Category: Armor

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Podcast – Desert Shield II – Deploying the armored force

Desert Shield Battle Streamer
This is my second podcast taking a look back at Desert Shield, which began in August 1990. I share some of my memories as a veteran of the U.S. Army 1st Infantry Division, the legendary Big Red One.

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No more Task Force Smiths – a reappraisal

Task Force Smith was an ill-fated unit built around the nucleus of 1st Battalion, 21st Infantry in the summer of 1950. As the North Korean Army rampaged into South Korea, the U.S. Army struggled mightily to mount a response. The first units pushed into the breach against this armored juggernaut were occupation forces that deployed …

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Boots and Saddles – video tribute to a legendary regiment

Boots and Saddles is a short bugle call to alert cavalry troopers to form up for mounted drill. Although cavalry in the modern era has not used horses for many decades, the armored force is rich with the traditions of that bygone era when trooper and horse fought together in battle. As one of America's …

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Rain of steel on the Blackhorse

Artillery is a god of modern war. Josef Stalin Here is a story about one of the U.S. Army’s finest units that endured a day so hard, many survivors won’t talk about it even today. On July 11th, 1991 in Kuwait, the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment (Blackhorse) suffered the single worst non-combat accident in U.S. …

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Tank commander with a Blackhorse combat patch, 1971

29 March 1971. A Blackhorse combat veteran serves with another unit in Vietnam. The 11th ACR patch on the right shoulder was a sign that the wearer had served with the best. Photo by Neal Ulevich/ AP/ Shutterstock
29 March 1971. Route 9 between Khe Sanh and Tchepone, Laos. A tank commander tries to clear a stoppage of his .50 caliber machine gun. The name "Hanoi Negotiator" is neatly stenciled on the barrel of this tank's 90mm barrel. This is one in a sequence of three photos. Photo by Neal Ulevich/AP/Shutterstock Here is …

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An ode to the faithful M88, sixty years and counting

There's an old saying that's true in the Army as with civilian life – the more things change, the more they stay the same. You can confirm it by taking an old tanker or cavalry trooper from the 1960s into a modern armored unit motor pool (what we used to call the hardstand). There are …

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