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I'm considering possibly doing a display of U.S. or NATO light anti tank elements during the Cold War, including the various infantry and light mobile AT systems fielded in expectation of a war against Warsaw Pact mechanized forces. I'm having difficulty finding reference material on the M151A2 TOW vehicles. Odds and ends around the internet indicate they were used by airborne infantry divisions, and possibly the Marines. Gino Quintiliani's quite comprehensive M151 article on Armorama supplies a valuable photograph (I think Marines?) of this system in U.S. service. I'd like to find more photos, and especially some information about how these vehicles were fielded.

What sorts of U.S. units used them? Just airborne and light infantry divisions, or mechanized infantry as well? Were they used up until direct replacement by HMMWV (or other) replacements? Were any still in service in the U.S. Army by, say, 1989?

To the layperson scanning over one's built model collection, they are eye-catching; really? Someone drove around in a little jeep with missiles, hoping to take on tanks? So I'd like to learn more about these units in greater depth, for possibly captioning the diorama, and for my own curiosity.

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Thanks for the nod to the M151 article I did. As for the Tow version, the official designation is an M825 TOW. It was used by the US Army and USMC. As you state, the Army used it in Light Infantry and Airborne divisions only. They were used until the early to mid '80s when replaced by the M966 HMMWV TOW carrier.

You can see more pics of the M825 TOW here.

Heavy divisions used the M220 TOW carrier (an M113 with a TOW on a pedestal sticking out the top troop hatch) and later the M901 ITV (Improved TOW Vehicle).

M220 TOW

M113A1_tow1.jpg

M901 ITV

Targeting head raised

Itvm113.jpg

Targeting head stowed

M901.jpg

Edited by HeavyArty
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Big thanks for the "M825" search term!

I also searched Defenseimagery.mil for "M151" and found some Tow-equipped Mutts from the 1980s, including some vehicles with infantry divisions in Korea. Another set shows a recoilless rifle as late as 1984, but the caption declares that it was used for an "ammunition stockpile reliability test" at the Tropic Test Center. I was interested to see that recoilless rifles were still in the U.S. arsenal, anywhere, at that late date. I'd be interested to know how late they were fielded in regular, Nat Guard, or reservist combat arms.

JXmQzOq.jpg

"A member of Company A, 1st Battalion, 38th Infantry, 2nd Infantry Division, drives an M151 light utility vehicle across a bridge during the joint US and South Korean Exercise TEAM SPIRIT '86. The M151 is equipped with a tube-launched, optically-tracked, wire-guided (TOW) anti-tank missile launcher." -Defenseimagery.mil.

As a proud player of "M1 Tank Platoon" video game for PC XT/AT 286, I remember the '901 ITV! (In my games, they never seemed to last long against the Soviet hordes, but then again, I wasn't particularly adept at exploiting terrain for my squishier units, either).

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I was in a standard "leg" infantry unit in the mid/late-80's. If I recall correctly each INF battalion had a combat support company (Delta Company). When I first got in, these guys were equipped with TOW equipped M151's. Always felt bad for those guys, they had no canvas weather cover like regular jeeps. Those poor SOB's froze their asses off! Once we were issued HUMVEEs, they upgraded as well. A very short time later, they upgraded to TOW-2 with awesome thermal sights. When we were in night defensive positions, they would often provide a TOW HUMVEE or two to overwatch us with their thermals. The only downside was every 10 minutes or some, a compressor kicked on to recharge the thermal sight. You could hear it from quite a distance away on a quiet night.

Also, by that time, our standard jeeps had been retrofitted with rollbars but these would have restricted the TOW launcher so the TOW jeeps never had these. Military jeeps in general had a really bad habit of rolling over. Lots of guys were killed before they got around to installing roll bars. The delay was shameful in my opinion. If you were in a jeep and it rolled, you were pretty much done.

At the same time I was in, my brigade had a "heavy" CAV unit attached. They were equipped with tow-mounted M113's, regular M113A2's and M-60's. By the late 80's, the CAV guys had upgraded to ITV's, M113A3's and M60A3's.

Hope this of some limited help.

Edited by 11bee
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I was in the army from 79-86 and my first 3 years in I was assigned to CSC 1/54 Inf in Bamberg Germany we had 1 platoon of 4.2 mortars an AT platoon with the jeeps (if I remember correct 12 of them) till they switched to the 113 with Tow mount them switched to ITV and 3rd platoon was a scout platoon with Dragon mounted on 113's and last in the company we had a section of ADA with Stingers 4 2 man jeeps

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So these were organic to infantry units. Very helpful, guys. I'm guessing they were probably finished in MERDC paint schemes.

When you say "leg infantry," 11-bee, I'm curious: how exactly were you guys (in the 1980s) expected to get around the battlefield? My impression was that the United States Army was entirely motorized and possibly mechanized by 1960 at the latest. So that with the exception, perhaps, of air-dropped paratroopers, nobody seriously expected to march around on foot unless things went badly in a shooting war (as happened in Korea), or the nature of the terrain and enemy required it (as in Vietnam). But perhaps I'm mistaken?

Were you riding around in trucks? APCs? Were Bradleys (IFVs) generally reserved for true "mechanized" infantry divisions? Was there really a distinction, anymore, between "leg infantry" and "mechanized infantry" at all by the 1980s, insofar as platoon TOEs? Or was it in other places, like towed vs. self-propelled artillery, or organic tank battalions, etc.?

