[alleramilitaria]

mike befor you start saying anything about aberdeen or anyother US government museum getting the collection just take a look at the sad condition of out museums here in the US. for the most part the way the US museums are run is bordering on criminal!!!
i have worked for 4 of them around the US and in europe. one had ALL the weapons from shotguns to light cannons de-milled by cutting them in 3 by torch and then tack welding them back togther for display (ft lewis), one was given a running M-4. that one had the oil drained and then run at full speed to blow the engine, one has a rare mid war (WWI) british tank that is rusting into the ground, one had to even give its FT-7 back to france due to the deplorable shape it was in. the US army even refuses to take rare tanks and AFVs due to the fact that we have NO army museum!!!!! NONE!!!! i cant think of a single nation that does not have a army museum, except for the USA! we have a infantry, armour, ADA, engeneer, etc museum but NO army museum. and im here to tell you that the museums HATE to get items. most of the people that work at the museums 80-90% have never served in the military and dont give a crap about the military or the museum. most see it as a stepping stone to a national parks slot, or a way to get items for there books that they author. its all a scam that in a embarisment to the US military. some museums run by private 501c3 groups are better (USS texas, USS alabama, etc..) but they are hamstrung by the center for military history. if you get a sherman on loan from them you have to pay for the transport there, cant run it, cant move it, cant paint it, cant maintain it, and at any time they can show up at your doorstep and demand it back and you have to pay there (government) cost to ship it back to the storage facility at the NTC in calafornia ($5 to 10 a mile). just ask the national museum of the pacific war in texas, or the big museum in NJ that was raided about 10 - 15 years ago. if the US cant maintain the museum i see no reason to even thnik of bringing it here. i think that this is a great chance for the ausies to get many vehicles back to collectors and restored so that some of them may be up and running again for people to enjoy.