That's cool. I mean really, really cool.
My entire experience with Lego consists of a rectangular building with a flat roof (but 2 windows and a door) that I built with my kid brother one time when we were staying with him and the folks were gone. Call it 1975. Would have made him 9 years old.
Looks good. We have lots of troops and aircraft and vehicles in the neighborhood right now. A multi service gathering here every year for weapons and tactics games. It's also smaller this year like everything else.
The Army's primary proving ground is here too. Does your main highway have concrete pads every couple of miles so the tracked vehicles can safely cross the road? Think M1 Abrams on down :) Also their Halo school is here...
The Marines are really active right now, a full Osprey wing is here. They are way noisier than the Sea Kings. Actually will rattle the dishes in the cupboard when they fly directly over.
Anyway, cool not lego. Good on you.
We don't have those concrete pads...I think they fit rubber tracks when moving about, or cart them on trucks. My mate is a Captain, a tanker, and commands three of them from his own tank. He is sationed in Darwin, one of the biggest concentration of military forces we have. Around 45,000 all up and a constant US Marine presence of about 2,000. Air base Tyndall is there too. Of course we have other locations too, but nothing like you guys.
Edinburgh air force base is about 15km from my house. They run border patrols from there, and other operations. They have fighters too, but mostly transport and surveillance operations happen from there.
Anyway, this not Lego is pretty cool.
So far as I know all the tracked vehicles made now a days have rubber tracks but they will still tear the shit out of 40C asphalt. So the Army and the state made road crossings. I've waited on the road for several, it's really pretty cool.
My buddy the wildfirefighter did 25 in the Army as a tanker. He got out just at the start of the Abrams era but still has lots of contacts in the business and stays pretty darn current.
My mate says the only problem with being a tanker is that they don't let them fire them enough. He reckons there's nothing quite like being in a tank when it fires its main gun.
That's what I've heard. My guy spent quite a lot of time in Korea just after the war so got a LOT of rounds to play with.
The Abrams can get accurate fire downrange at 40 miles per hour. That must be just crazy.
Submariners will argue that there's nothing like touching off a missile from underwater...
I have a really close friend that was the COB on a boomer at the end of his career. That started in pig boats (diesel) not long after WWII.
I went to the Tank Museum at Bovington UK a little while ago. Was fucking mental man! It was right before Tankfest, the week before and they were moving tanks around and stuff...So cool! Bovington is where the armoured units get trained and is a firing range too...Sweet! I loved it. We spent over four hours there and ran into an old guy with his grandson who was a tanker in nthe British Crusader - We talked for 30 mins, war, tanks and shit. Was cool.
A few snaps.
German Tiger I above, and they had a Tiger II there also. Insane tanks. So big and heavily armoured.
I've been in a sub...Was cool, but I didn't like the experience and couldn't have served in one. Respect for those who can, especially in the old days.
You'd like the Proving Ground. The Army's test bed for Artillery, Vehicles and Air. There is an example of most everything they have tested parked somewhere near the two main roads. Tanks start with the WWII Sherman and go to the M1. Everybody in Yuma knows what you mean when you say "Meet you at the Guns" a display of 4 large artillery pieces that mark the turn off to the main base. I need to go take some fresh pictures, I'm thinking :) I heard the base commander announce on the radio (a monthly update) that they had now hit a car with a single artillery shell at 60 miles. 100km.
Fresh pictures and a post buddy...Get on it! Lol.