Driving a Tank

Why Drive a Tank

In reality tank drivers are taught the skills necessary to survive on the battlefield.  Several variants of tanks are often used to put them through their paces. Among the many skills that are taught, driving a 70 ton monster can be among the most enjoyable. Enlisted and officers alike are given instruction in this task.

Driving Positions

Of the four crewmembers of a usual tank, the driver has the most comfortable and user friendly crew compartment. Unlike the loader, gunner and tank commander located in the turret, the driver calls the hull of the vehicle his home. Located in the forward end of the tank, the driver climbs into his compartment through a hatch located on the front slope of the tank. Additionally, the driver also has another possibility to enter the tank from inside the turret, through an access door in the turret basket, but this option is only available when the turret is oriented over the rear of the tank lining up the access door with the back of the drivers compartment. He soon finds himself sitting in essentially a recliner, with feet elevated and a nice comfortable headrest that flips down once the driver is situated comfortably.

Checks

The driver puts on his Combat Vehicle Crewman’s helmet, plugs it in to the communications box, and performs a radio check with the rest of the crew. It is very important that the driver can communicate with the tank commander to prevent accidents as well as understand other commands from the commander. He then makes necessary adjustments to the rest of the station. The next thing the driver will do, after receiving the command to do so from the tank commander, is to start the tank via a driver’s control panel located on the left side of the driver’s compartment (right side on some tanks).

Instruments

The control panel provides the driver with much of the information he needs to operate the tank. It has speed and temperature gauges, warning lights and troubleshooting procedures, and even a navigation system that displays the driving routes preprogrammed from the tank commanders station (not available on the some tanks) as well as a myriad of other functions.

Driving

The driver simply presses a button to start the tank engine. Prior to starting the tank, the driver will also adjust his steering column, which resembles motorcycle handlebars. The handgrips rotate, controlling the throttle. In the center of the steering column “handlebars” is the gear selector switch. After the driver has made the necessary adjustments to his position, he is ready to drive the vehicle. Once the tank engine is at full operating capacity, the driver will put the tank in gear. He has a few gears to choose from, to include the Drive gears, Reverse, Pivot, and Neutral. Essentially the M1 has an automatic transmission. Once the tank is moving, the ride is amazingly smooth and the tank is extremely responsive as well as amazingly quiet. The loudest feature of the tank, short of the main gun firing, is the sound of the track-pads hitting the ground. The engine remains eerily silent as the 70 ton beast rumbles through the wilderness.

Driving Style

Travelling on a hydraulic suspension, many of the bumps and rough terrain are dissipated in the fluidity of motion of the shocks, road arms, road-wheels, and other suspension components. It has to be a decent sized ditch for the driver to feel the jarring effects of it. That is one main reason why coordination between the driver and tank commander are so important. Prior to entering large holes or ditches, the driver must slow down before entering the obstacle, and then apply power to drive out of it. If a driver were to enter a big hole at full speed, injuries to the personnel on board could be the result. The driver’s view is extremely limited with three periscopes that give him a narrow field of view. This lack of vision is compensated with guidance from the tank commander, who has a birds-eye view of the surrounding terrain. When maneuvering through rough terrain, anything up to small trees is easily crushed, but the driver has the capability to pivot steer through the worst of it.

Responsibilities

When the tank is stopped and the parking brake is set, then the driver becomes one of the hardest working crewmembers of the tank. He inspects the suspension, tightening bolts, applying grease, and installing track-pads when necessary. Then he removes the access panel for the engine on the rear deck of the vehicle and checks the fluid levels among other preventive maintenance measures. And when it is time for the heavy work, like changing road-wheels or swapping out engines, the driver is in the thick of it performing all of the hard work with the rest of the crew.

General Points to Remember

- Driving the tank, as in accelerating & braking is often suprisinly very similar to a normal car.

- When sat in the driving seat of any tank you will be amazed at how little vision you have surrounding you.

- You need to be very aware of the size of the vehicle, in some tanks you may be sat in the center in others you may be offeset. Tanks can be 11ft wide plus, so you need to know how much ‘tank’ there is around you.

- When driving you will constantly be fine tuning the smoothness of the ride. Due to the weight of the tank and missed gear change or rough controlling will be felt throughout and can put strain on the tank.