Quick-thinking NCOs rescue soldiers from burning tank

Army Times ^ | March 28, 2003 | By Sean D. Naylor

[Bayou City]

CENTRAL IRAQ

[pipecorp]

Thanks...sort of makes sense for the engine compartment, still wouldn't want to subject my driver to it though.

[TheLooseThread]

"Do you think it might have been one of those Russian anti-tank missiles?"

AT missile or gun.

What gets me is that the tanks are with Bradleys for a reason. They are they to protect the tanks from nonsense like this. It was bad wheather I guess.

[Joe 6-pack]

The tank also has thermal and light sensors through the turret which can discharge the bottles. One of the biggest dangers in the A1/2 is that basically the entire casing is combustible w/ the exception of a metallic base, or afcap. A defective or improperly stored round may leave unburnt propellent in the gun tube and when the afcap is extracted, the air rushing into the tube hits the proppelent and can create a turret flareback. Shortly after we adopted the A1, there was a crew on a gunnery range (Germany?) that was burned to death when a loader placed a round on the turret floor and a hot, ejected afcap made contact with the round. If the appropriate guards are in place, and the crew observes the proper procedures, it really is a lot safer than it sounds.

[vbmoneyspender]

check the link here. colorado tanker said that the officers involved believe it might be a Russian supplied tow system called the Kornet E.

[Bahbah]

"Sgt. 1st. Class Javier Camacho, 35, of Bayamon, Puerto Rico"
Sgt., if you ever see this, I want to tell you, you are one helluva guy.

[vbmoneyspender]

I thought I read somewhere it was a tow system, but it doesn't say that in colorado tanker's post.

[vbmoneyspender]

This article has further details See Link

[ChadGore]

"Sgt. 1st. Class Javier Camacho, 35, of Bayamon, Puerto Rico"

Agreed. A strong *Salute* to Mr. Camacho.

[crz]

Medal of Honor? Could be..its above and beyond IMO.

[Freedom4US]

It's my understanding that once existing stocks of Halon
are gone/used up, the military (and anyone/anything else using it) will have to find an alternate. More greenie-weenie nonsense, as it is a flourocarbon or whatever. For
aircraft at least, nothing else comes close in effectiveness at this time.

[TADSLOS]

It's my understanding that once existing stocks of Halon are gone/used up, the military (and anyone/anything else using it) will have to find an alternate. More greenie-weenie nonsense, as it is a flourocarbon or whatever. For aircraft at least, nothing else comes close in effectiveness at this time

True statement. Even the ones on the flight line are being replaced or already have been. The Army has purchased portable foam stlye extinguishers that are quite effective on aircraft fires. I can't speak to what armored vehicles are using as a replacement.

[Bayou City]

Medal of Honor? Could be..its above and beyond IMO.

Naw, probably a bronze star though.

[IronJack]

We're supposed to believe that an RPG destroyed an M1A2 Abrams??? Not bloody likely. Either this story is a crock or someone has some facts skewed.

[GEC]

Ditto that salute!

[Tennessee_Bob]

Halon got taken off the market because of environmental concerns (firefighting byproducts were damaging to the ozone). The military was allowed to use its remaining stocks, but after that, had to switch to another firefighting agent. Those firefighting byproducts were the dangerous aspect of halon, not the halon itself. If you were fighting a fire in an open space, you'd be fine - there'd be plenty of space for the byproducts to disperse. But in an enclosed area (like a tank), the byproducts can be dangerous, even over just a few minutes.

Halon didn't disperse enough oxygen to be dangerous, unlike CO2 - I hated working with that stuff. Didn't use it for fighting fires - we used it to shrink bearing inner-races. Always got a headache after doing that, even in a huge hangar.

I liked halon - it worked on everything. We dumped five or six roll-around bottles into an F-15E to put out a JFS fire. It was a scramble, and it wasn't till afterwards that you looked around and realized that the racks were hanging with live MK-82s. But we got the fire out.

[PatrioticAmerican]

Ball turret gunners of WWII, and tank and sub crews have got to be the scariest assignments out there.

[oyez]

I wonder what happend to the halon bottles

I think the EPA has banned Halon.

[LonePalm]

Sounds like a Silver Star to me. Bronze Star at the very least.

Garde la Foi, mes amis! Nous nous sommes les sauveurs de la République! Maintenant et Toujours!
(Keep the Faith, my friends! We are the saviors of the Republic! Now and Forever!)
LonePalm, le Républicain du verre cassé (The Broken Glass Republican)

[Minty]

That is courage. The feyadeen treatment of their own is cowardice and treachery. They don't have the guts to face what is coming to them for what they've done. Because they are cowards, to die is preferable than to stand to face the consequences of their actions. And die they will.