Posted on 05/23/2002 11:07:42 AM PDT by goldylight
Wednesday, May 22, 2002 - WASHINGTON - Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., accused the Mexican army Tuesday of staging a "military incursion" Friday night into southern Arizona that ended with Mexican soldiers firing shots at a U.S. Border Patrol vehicle. Lori Haley, an Immigration and Naturalization spokeswoman, confirmed that an incident occurred in a remote area near Ajo, Ariz. A U.S. agent spotted three Mexican soldiers in a Mexican Humvee on U.S. soil and was attempting to leave the area when the rear window of his vehicle was apparently shattered by gunfire, she said. The agent was leaving the area "in an effort to avoid a confrontation" with the Mexicans, she said. "Because of the seriousness of the incident" Haley said, U.S. authorities launched a formal investigation and are asking Mexican authorities to do the same. The Mexican government previously has rejected Tancredo's charges that Mexican police and military units frequently cross the border. Tancredo, who leads a group of lawmakers opposed to liberalizing immigration laws, has said U.S. officials believe the incursions are related to drug trafficking. The Republican from Littleton said he fears gunplay between U.S. and Mexican authorities unless officials stop the incursions. "Unless we open our eyes and recognize that what's happening along the U.S.-Mexico border is real, one of our guys is going to get killed," he said. The INS confirmed the incident, but Tancredo's version differed somewhat. He said 10 soldiers were involved and the shot damaged more than the Border Patrol's rear window. He also said the Mexicans came 10 miles into the U.S before they were spotted. Tancredo said U.S. agents believe the shots were fired because Mexican authorities were pursuing drug dealers into the U.S. "They are saying they had interdicted a huge shipment of drugs," he said. "Therefore everyone was antsy." But "regardless of the circumstances, they had happy trigger fingers," he said. The U.S. vehicle was "clearly marked" and should have been recognizable, he said. The agent told him, " "As far as I am concerned, that (incursion) should be an act of war,' " Tancredo said. On May 3, Tancredo wrote Mexican President Vicente Fox demanding that he halt "incursions" by Mexican law enforcement officers into the U.S. Fox didn't respond. |
Having been a crewman and driver on several different versions of Shermans I can assure you that top vehicle speed of an M4A1 or M4A3 is nowhere near 75mph; 35mph is much more like it, maybe, maybe 40mph down a very steep grade, with a tailwind.
And though the later WWI versions of the M4A1E8 and M4A3E8 [as used dring the Korean war as well] were fitted with a gyrostabilized 76mm main gun, not only is a first-round hit much less likely than a 50-50 proposition, and thereby the reason gunners are trained in *burst on target* fire correction techniques for followup repeat shots, it would be a sinful waste to pump off a main gun HEAT or Hypershot round at an unarmoured vehicle such as a Mexican Army HUMMVW playing drug mule; even the waste of a white phosphourous, cannister or superquick-fuzed High explosive round would be the mark of a rookie, rather than a proper hosing of the soft-skinned target with 30-round bursts from the co-axial machinegun mounted in line with the tank's cannon. In the case of the Shermans, that would be a M1919A4 .30 caliber Browning, firing the military loading of the .30-06 cartridge. We were taught that 12 hits from the co-ax would effectively eliminate the usefulness of any truck so hit- I'd reckon about 3 bursts [90 rounds total] should cover it out to ranges of 1100 meters, [the range at which the tracer rounds burn out] whether either vehicle was moving or not.
It'd do a little better than that. At 32 feet per second per second, after 6 seconds it's falling at over 170 feet per second, which is approximately 120 mph. Less wind resistance, of course, and a Sherman can hardly be considered streamlined. But that's not much of a factor.
You know that the Russians have been known to airdrop their BMD paratroop fighting vehicles with a well-padded driver and gunner inside? Real brave fellas, them Russkies!
-archy-/-
If he was armed with the usual Border Patrol M96D .40 Beretta handgun, he was probably right. Most BP agents who can are now also carrying cutdown Remington 870 shotguns in case their handgun quits on them. But in any event, up against multiple opponents with rifles, a little time spent with him in basic fire-and-maneuver would have qualified those Mexican troopers for that $10,000 reward for killing a BP officer.
LOL! I bow to your obviously superior knowledge of the freefall velocity of the Sherman tank. Nice pic too!
v = 16 x 36 (t=6)
v = 576 ft/sec
v = 393 mi/hour
-archy-/-
Last time I looked, Pot smoking was still against the law and of right should be. We can do both - secure our borders and uphold our laws.
The Sherman's final transmission isn't arranged as a cross- drive. Lock up a track at speeds above 25-30MPH and the track will indeed stop- and the 35 tonne tank wil keep right on going. It takes about two hours to put the track back on, if you remembered to throw the trackjacks in the OEM bag.
But oh yeah, I hate to even consider travelling cross-country in an M4 at 75mph. The HVSS suspension is barely adequate at half that speed with the wide tracks, the VVSS setup is even worse.
See the pics of the ex-Egyptian [via Israel] M4A1s above to consider the narrow/ limited travel VVSS suspension arrangement. The one below has the late WWII/ Korean era HVSS rebuilt improved HVSS.
-archy-/-
Something along the lines of Pershing's 1916 *Punitive Expedition* into Mexico following Pancho Villa's raid on Columbus, NM on 09 March of that year? I seem to recall that National Guard horse cavalry troops from Arizona and Indiana were involved in that action, as well as regular Army troops...and a young Army Cavalry officer named George Patton.
Hmmm, *Punitive Action,* yes....
The lat time I heard him speak (I think it was on Hannity????) one word kept coming to mind:
T-Y-R-A-N-T.
Next.
Crazy.
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