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No, Light Infantry means just that, light, no mech or armored vehicles. They usually get around by LPC (Leather Personnel Carriers - boots). We still have Light Infantry. 10th Mountain Division is still Light Infantry. They do most of their movement by foot. If they have to move large distances, they are loaded onto trucks to be transported, but do all their fighting on foot. There are cases where light infantry is still very desirable; cities, dense forest or jungle, etc. Really, we still have 3 "Light Infantry" divisions, 10 MTN, 101 ABN, and 82 ABN. With the last two, once they are on the ground from either parachuting-in or being dropped by helos, they are then light infantry.

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No, Light Infantry means just that, light, no mech or armored vehicles. They usually get around by LPC (Leather Personnel Carriers - boots). We still have Light Infantry. 10th Mountain Division is still Light Infantry. They do most of their movement by foot. If they have to move large distances, they are loaded onto trucks to be transported, but do all their fighting on foot. There are cases where light infantry is still very desirable; cities, dense forest or jungle, etc. Really, we still have 3 "Light Infantry" divisions, 10 MTN, 101 ABN, and 82 ABN. With the last two, once they are on the ground from either parachuting-in or being dropped by helos, they are then light infantry.

Gino sums it up nicely. All transportation (non-tactical) was with our organic trucks (mostly 5-tons, still had a couple of duece and a halfs in the early days). Once we got close to our area of operations, we'd dismount off the trucks and hoof it. Also did a fair number of air assault missions (Hueys, later UH-60's). Our organic weapons (company level) were a few .50 cal MG's, weapons plt had 60mm motors and we were issued the POS Dragon anti-tank missile (I think at platoon level) until they thankfully disappeared.

I THINK our TOE at platoon level was the same as a mech unit. The .50's pretty much never saw the light of day unless we were in prepared defensive positions. Started out with old night vision gear (PVS-5 and starlight scopes, issued only to selected individuals), later on, we upgraded to the pretty decent PVS-7 monocular NVGs. Everyone in the unit had one, this was when the Army was beginning to be serious about fighting at night. As a final note, our CSC also had 4.2" heavy mortars.

Used to slag on the mech boys, the amount of comfort gear they could stuff into their tracks was nothing short of amazing. On the other hand, we only had our rucksacks.

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TOW Gunners for the USMC are infantry, and like the army transitioned to Humvees after the M-151. The MOS is 0352.

tow_05.jpg

I seemed to have luck googling "USMC TOW M-151" and turning up some pictures.

http://militarymashup.com/mmu_get_jpeg.php?135804fbc6003061c1237838c55ef25b5

Sorry I can't help more I used to have a Staff Sgt. who was a TOW guy from way back, and would be able to help but I lost his contact info. :bandhead2:/>/>

Edited by TaiidanTomcat
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  • 2 weeks later...

Fish,

If you need reference photos of just the vehicle, I have an M151A1 with the GSS-14 searchlight setup. While the vehicles are not the same, the spare tire arrangement is identical. The headlights and fenders are different as are some of the engine parts (electric vs mechanical fuel pumps, etc). I'm happy to pass on any photos of it you'd like.

v/r

Jon

Edited by Cobrahistorian
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  • 3 weeks later...

Thanks for the offer, Cobrahistorian. I'll keep it in mind if questions come up.

For the infantry: by the 1980s (or by the present) what does the Army typically expect, in miles (or kilometers) per day, for foot-marching infantry? In military history, this typically ranges between about 12-20 miles per day depending on conditions, and the practices of the particular army. (The Romans, for example, in hostile country anticipated spending time each day building a fortified camp).

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For the infantry: by the 1980s (or by the present) what does the Army typically expect, in miles (or kilometers) per day, for foot-marching infantry? In military history, this typically ranges between about 12-20 miles per day depending on conditions, and the practices of the particular army. (The Romans, for example, in hostile country anticipated spending time each day building a fortified camp).

Highly variable. First of all it depends on the scenario. If you are just doing a route march, 20 miles/day is probably the max. If you are humping everything in your ruck, it will be less. If you are performing a movement to contact, it will be significantly less. If you are in NBC gear (many of my field exercises had us in MOPP suits - initially no mask, boots, gloves), take off additional mileage, especially in hot weather. Those days truly sucked, I don't miss them a bit!

Lastly, the terrain will have a major impact on mobility. Going through heavy woods, 5 miles/day would be pretty decent.

However, as a very general rule of thumb, 12-20 miles/day would work.

Edited by 11bee
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  • 2 weeks later...

Going through heavy woods, 5 miles/day would be pretty decent.

I think a number close to that is typically cited for black powder armies trying to move through the Eastern American woodlands. Three to four miles a day appears to have been the pace of Gen. Edward Braddock's ill-fated expedition across Pennsylvania in 1755. Gen. John Burgoyne's also-ill-fated army had a similar stride in places, advancing south out of Canada a generation later. Of course, Braddock's men were also pioneering a road for wagon logistics and artillery after them, too. By contrast, both Patriot and British Armies covered about 250 miles in under three weeks through the messy North Carolina winter and across many water obstacles, in 1781, Gen. Cornwallis having destroyed any non-essential baggage. While this country was characterized by European-style farming, it still was "underdeveloped" in modern parlance.

Somewhere, I probably have numbers for how quickly Iroquois or Cherokee hunting or war expeditions moved through this kind of country. It would be an interesting comparison...

Edited by Fishwelding
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