Photos © by David L. Smith, formerly: 3 Bn, 36th Inf, 3AD HOME IRAN and the 3rd ARMORED DIVISION -- A NUCLEAR CONNECTION -- An Irony of History   In the top photo below, 3AD soldiers from 3 Bn, 36th Inf demonstrate the set-up of the M-29 Davy Crockett launcher, which fired a 51-pound nuclear warhead. Next below, Iranian military personnel mingle with 3AD troops after being bused for discussions and a live-fire demonstration of the launcher. On this occasion two dummy rounds were fired. The year was 1965 and the location was the U.S. Army's Hohenfels training area in what was then southeastern West Germany. Of course, after WWII and up to the Islamic Revolution of 1979, Iran was a close military ally of the U.S. Its leader during that time was Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, aka the Shah of Iran, and Iranian military men regularly visited U.S. military facilities in Europe for observation and/or training purposes. It is fair to assume that discussion and demonstration of U.S. (and 3AD) nuclear weaponry also included nuclear rockets and artillery, and "backpack" nuclear munitions carried by small elite teams of U.S. Army engineers.

In photo below, a 3AD soldier from the 3rd Bn, 36th Inf cleans the 37mm spotting gun on the Davy Crockett launcher. Looming on the right is a W-54 nuclear warhead look-alike (inert training version). The actual W-54, at 51 pounds, was the smallest and lightest nuclear munition ever deployed by the U.S.

News clipping below is from the front page of the 3AD's Spearhead Newspaper dated 12/9/68, one of many Iranian visits to the 3AD during the 1960's and '70's. The 3AD Commander, Maj. Gen. Donald Cowles, is at right. (Photo by Sp5 Mack Thomas of Div. PAO)

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