nzt1939@dsacg3.dsac.dla.mil (William M. Aldo) (03/07/91)
From: nzt1939@dsacg3.dsac.dla.mil (William M. Aldo) From waldo@dsacg3!dsac.dla.mil >From: awtron@vanilla.princeton.edu (Andrew Tron D-313 x3749) >> >>I might suggest that the sound inside the tank from its OWN gun going off >>would be louder than that from a round going off outside its armor. >>Don't tankers have to wear major-league ear protection? >> >>(...and then again, I might not suggest it.) > >In the book "Aquarium" by the Soviet defector Viktor Suvorov, the author >describes a tank exercise. He stated that the tank crewmember's earpones >would click a fraction of a second before the gun fired. The ear would >then react to the click, thus protecting it from the ensuing boom. I can't vouch for the sound of a round hitting the armor; however, the sound of your tank's OWN gun going off is loud...but not as loud as you may expect. In fact, when on a firing line and the tank setting on either side of yours fires, the backblast and concussion is louder (to you) than when your own tank fires. I don't know if you'd call it 'major-league ear protection' or not, but as someone already noted, the crewmembers wear CVC helmets which deaden the sound a little. As for the part concerning the Soviet defector's book, I don't know if our tank crews still train this way or not...but when I was in Germany and on a fir- ing range: once the loader announced "UP", and the tank commander gave the com- mand "FIRE"....the gunner would announce, "On the way, one thousand one", then pull/press/squeeze the trigger. That would give everyone a chance to brace, as it were, for the maingun to cycle (Fire, extract/eject, and re-load)...mainly, to get 'body parts' out of the way of the recoil as your ears automatically react from the "On the way...." announcement from the gunner. ** NOTE: Fire, extract/eject, and re-load...unless, of course, the tank commander states, "Cease Fire"...at which time the loader just flips the safety switch on ;-) -- Mark Aldo UUCP: (osu-cis)!dsacg1!waldo INTERNET: waldo@dsac.dla.mil "...Hotel Quebec One Six...You are clear to begin your night run on Range Eight Zero....Good luck, good shooting...Tower, out" -- radio transmission from Control Tower - Range 80 at Grafenwoehr, Germany (circa, '73)