These photos were taken by Paul Bird of M1A1(HA)s in action with the 2-69^th Armor at Fort Stewart, Georgia, and show very pristine desert-camouflaged vehicles. In our heading photo, a group of M1A1s are loaded on flatcars, ready to be shipped out by rail.

An extremely impressive combination, an Oshkosh M1070 HET loaded with an M1A1 and mineplow. A great diorama idea if you've got Accurate Armour's new HET kit in your collection! The two people by the M1000 trailer provide a sense of scale for this monster.

Here an M1A1, complete with mineplow, is being loaded onto the HET's M1000 trailer. With the mineplow, there is very little ground clearance; note how the trailer "kneels" to facilitate loading.  Unlike most of the Abrams that we have looked at, this tank has cut-down rear skirt segments.  It is also fitted with the latest "scalloped" type of drive sprocket, normally fitted to the M1A2 and M1A2 SEP versions of the Abrams.

You don't want a 70 ton load to go slipping on you! This M1A1 is very securely tied down onto a railroad flatcar to make sure that it's not going anywhere independently of the train. Note that this tank has the T158 "Bigfoot" tracks with the rear skirt segment removed, and the lightening holes in the sprocket hub can be clearly seen. The barrel has been secured rather crudely.

A great shot of a freshly painted M1A1 fitted with a mineplow. Even the spare links have been painted. Notice that this vehicle has a turret-mounted APU, and that the teeth and rollers of the mineplow are black. Vehicle codes have been painted on the mineplow mechanisms, and there are a pair of chocks sitting on the fenders.

This shot of the other side of the same vehicle shows the large vehicle ID panels fitted to the turret sides and rear. A pair of 25mm ammunition cans have been welded to the rear of the turret basket, and an unusual mesh basket fitted to the right side of the turret rear. Notice that some of the track end connectors have been painted tan.  The dark wheel hubs are in fact clear plexi, which allow the crew to check fluid levels in the suspension system; they appear a dark red colour due to the colour of the fluid.

Our final photo, taken at an Aberdeen Proving Ground Open House, shows some of the ammunition that the Abrams can fire, as well as a crewman's kevlar helmet.  Rounds shown include the XM830 HEAT-MP-T at the left and the XM829 APFSDS-T discarding sabot round immediately to the right of the crate.  Many thanks to the owner of that helmet, Wayne Strine, USAATC, for sending comments and corrections to this text!