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1st Tank Battalion

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1st Tanks News Archive
Delta Co. tankers train with Kuwaiti commandos

BUBIYAN ISLAND, Kuwait – At the government of Kuwait’s invitation, Marines and sailors of the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit recently conducted a successful training exercise with a platoon from the Kuwaiti military’s 25th Commando Brigade on the uninhabited island of Bubiyan.

Full Text (Section A4 "Delta Co. tankers train with Kuwaiti commandos")
Marines take on Summer Heat again
MARINE CORPS AIR GROUND COMBAT CENTER TWENTYNINE PALMS, Calif – Marines from 1st Tank Battalion, 1st Marine Division, sweat it out in the desert June 26 to July 2 during Summer Heat, an annual battalion training exercise here.

      “We are going to be doing a mix of things. We have support-by-fire missions with the tanks, we are going to practice assaulting a town, we’re making calls for indirect fire, and we will practice setting up a battalion-size assembly area,” said Sgt. Joseph H. Halles, a platoon sergeant with 3rd Platoon, Company A, 1st Tank Bn. Full Text
Tank Battalion beats 'Summer Heat'
Marines and sailors of 1st Tank Battalion worked up a sweat during “Summer Heat,” a battalion-level training evolution that began June 26 and ended Thursday. Capt. Stephen Campbell, 1st Tanks operations officer for last year’s Summer Heat, said the exercise is essentially the battalion’s version of Mojave Viper, a monthlong pre-deployment training evolution, and uses Marines and sailors who have recently returned from deployments to train their fellow Leathernecks for future missions. Full Text
Tanks light up the sky, Main Page
Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms, Calif.— With their vehicle hatches locked, the Marines waited for the call to come over the radio. “Stand by for detonation.” Full Text
After 7 month deployment, Watchdogs, 1st Tanks return
Family, friends and fellow service members gathered at the Marine Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Squadron 1 hangar and 1st Tank Battalion’s headquarters building, to welcome approximately 35 Marines returning home from a 7-month deployment in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom May 7. Full Text
Boots on the ground 1st Tanks dismount, attack MOUT training
Marines with Company C, 1st Tank Battalion, got off of their vehicles and submerged themselves in an urban warfare environment Monday through Wednesday at the Combat Center’s Range 111. The training was meant to prepare the Marines, who are usually riding in tanks, the basic tactics of operating in an urban environment, said Capt. Peter M. Rummler, the company commander and a native of Oscar, La. “It’s a tank battalion, we’re usually in tanks,” Rummler said. “We’re training to be more proficient on the ground outside of our machines.” Full Text
Steel sharpens steel; 1st Tanks hone skills in annual training
Marines and sailors of Company C, 1st Tank Battalion, are conducting a five-day annual training exercise at the Combat Center’s Noble Pass training area Saturday. 1st, 2nd and 3rd Platoons completing the live-fire training exercise that began Monday and will conclude Saturday, and tests a platoon’s ability to maneuver across terrain in formations in M1-A1 Abrams Main Battle Tanks, said Staff Sgt. Christopher L. Baker, the battalion master gunner. Full Text
Charlie Company exercises with Army 1/23
Marines and sailors of Company C, 1st Tank Battalion participated in a combined arms exercise with U.S. Soldiers from 1st Battalion, 23rd Infantry at the Delta Prospect training area aboard the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center, Twentynine Palms, Calif., March 16 - 18, 2009. View Slideshow
Tank Marines take responsibilities as quick reaction force
CAMP RIPPER, Iraq — “First to fight” is a phrase that often comes to mind when referring to the Marine Corps. Not only is being the first to engage the enemy very important, but reacting quickly to a call for assistance or help is imperative. Marines from Company B, 1st Tank Battalion, Regimental Combat Team 8, conducted quick reaction training March 11, 2009, in preparation to take on responsibilities as Multi National Force-West’s Quick Reaction Force. Although this job calls for these Marines to operate outside of their military occupation specialty, the training they have completed has helped prepare them for their upcoming task.   Full Text...
