Talk:1st Tank Battalion

Article name
There are thousands of 1st Tank Battalions in the world. Can we rename this to USMC 1st tank Battalion? DJ Clayworth 22:38, 30 March 2006 (UTC)


 * For right now I don't think there is a reason to change it. While there are many (not thousands) 1st Battalions that are tank units there are none that are names 1st Tank Battalion.  Most are 1st Battalion 2nd Armored Regiment or 1st Battalion "Name another unit"  They are not stand alone battalions named simply 1st Tank Battalion.  I'm actually at work right now so I can't expand to much but I will add more later--Looper5920 23:31, 30 March 2006 (UTC)


 * That seems to be reason enough. I did find this reference on a Yugoslav unit called 1st Tank Battalion but it certainly doesn't have the same fame as the USMC one. DJ Clayworth 14:32, 31 March 2006 (UTC)

Suggestions for improvement
This article has a lot of good content, however, I feel it could be improved. Some suggestions for improvement:


 * in line citations
 * list of COs
 * list of decorations - Medal of Honour recipients, etc.
 * battle honours, if any

The main thing, though, is the citations and references - without these the article can never make it to a B class. AustralianRupert (talk) 10:19, 25 March 2009 (UTC)

USMC M2A4 Light Tank
The M2A4 was America's first home grown cannon equipped single turret light tank to see combat by US forces; and this occurred while serving with the USMC in WWII. The earlier versions of the M2 were either strictly machinegun equipped or had twin turrets. The M2A4 quickly gave way to the M3 Stuart Light Tank. Although the US Army's (192nd & 194th Tank Battalions) M3 Stuart light tanks saw America's first tank to tank fighting in WWII, in December 1942, at Bataan and Corregidor (against IJA Type 95 light tanks); the M3 was not America's first light tank. The Guadalcanal campaign was the M2's only combat deployment.

The M2A4 and M3 look almost identical to each other. The primary difference is the idler wheel touching the ground & rear bogey wheels closer to the front bogey wheels (creating a gap between the idler wheel & bogey wheels) seen on the M3 Stuart. Reference color plate on page 27 (Plate C), M3 & M5 Stuart Light Tank 1940-45 by Steven J. Zaloga (Osprey Publishing) 1999.

To clarify: The Model 1917 six ton (Renault) tank was America's first official light tank. However, this was a direct licensed built copy of the French Renault WWI tank. The M2A4 which was never called a Stuart Tank was the US's first successfully designed & built standard light tank (standard=single cannon/single turret) to see action by US forces. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.105.32.52 (talk) 00:24, 24 July 2010 (UTC)

In Afghanistan.
D company is the first American tank unit to deploy there. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.231.239.198 (talk) 19:15, 3 February 2011 (UTC)