Is a gun range hot in Texas in the summer? You bet I would. As it turns out, they have a Tank School:
This, they claim, is the third largest collection of running armored vehicles in the United States. The school takes one day a month for 4 months. You learn to drive and shoot (blanks only, sorry) one of their tanks.
Did I mention you would drive and shoot a TANK??!
And here's the catch: it's free. The owner of all the tanks doesn't want the skill set to die out. Sort of like an up-armored CMP. Don't mess with Texas, baby. They have tanks, and are teaching folks how to drive and shoot them.
Next class starts in November. They don't have a web sign up form, but I have the organizer's email. Contact me if you're interested, and I'll put you in touch with them. Dang, I want to do this so bad I can taste it.
Great -- but don't wear that helmet and stick your head up from the hatch like Dukakis did!
ReplyDeleteThat would be too cool....... wonder if I could convince tiara-man... ;-)
ReplyDeleteWow! I thought going to a motorcycle wheelie school was my ultimate dream, but this tops it.
ReplyDeleteHey, BorePatch you need to make over to Camp Mabry's Texas Military Forces Museum when there doing their reenactments and blowing sh*t up, if you haven't already.
ReplyDeleteThe tank school sounds really cool, there's a lot of explody goodness in Texas.
:-)
Josh
I love driving a track with lats. I wish I were in Texas.
ReplyDeleteTexas is far.
ReplyDelete:(:(:(
I wanna go just to compare it with my time on the M60A3 and M1A1.
ReplyDeleteBreaking track looks the same.
Hmm, if it's free, then my only cost would be time off from work and the cost of four round-trip train or airplane tickets to Texas (Oh, and getting to and from the station, and some food).
ReplyDeleteThose first two tanks looks interesting. The first one looks like one of the composite Shermans with a cast glacis and front piece but welded plate sides and applique over the sponsons to protect whatever and the 75mm gun, whlie the second one looks somewhat like a Sherman but with a 90mm gun ...
ReplyDeleteDamn, I would like to sign up.
OK, the second looks like the M4A3E8 with the 76mm gun not the 90mm.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was in high school (1970s), our local National Guard unit was showing off their toys at the local city hall. We got to climb inside, and I figured out how to unlock the turret and unlimber the main gun. Looking through the scope, we hand cranked it around until it pointed to a clump of officers. One of them grinned and raised his hands, but the rest stomped over and told us to get out and stay out.
ReplyDeleteI'd love to have a tank of my own to play with...
RollsCanardly
Sounds like a hell of a lot of fun and I was thinking through things the same as Windy until I thought about being in a buttoned up can in the Texas sun. Maybe next year.
ReplyDeleteYou better find a sauna to do some preperatory training. :-)
wv:arfol yup, the heat would be arfol in those tanks
how many does it cost to drive a tank?
ReplyDelete