And *this* birthdate is -- John's.
Fortunately, he's easy to shop for.
Guns or pr0n. And if you can find a way to combine the two, so much the better.
I usually wait until the last minute to go shopping for presents, but a couple of months ago, I managed to snag the boss's vehicle under the pretext of getting the oil changed and took the opportunity to track down a rumor I'd heard.
Now, back in John's war and in OIF, the planners kept biting their nails because Saddam liked *long* range artillery, and he'd bought a bunch of it. Long range, meaning that his stuff *outranged* our stuff. And John used *our* stuff.
Long-story-short is that we were told that Tac Air and MLRS had destroyed most of Saddam's Outrangers in the opening days of Desert Storm, and the few surviving pieces that *hadn't* been destroyed had all been shipped back stateside after OIF as lawn ornaments at Ft. Sill and Aberdeen. The rumor I'd heard was that the collectors had missed one, and it was around here, somewhere.
I found it.
Meet the famed GHN-45 155mm semi-self-propelled gun..
Those small wheels on the trails are for the diesel engine that powered the hydraulics and allowed it to double as a self-propulsion unit. The beast could chogie along at 16kph over smooth terrain.
It's resting peacefully under some olive trees in the old headquarters compound of what we call the Dark Side, because it has electrical power when our side *doesn't*.
Well, geez, of *course* I've got a Hi-Rez for ya, John -- sheesh!
Huh? What *else* did I get you?
Oh, all right. I found another museum piece, but this one has an accoutrement the museums usually don't include.
An M-46 130mm gun.
You don't usually see 'em complete with the towing kit.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know -- Hi-Rez!
No, the aimy-fiddly bits weren't intact. I figure either the BC or the XO took 'em as souvenirs.
*koff*
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