Four Soldiers and a Tank Lost possibly dead Lithuania
- Thread starter Rmay635703
- Start date
One of the individuals familiar actually said to please respect privacy and use discretion to the media, so ???
Was almost a family guy moment.
Yes. these kind of things do happen during training exercises involving tracked vehicles in swampy unfamiliar terrain.
Source: I been a Commander of a unit that has fielded M88s.
These are large tracked recovery vehicles as heavy as most main battle tanks and they do get around the area a lot, arguably even more than the Tanks and self propelled howitzers they usually support and breakdowns, or bog-downs, happen all over a units map.
So they will generally see more miles and more unfamilar terrain, than their supported elements.
On the other hand there is a border right next door full of angry young men, who know we been sending more weapons to Ukraine than the entire 3 year military budget of Russia.
So there is that, but I am not one to jump to the foul play conclusion, because, as I said, these things do happen.
Will be interetsing to see the outcome of the investigation.
Last edited:
M88s are not particularily modern.
They are supposed to have a GPS in the later models though.
That means it was a swamp. Thats a death sentence you cant swim out.
Did you guys get GPS or Blue Force Trackers when garrisoned/training? We didn't get them in our humvees during training as late as 2014.
GON
$150 Site Donor 2025
Worked in Lithuania in 2017. The much of the "off grid: terrain was similar to the terrain one might find in Northern Wisconsin. I am not sure a terrain map exclusively would have prevented this accident. Low water features are often dynamic in nature, ever evolving. Sometimes minor excavation miles away can change water features resulting in new/ undiscovered risks.
Of note, Wisconsin is a leading cranberry producer, about 60 percent of all U.S. production. Cranberries are typically grown in marshes and bogs.
Last edited:
Google maps would be an upgrade.
- Joined
- Dec 20, 2024
- Messages
- 591
Not getting any better...
Continues to sink. Blast.
Not sure how it works but my guess is - pulling something out of sticky mud is function of the surface in contact with the mud ? It's like having something immerged in glue... Pulling out a 1000lb spike would be easier than pulling out a 20lb 3x3 sheet of metal. And this thing is 70 tons of surface, nooks and crannies.
I'm not there and I'm no expert, but I wonder why (and if) they are not trying to stabilize a vertical well/shaft over the hatch(es), and pump it out. Probably can't be done to stay tight enough...
Continues to sink. Blast.
Not sure how it works but my guess is - pulling something out of sticky mud is function of the surface in contact with the mud ? It's like having something immerged in glue... Pulling out a 1000lb spike would be easier than pulling out a 20lb 3x3 sheet of metal. And this thing is 70 tons of surface, nooks and crannies.
I'm not there and I'm no expert, but I wonder why (and if) they are not trying to stabilize a vertical well/shaft over the hatch(es), and pump it out. Probably can't be done to stay tight enough...
I've seen the name of the vehicle but never looked it up until today. All along, I was thinking it was just an armored-type personnel carrier, then I saw you reference "70 tons" as well as that referenced in another story. What in the world is available to lift that weight (before it's sunk in mud) ?
I've watched off-road recovery companies (Matt's off-road, HeavyD) recover vehicles that were only partially sunk in mud, like only up to the frame, and those required Herculean effort with multiple heavy lift rigs and lots of digging even when the recovery rigs were on solid ground. I imagine this terrain makes it ten times harder to get the amount of rigs needed out there. And they need to do it before the mud hardens otherwise it's impossible.
4WD
$50 site donor 2025
Prayers and best wishes for the poor souls and their families.
You ever seen one up close? The M88 is a monster. Old school like a big ole' hammer. Really impressive 1,000 HP V12 shakes the ground as it easily tows/drags a M1 along.
Army stuff is dangerous. I would guess they were doing exercises... Mistakes, complacency and mechanical failures aside. Risk assessments, restrictions and such are probably steep, but there is pressure to accomplish the mission. Soldiers will frequently push the limits and break the rules, it is their nature.
You ever seen one up close? The M88 is a monster. Old school like a big ole' hammer. Really impressive 1,000 HP V12 shakes the ground as it easily tows/drags a M1 along.
Army stuff is dangerous. I would guess they were doing exercises... Mistakes, complacency and mechanical failures aside. Risk assessments, restrictions and such are probably steep, but there is pressure to accomplish the mission. Soldiers will frequently push the limits and break the rules, it is their nature.
Similar threads
