photograph

Photo G0846: "When in need improvise!" C Company, 720th MP Battalion, 89th MP Group, 18th MP Brigade Armored Personnel Carrier with newly installed Mini-gun at the Battalion firing range on Long Binh Post, Bien Hoa Province, III Corps Tactical Zone, South Vietnam in 1969. The gunner is SP/4 William D. "Biggs" Bigelow. Left to right: CPT Donald P. Kirchoffner, C Company commander, two others unidentified. The test firings lead to the determination that the Mini-gun created too much vibration for the APC turret, and to carry the extra ammunition needed it would have to drag a small trailer. It was later modified for use in a company V100 Armored Commando Car and was the lead vehicle for convoy escorts from Long Binh Post to Cu Chi-Tay Ninh. Courtesy of John W. Mitchell, D Troop, 17th Cavalry, 199th Light Infantry Brigade, 1968.