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A whole lotta chassis for not much gun.

By The Armorer on May 24, 2011 | | Comments (16)
Meet the M108 105mm Self-propelled howitzer.

This is the great-granddaddy of the M109A6 Paladin, the Army's current 155mm SP.  While there have been automotive tweaks in the intervening 50 years, and the turret is new on the Paladin, this chassis has been serving since the 60's.

I want my Crusader back.  Or something like it, anyway.  And this from a guy who is partial to older iron.

Hey, Frank - lookit the room in that turret!  And spades?  We don't need no steenking spades!

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16 Comments

By Mike L on May 24, 2011 9:12 AM
Interesting "lanyard".  Where do you think this was filmed?  I'm thinking APG, but could be Sill.  ML
 
By Pogue on May 24, 2011 9:26 AM
Wow, that tiny breech and the lack of a loading ramp sure open the interior up.  Do you know if they had the ammo carrier in the gun section as with the 109's?  Stuffing a 7 man section inside for movement would be a little crowded.
 
By BillT on May 24, 2011 9:41 AM
When I went through OBC in '68, it only had a crew of five, Pogue -- and since one was the driver, and another manned the M2 during travel, there was pah-lenty of room left inside, although it was a good idea to keep your steel pot on while moving from point A to point B...
Filmed at Sill, Mike. The range and impact area at APG are as flat as a pancake.
 
By John of Argghhh! on May 24, 2011 2:08 PM
Yeah, that looks like West Range, in and around Signal Mountain.

Which Mikey should know, being both a Redleg and not unfamiliar with Aberdeen, either.
 
By Grimmy on May 24, 2011 3:07 PM
The Crusader...

Wasn't that the big ol' mech gun that was meant to work over seas but was too big to airlift? And... didn't it require the decommission of a full battery of standard arty per Crusader to fit into operational budget for the US Army?

Or am I thinking of some other boondoggle?
 
By John of Argghhh! on May 24, 2011 3:35 PM
Yeah, Grimmy.  That one.

I don't care.  I want my big gun back.
 
By J.M. Heinrichs on May 24, 2011 4:23 PM
 www.youtube.com/watch


Cheers
     
By fdcol63 on May 24, 2011 7:21 PM
Pogue, my thought, too.  Hydraulic rammer? We don't need no stinkin' hydraulic rammer!  Opened up a whole lot of space.  LOL    But I distinctly remember sleeping with 5 other guys in a crowded M109A2 turrent one Feb. Graf .... it had a working heater!  Later on I learned that the suspended plywood sheet in the back of our M548 made a pretty good bed and was roomier.  LOL
 
By John of Argghhh! on May 24, 2011 7:37 PM
Yeah, and less likely to kill you, too...
 
By fdcol63 on May 24, 2011 7:44 PM
Yeah.  Were you there when Dubia's driver got killed from carbon monoxide poisoning?  I guess I was lucky the S-3's jeep wasn't as air-tight as HQ6's hardtop when they moved me to HHB.
 
By John of Argghhh! on May 24, 2011 7:52 PM
Yeah, I was Frank.  I was the FDO in Bravo at the time.  Else I'd really remember it in detail, since I was Dubia's S1 and woulda had to do all the related paperwork.
 
By Gunnar Vike on May 24, 2011 9:18 PM
 Notice how spiffy and shiny everything and everybody are? No camo, no dirt, dust or anything. It is all so 50s!
 
By Gunnar Vike on May 24, 2011 9:18 PM
 Notice how spiffy and shiny everything and everybody are? No camo, no dirt, dust or anything. It is all so 50s!

 
By John of Argghhh! on May 25, 2011 6:34 AM
Vike - indeed.  A brand-new gun in the hands of the Weapons Department of the FA School, late 50's, early 60's.  It's in the realm of possibility that when this film was made the very little Armorer was present at Fort Sill while the Auld Soldier was an Instructor In Gunnery.