Tankers prove they can take, throw punches; page 4.
“Let it be known that he who wears the Military Order of the Purple Heart has given of his blood in the defense of his homeland and shall forever be revered by his fellow countrymen.”
These words were spoken by Gen. George Washington on Aug. 7, 1782, when he created the Badge of Military Merit, an award given to service members who were wounded in battle during the Revolutionary War.   Full Text...
1st Tank Bn Rolls in Santa Clause for the Holidays; page 3.
Marines, sailors and families of 1st Tank Battalion kicked off the holiday season with a party and a visit from Santa Claus Dec. 18 at the battalion’s maintenance bay aboard the Combat Center.
The annual party was a way for the battalion to come together for the holiday season and to help improve camaraderie and troop welfare, said 1st Lt. Matthew Kelly, the battalion adjutant.   Full Text...
Combat Center Marines rise to the Challenge
The Combat Center hosted its sixth annual Combat Center Challenge at Victory Field Oct. 17. Eleven Combat Center units participated in the challenge competing in various events to win the first-place trophy and a $500 prize for the unit’s individual MCCS fund. 1st Tank Battalion took home the trophy this year for the fifth time since the initiation of the CCC in 2002.   Full Text...
1st Tanks Honors Lost Brother
A solemn gathering of Marines, sailors, friends and families of 1st Tank Battalion paid their final respects to one of their own with a memorial service at the Combat Center’s Catholic Chapel Sept. 18. Pfc. Ernie J. Villarreal, 27, infantry weapons repairman and an El Paso, Texas, native, died Sept. 16 at Robert E. Bush Naval Hospital.   Full Text...
Retired Tanker Gives Motivating Leadership PME
1st Tank Battalion welcomed a familiar face Monday when retired Gunnery Sgt. Nicholas A. Popaditch spoke to the Marines and sailors of his former unit in the battalion classroom. Popaditch was awarded the Silver Star medal for his actions during a battle in Fallujah, Iraq, in April 2005 while attached to 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, and is also the co-author of a new book called “Once a Marine: An Iraq War Tank Commander’s Inspirational Memoir of Combat, Courage and Recovery.”   Full Text...
Back in the Saddle: 1st Tank Marines Get Back on Their Machines After More Than a Year
After Marines from Company C, 1st Tank Battalion returned from Iraq in May 2008, where they performed patrols and security missions instead of their primary role as armored support, they did what they were supposed to do; they got back on their tanks. The Marines completed the 10-day portion of the battalion’s gunnery qualification, a three-month, bi-annual qualification for the M1A1 Main Battle Tank, at Range 500 Tuesday, after more than a year away...   Full Text...
Marine Father, Soldier Son Reunite in Iraq
Army Sgt. Shane M. White, 22, an information systems specialist with 4th Psychological Operations Group, based in Fallujah, Iraq, was participating in the CMP shoot with the Marines at the invitation of their company first sergeant, 1st Sgt. Joseph C. Gray, who also happens to be White’s father. The soldier and his Marine dad reunited for three days while both are deployed to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. It was the first time in more than a year the two service members, and family members, have seen each other.   Full Text...
1st Tanks Spouses Take Part in Annual Jane Wayne Day
Spouses of 1st Tank Battalion participated in this year’s “Jane Wayne Day” at the Combat Center’s Range 500, Oct. 4. Participants, along with some Marines and sailors, met at the 1st Tanks tank ramp in the morning with flak-jackets and Kevlars, and prepared for the long journey in 7-ton trucks to Range 500.   Full Text...
Quick Reaction Force learns more about man’s best friend
AL ASAD AIR BASE, Iraq — Marines stand by as one of their own dons a black protective suit in preparation for what seems to be a race. As the Marine finishes putting on the suit, a dog handler emerges from the background with a barking German shepherd. As the Marine slowly walks in front of the dog, the dog’s bark grows louder. A few more seconds pass then without notice, the Marine begins to run. Not long after, the handler releases the dog’s leash, and the animal lunges after the Marine in search for the perfect angle of attack.   Full Text...