switchback on the hillside.

Or the target is in the third floor.
 
By Cannoneer No. 4 on January 21, 2009 12:40 PM
How many 13B's are in the Presidential Salute Gun Platoon,  Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 3rd Infantry Regiment?

About as many as there are MOS 563's in the Caisson Platoon.

They're breaking your Redleg rice bowl.
 
By BillT on January 21, 2009 2:28 PM
Thought it was more to keep the muzzle from getting all mudded up if they ever used a 10-ton truck as a prime mover.

And what's with Nice looking gun, sweet to serve -- yestiddy you were all I.will.not.serve -y an' stuff...
 
By Jason on January 21, 2009 2:46 PM
"Of course, let's hope this isn't a metaphor for the new President... a nice looking, yet obsolescent tool that was not terribly effective to begin with, firing blanks, all smoke and fire, little impact except visually and aurally."

No, not at all - it's a statement about today's Field Artillery capabilities in support of the Global War on Terror (TM) a la Gian Gentile... (kidding). Little surprised that they dont use those little howitizers that I see at Ft Myers and other posts for such ceremonies. Also enjoyed seeing the four services march in the inaugural parade, very nice - except for the Air Force. What a cluster fart. Too many personnel, last few gaggles were out of step, lollygagging around. Bad form.  
 
By John of Argghhh! on January 21, 2009 2:52 PM
Jason - so you *do* still show up...  the little guns you are talking about are probably the 75mm pack howitzers, modified as salute guns by welding the recoil trays and putting weld beads in the chambers so that they won't chamber anything but blanks.

The weld the recoil slide so they can keep the muzzles pointing up even if the seals on the recuperator fail.
 
By RetRsvMike on January 21, 2009 4:52 PM
Bill: i'm thinking it has that superelevation for when they load canister, cuz they're gonna be needing to get a cupola shot when the panzer is overrunning them...
 
By Josh on January 22, 2009 7:19 AM
Pardon my early morning disorientation, but what piece does U.S. Army Artillery use in direct fire that has an eight inch bore?
 
By John of Argghhh! on January 22, 2009 8:11 AM
Remember, Josh, Bill and I are auld.  Well, Bill is Really Auld.  Just as those guns in the pic haven't been used since WWII as anything except salute guns or training dummies on Aiming Circle Hill at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, we don't currently have an 8 inch cannon in service.  In Vietnam, however, my father (either when he was with II Field Force HQ at Bien Hoa or as a commander of the 6/15TH FA in Tay Ninh)  witnessed the M110 8inch howitzer used in the direct fire mode against NVA/VC bunkers.

The swan song of the mighty M110A2 was Desert Storm.  They were retired after that war.
 
By Cannoneer No. 4 on January 22, 2009 8:59 AM
Are those 13B's serving those pieces?
I didn't think so.

 
By John of Argghhh! on January 22, 2009 9:11 AM
No, probably not.  They're most likely grunts from the Old Guard.  We'll let them shoot blanks from guns that size.  They can clean 'em, too.  Nothing like running a couple of pounds of black powder through your gun for a messy clean-up job.
 
By Josh on January 22, 2009 9:25 AM
Jeez, I wish somebody had gotten video footage of that...
 
By John of Argghhh! on January 22, 2009 9:43 AM
Sorry your comment got caught up in moderation there #4.  Shoulda dropped me a note.
 
By Cannoneer No. 4 on January 22, 2009 1:24 PM

Cleaning 3-inch Parrott Rifles is fun.  Elevate the tube, pour the water out of the sponge bucket into the tube, push all the water out through the vent. with the sponge and rammer.

Thar she blows.

 

 
By Cannoneer No. 4 on January 22, 2009 1:30 PM
The Old Guard should have a How Btry for horse artillery tasks like firing salutes and driving caissons.

Sounds like a mission for the other half of the Field Artillery Half Section.
 
By John of Argghhh! on January 22, 2009 1:36 PM
#4 - you forgot something in your instructions for the Parrot.  "Wait for the tourist to get close enough... then apply the sponge."
 
By BillT on January 23, 2009 8:44 AM
Remember, Josh, Bill and I are auld.

Fine thing -- claiming Auld-By-Association.

Your *dad* saw 8-inchers used against bunkers and *I* saw one root a sniper out of a cave on a mountainside.

Wasn't the cheapest way to go about it, but it was sure *effective*. And *fun*...
 
By John of Argghhh! on January 23, 2009 8:54 AM
In relation to Josh, the difference is of no matter...
 
By BillT on January 23, 2009 9:43 AM
So, it'd kinda be like trying to explain the difference between the Triassic and the Jurassic?
 
By Josh on January 23, 2009 2:16 PM
Wasn't the cheapest way to go about it, but it was sure *effective*. And *fun*...

Weapons with bores over 5 inches are not about "cheap"...they're about asskicking.

In relation to Josh, the difference is of no matter...

Yeah yeah, us kids have no sense of anything that happened before PCs...Ronald Reagan was directly preceeded by the Stone Age, yes?

So, it'd kinda be like trying to explain the difference between the Triassic and the Jurassic?

The Triassic?  You mean the age of three-assed animals, which Dr. Mephisto is perpetually trying to recreate?  (Sorry, South Park reference...)