Tanks, Nations & Aces in July

By The Chieftain

It is interesting how many people misspell the name of the current U.S. Army tank. They keep putting a "h" in it, and call it "Abrahams." Of course, the tank is named for a U.S. Army tank officer, not a core religious person.

Creighton Abrams, son of a man of the same name, earned his fame in WWII, in the 4th Armored Division. He was one of those "lead from the front" folks, and was known for being both a good tanker, a popular leader, and a good tactician. His style of aggressive operations fit very nicely with that of the commander of 4th Armored's parent organization, General Patton.

As a result, when Patton's third army was crushing its way across France, it was more often than not Creighton Abrams' 37th Tank Battalion which was forging ahead, causing the rest of the units to try to keep up. His dedication to speed also showed in his naming of his tanks: All his tanks in WWII were named "Thunderbolt." He was a cavalryman by training, starting his career on horses. It was said the horses had to work to keep up with him.

The 37th showed what well-trained tankers could do at Arracourt, where they demolished a German counter-attack, claiming 55 Panthers for the loss of 14 Shermans. At the end of the year, the unit took part in Patton's move to relieve the airborne troopers at Bastogne.

After the war, he commanded a tank battalion in Germany, and then later a cavalry regiment. Later yet, he would return to Germany for Corps Command. In between he was Chief of Staff of the Armor Center, Fort Knox, where, of course, tankers were trained and tank doctrine created.

He arrived in Vietnam in 1967 as deputy to General Westmoreland, and then became the overall commander in mid-1968. As the conventional North Vietnamese Forces had been degraded by his predecessor, Abrams oversaw a change in the U.S.'s tactics more focused on the population than on the enemy's military force. He later also oversaw the Vietnamization policy as the U.S. started to disengage.

Eventually, in 1972 Abrams was cycled back to Washington D.C. and made Chief of Staff of the Army. Here, he was to re-form the U.S. Army from the conscript force of questionable morale to a professional, volunteer force. He also re-shaped the force to put much of the Army's capability into the reserves: If leadership were going to go to war again, they had better be prepared to accept the civilian impact and use better trained people. He was still on active duty when he died in 1974, just before his 60th birthday.

The Army's Center for Military History normally interviews departing senior officers when they retire, but obviously this would not be possible for Abrams. Instead, they interviewed about four dozen colleagues to get their impressions and stories. Part-way through the process, the interviewers realized that everything being said was positive, and they started to worry that the history of the man would be perceived to be biased. They specifically started asking interviewees for negative stories or information. Few were provided.

Abrams left a military and personal legacy: He had three sons and as many daughters. All three men became general officers, branched armor, and as this is published, one remains on active duty, as the commander of U.N. (and U.S.) forces in Korea. His three daughters also married officers.

Tanks, Aces & Nations: Top Rewards

About these rewards:

1. If a player wins a vehicle they already own, they receive its equal value in Gold.
2. Players can win more than one category. This means, for instance, if a player destroys the most enemies with the featured nation's vehicles and the ace's vehicles, they get the corresponding reward for each one.
3. In the event multiple players have the same highest number of destroyed enemy vehicles, the winner is chosen via a random tie-breaker.