Field Expedient Armor Modifications to US Army Armored Vehicles
FIELD EXPEDIENT ARMOR MODIFICATIONS TO US ARMORED VEHICLES A thesis presented to the Faculty of the US Army Command and General Staff College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree MASTER OF MILITARY ART AND SCIENCE Military History by Matthew A. Boal, MAJ, USA (AR) B.A., Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, 1994 Fort Leavenworth, Kansas 2006 Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited. MASTER OF MILITARY ART AND SCIENCE THESIS APPROVAL PAGE Name of Candidate: MAJ Matthew A. Boal Thesis Title: Field Expedient Armor Modifications to US Armored Vehicles Approved by: , Thesis Committee Chair Jonathan M. House, Ph.D. , Member Mark T. Gerges, Ph.D. , Member Mr. Louis A. DiMarco, M.A., M.M.A.S. Accepted this 16th day of June 2006 by: , Director, Graduate Degree Programs Robert F. Baumann, Ph.D. The opinions and conclusions expressed herein are those of the student author and do not necessarily represent the views of the US Army Command and General Staff College or any other governmental agency. (References to this study should include the foregoing statement.) ii ABSTRACT Field Expedient Armor Modifications to US Armored Vehicles, by MAJ Matthew A. Boal, 103 pages. This thesis examines field expedient modifications to US armored vehicles by US Army and US Marine Corps armored vehicle crewmen during World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War. Two major categories of modifications are examined. They are modifications to improve the primary protection of armored vehicles and modifications to improve the secondary protection of armored vehicles. Some of the specific types of modifications analyzed are hedgerow cutters, sand bagging, addition or modification of ancillary weapons, communications improvements, camouflage, rocket propelled grenade screens, and addition of concrete.
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