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Tankers Make Necessary Adjustment

by Lance Cpl. Bryan Eberly

Changing out a main gun tube on a tank takes a few more moving parts than say a machine gun. Still, Marines from1st Platoon, C Company, 2nd Tank Battalion saved an otherwise unserviceable tank Dec. 7.

Tankers and mechanics from 1st Platoon, C Company, 2nd Tank Battalion, Regimental Combat Team 5, put all their muscle together to insert the new gun tube into the turret of an M-1A1 Main Battle Tank. Changing the gun tube is a rare occurrence for the tankers, done only after an inspection deems the tube unserviceable. The tankers changed the tube due to an improvised explosive device that damaged the tube and caused the risk of a backfire. (photo by Lance Cpl. Bryan Eberly)

The platoon, which serves under Regimental Combat Team 5, replaced a gun tube on a tank that was damaged by an improvised explosive device on a patrol.

"It's new to us, because all the IEDs we encounter have come up from the ground," said Gunnery Sgt. Richard C. Ceyala, a 38-year-old tank mechanic chief from Calexico, Calif. "This one came from the side; therefore damaged the skirt, damaged the gun tube, damaged the road wheels, the hubs, everything."

Since the IED struck the gun tube, the tankers didn't want to risk a malfunction during fire, and so they decided to change the tube, said Sgt. Pedro N. Oliveira, a 23-year-old gunner, from Nassau County, N.Y.

To change the gun tube the Marines needed plenty of muscle and time. The first step was to remove the mantle that covers the base of the gun tube to expose the thrust nut. The thrust nut is unscrewed, usually with a Marine swinging a hammer to it like a carnival game, to make a gap between the tube and turret. The gap signals that the tankers can easily remove the tube from the turret. The tankers then remove the locking bolt, spin the tube to loosen the threads holding the tube in place and then pull it out. The entire process takes about four hours.

The new tube came from a previously damaged tank, says Sgt. Hitesh V. Patel, a 24-year-old tank mechanic from Hatfield, Pa.

"We had to swap and make one complete bad tank, and we had permission to do that accordingly" he explained. "We went ahead and took the bad gun tube and put it on the bad tank, and the good gun tube that was on the bad tank we took and made one good tank so the crew can operate with one good tank."

Eleven tankers and one tank with a crane attachment swapped the heavy tubes. The crew worked together to ensure the tubes were safely swapped without anybody getting hurt.

Although in this case necessary, changing the gun tube on a tank is a rare occurrence, done usually only to change the tube if it fails an inspection, Oliveira said.

"When the gun tube has 25 rounds shot through it, that's when you change them out," he said. He added that other changes occur when inspections prove the gun tube has flaws and it's deemed unserviceable.

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