Morning Sam,
I have a little Bradley anecdote for you.
Back in 85 or 86 while I was going through the ROTC program at San Jose State, a bunch of us cadets were treated to a tour of the FMC factory where they were building the first run of Bradleys. It was a very impressive tour, complete with a look at the test track out back where a few Brads were putting around.
At the end of the tour were ended up in a conference room where a PR guy asked us if we had any questions. There were several lame questions that made it clear no one had been following the development of the vehicle as I had (I was the only "prior-service" cadet in the bunch and therefore several years older than the rest). If you remember at the time, there was a lot of controversy about the aluminum armor.
So, I asked about it ans stated some of the criticisms I had heard, thinking they would welcome a chance to convince a soon-to-be officer that it was not in fact a "death trap" or mere "tank & RPG bait."
WRONG!
You'd have though I'd dropped my skivvies and taken a dump on the conference room table from the "offended" reaction. Later back at school, the Major that had arranged the tour reprimanded me for asking such an "impolitic" question. Because of this I had a very bad taste in my mouth concerning the Bradley for a long time, one that didn't go away until after the Gulf War where it proved itself.
My reasoning was, if you're gonna ask me to climb in a and ride it into battle, you at least ought to be willing to answer a few tough questions. Anyway, I don't recall any more cadets being asked to come tour their facility during the rest of my time in the SJSU ROTC program.
Hell, they didn't even give us any complimentary t-shirts. Nothing. That PR guy was a total loser.
Since I know absolutely zip about the Bradley..
..someone will have ot confirm or debunk this:
I was told that it handled somewhat like a 1970's VW Bus, that you could get it to fishtail in turns.
(Manueverable, and fun to drive.)
Was I given the 'straight dope' on it?
So, I asked about it ans stated some of the criticisms I had heard, thinking they would welcome a chance to convince a soon-to-be officer that it was not in fact a "death trap" or mere "tank & RPG bait."
I agree, that was handled badly. He had a chance to refute those claims.