Hide and Seek
This picture was taken in 1976 at Fort Knox, Kentucky.
In this picture, from left to right, are Corporal Smith, Sergeant Hesson and
Staff Sergeant Pfouts. After a thorough session on camouflaging combat vehicles,
they are resting in front of their well-camouflaged tank. Imagine being shot by
a 105mm oak tree!
In 1976, our unit was equipped with M60A1 tanks. In that era, this tactic would
have been enough to protect the crew from enemy observation. But with the hi-tech
thermal sights on today's vehicles, an enemy tank would be able to see the outline
of this tank trying to hide behind the foliage. Although mere camouflaging will
not completely hide tanks today, not everyone walks around with thermal sights.
Therefore, we still need to hide tanks from the casual observer.
As a sidenote update to that crew, Corporal Smith entered Officer Candidate School
(OCS) shortly after this picture was taken, and eventually rose to the rank of
Lieutenant Colonel. Sergeant Hesson left the Army after a tour in Korea to pursue
a civialian career and unfortunately was paralyzed from the waist down after an automobile
accident. Staff Sergeant Pfouts became an excellent drill sergeant.
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Email: hedly@attglobal.net
