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The last light tank we had in the military was this one,

While in the service in the early “70”s, I was on a tank. A smaller tank named the Sheridan M551 tank. I was a the top gunner in 1975 when the 197th Infantry Brigade had qualifications that year at Ft Benning Ga. I loved that tank. It was small compared to most tanks, weighing in at a mere 17 tons. Compare that to the M60 that weighed 70 tons, but the Sheridan was made for reconnaissance. As a Scout it was made for me.

At 17 tons, it could be dropped into Nam from a transport plane via parachute. It was also amphibious which was great for scouts to meneuver ther jungles and waterways. They would deploy that baby right into the thick of things at times. It was light and fast. Disengage the governor, and we could get that tank rolling down a paved road pretty fast. It still holds the Guinness world record for the fastest tank ever made at 82.23 km/h (51.10 mph).

The tank came with the first ever guided missile system primarily made for a tank. The MGM-51 Shillelagh missile was a deadly accurate round. It was computerized, so as long as I had the system set correctly, it never missed. Yet go figure many gunners did miss, because many gunners had problems setting the new confusing guidance system.

Back then computers were new and few, if any, uneducated service men could figure them out. I learned then, long before PCs were common, that I had a knack for understanding them. When it came time to qualify, I never missed. I must admit, it was an awesome feeling watching that missile drop out of the gun and soar down the range. Other rounds shot out of the cannon like bullets, but the missile glided under its own power. It would sway from side to side, then as it got close to its target it made a beeline for the old tank carcass that was my target. The next thing I saw was an explosion and then nothing but rubble.

I loved that tank. Eventually they took the concept of the turret and modified it for the a newer M60A2 tank. If only our guys in WWII had such a weapon, the war would have been over in half the time.

There’s a book out by a guy who served on a Sheridan in the Vietnam War.

Great book.

They were up near the DMZ.

They had hurricane fence that they put in front of the vehicle at night.

They got into a really heavy fight one night.

I forget how many RPGs he counted in the hurricane fence in the morning.

I think they still have Sheridans in use at Fort Irwin.

I remeber this baby from the 82d Abn Div. Twice our unit went down to th edge of post where the Div Parade field was located, across the road headed to McKellar’s Lodge. We as infantrymen were taught to make movacocktails from readily available products to fight tanks. After we took turns targeting tanks (hold burnt out hulk), the real fun began. They would make us go down in a foxhole while the the M551 did a 360 degree spin over us. Nothing like having a tanks roll over you, and then spin. The point of the close quarters drills were to get up close to the tank so you could engulf it in flames.