That’s cool, but where did the regular ferry go?
It cool to give the army guys a little training, but it’s seems like overkill for the situation.

quote:

...but where did the regular ferry go?

He's been the mayor of South Bend, Indiana since 2012 and not available for this project. How else are we gonna get the fuckin' bikes over the river?
Jesus, some people.

Turns out it was an actual public service/public relations action at a local festival near the engineer's base at Minden on the Weser River. I initially thought it might be video from training for Ex ANAKONDA 2016 in Poland, where they combined to build the longest M3 bridge so far across the Vistula River. 2nd US Cavalry Regiment crossed it on their second "Dragoon Ride" from Germany to the Baltic States, among others.







British Army video of the crossing from Facebook.

M3 amphibian on Wikipedia.

Similar: Our local Yooper National Guard unit has a boat. Every 4th, they gear up, haul the boat down to the lake and ferry all the people who set up the fireworks back and forth to the launch site.
Lots of other boats that could do it, but good training and experience for the GIs.
Tax money well spent!

Interesting water craft. One of those, purchased as surplus, would make a great “maintenance/service” boats in an area of multiple lakes.

Drive to the lake, launch, do dock work, boat salvage, waterfront construction, dive platform, etc. Then drive to another lake tomorrow.

If an FTX can be combined to establish & build community service, then it's a win for everyone. The German military needs all the good-will they can get since they're so badly underfunded and bad-mouthed in their education/political systems.

Those vehicles seem very much more maneuverable in the water than I would have thought. Are they powered by water jets?

Yeah, one each fore and aft, both with 360-degree traverse. The wheels mostly retract in the water.

quote:

Originally posted by Chris42:
Interesting water craft. One of those, purchased as surplus, would make a great “maintenance/service” boats in an area of multiple lakes.

Drive to the lake, launch, do dock work, boat salvage, waterfront construction, dive platform, etc. Then drive to another lake tomorrow.

Some of the predecessor M2 are in fact floating (ha) around the civilian market.



https://www.panzer-handel.de/p...wehr-steelbuddy.html

"Hey Tommy, did you put those drain plugs back in this morning?"

quote:

Originally posted by 229DAK:
"Hey Tommy, did you put those drain plugs back in this morning?"

While your comment is funny, When I was in the 3AD we did a fair amount of amphib training. Had a number of APCs (Armored Personnel Carriers) sink because the idiot vehicle commander and driver "forgot" to make sure the drain plugs were installed.

Had a couple sink while crossing the Main River, too. Since the hatches all opened to the outside, those on board the sinking APC had to wait until enough water had entered the vehicle to all them to open the hatches and evacuate the vehicle, which by that time was sitting on the bottom. I drove those things for 2.5 years and hated anytime we had amphib training.