January 9 - Volunteer Work Day - Volunteers worked on removing Cobra King's track, jacking her up and placing a heavy dolly under her. Other work was done on the antenna mounts for the SdKfz 223, Panzer IV painting prep and M5 halftrack maintenance work done.

January 12 - The unique T28 GMC that has been an iconic fixture at the Patton Museum was moved permanently from its concrete pad in front of the museum by members of KY MATES (Manuever Area Training Equipment Site). At MATES it will be prepared for shipping.

January 13 - Don Moriarty worked on removing the reversed bogie from Cobra King.

January 20 - The outside track sections on the T28 were removed today at the MATES workshop with O.B. Edens assistance.

January 22 - The two outside track units of the T28 were mated and secured together.

January 27 - O.B. Edens and Don Moriarty finally removed the reversed bogie on Cobra King.

FEBRUARY 2010

February 6 - Volunteer Work Day - Patton Museum volunteers gathered in the Abrams Auditorium in the Patton Museum for the annual Safety Briefing. Afterwards the volunteers worked at Richardson Motor Pool. Work was done on Cobra King, the recently overhauled engine was remounted in the SdKfz 251D/9, The Panzer IV had primer applied in areas and work was started on reassembling the RSO.

Volunteers Recognized After the annual safety briefing, Armor Center commanding general Major General James M. Milano talked to the gathered volunteers and recognized them for their work and dedication in making the Patton Museum one of the best museums in the Army system. General Milano presented each volunteer with a Commanding General Certificate of Excellence. Afterwards, the general and volunteers had a group photo taken in front of the M1A2 Abrams inside the museum.

February 13 - The first batch of museum vehicles were loaded on to HETTs from the 233rd Transportation Company for their move to Fort Benning, Georgia. These vehicles, along with most of the Patton Museum collection, will eventually be placed in the new National Armor and Cavalry Museum.

A long line of HETTs from the 233rd Transportation Company in the Richardson Motor Pool.

An LVT-4, an amphibious carrier, is loaded on to the HETT trailer.

Two M3 Stuarts loaded for the long trip to Fort Benning.

February 27 - A new exhibit on Cobra King was set up in the lobby area of the Patton Museum.

The new Cobra King display in the museum's lobby.

The display shows items found in Cobra King and their intact counterparts. In this photo is shown a hatch periscope, gasmask, entrenching too. and machine gun ammunition.

In this photo is shown a tanker's jacket, mess kit knife, first aid pouch and other items. An LED screen showing photos of Cobra King's restoration is in the middle of the display case.

MARCH 2010

March 1 - Convoy 1, the first shipment of Patton Museum vehicles to Fort Benning, departed.

March 6 - Eleven volunteers gathered at Richardson Motor Pool to work on various projects. Among many tasks worked on, the new driver doors were installed on the FT18, parts from the RSO were cleaned, sandblasted and primed, final antenna mast installed on SdKfz 223, the British Challenger was prepped with batteries, fluids and fuel, idler wheel and road wheel removed from Cobra King and hookups on interior levers and brakes along with test fit of armored cab was made on the SdKfz 251D/9.

First shipment of vehicles unload at Fort Benning.

The first shipment of vehicles from the Patton Museum arrived at Fort Benning, Georgia and were unloaded in a holding area. The shipment consisted of a Russian PT-76 and MTLB, U.S. M981, M-84, LVT, M-42, XM-701, two M3 Stuarts, M-24 Chaffee and British T-17E1 Staghound. Shipments will continue through this Fall until all vehicles have been moved. ________________________

March 16 - Because of a need for volunteers to attend a function at the museum Tuesday evening, several volunteers decided to incorporate an impromptu work day on the same day. Work was done to Cobra King, new M151 gun jeep project, the Constabulatory Jeep was cleaned and put inside the museum and a lot was accomplished on the SdKfz 251D/9 project.

Pictured left to right, Robert Decker, Rick Dickerson, James Goodall, Garry Redmon, Rita Berry, Jim Tucker, Jeff Berry and Chun-lun Hsu. Not pictured are Duane Klug and Lyle Slaton.

Later that evening, several volunteers in period uniforms attended a social gathering held at the Patton Museum for the International Recruiting Summit. The presence of the volunteers was requested by Major General Campbell. The event was attended by about 250 people with representatives from 15 countries. The volunteers answered guest's questions about the museum and generally were ambassadors for the museum. During the event, museum director Len Dyer recognized each volunteer before the guests and General Campbell presented each volunteer with a challenge coin.

March 24 and 25 - Don Moriarty worked on Cobra King on March 24, searching for shell fragments in the damaged idler and removing paint from the turret. On March 25, Garry Redmon worked on removing paint form the hull of Cobra King.

March 27-28 - A two day work weekend was held at the motor pool. Fifteen volunteers worked on Saturday and seven worked on Sunday. Much was accomplished on the SdKfx 251D/9 Project. All major pieces have been reinstalled, except for the floor decking, and a top coat has been painted over those areas still in primer. This has been a major accomplishment that has taken years to acheive, but there are still quite a few details that have yet to be done before the project is truly finished.

Pictured left to right, front row: Thomas Kinnaman, Robert Decker, Gerald Atherton and Chun-lun Hsu. In the back row in the vehicle, left to right: Syd Stansbury, Lyle Slaton and Josh Snavely.

APRIL 2010

April 21 - Garry Redmon worked on removing paint from Cobra King hull.

April 23 - Robert Decker worked on painting the camouflage pattern on the SdKfz 251/9. The next day, other volunteers joined him to work on the project.

MAY 2010

May 6-7 - Last remnants of paint and TC sighting vane removed from Cobra King turret. Turret has base coat of primer added by Don Moriarty.

May 8 - The 251 restoration team added tactical markings to the exterior and interior markings and stowage to the vehicle.

May 13 - A 151 MUTT, converted to a 106mm recoilless rifle version, was moved inside the lobby of the museum.

May 14 - The SdKfz 251/9 halftrack was moved from Richardson Motor Pool to Skidgel Hall for display during the 2010 Armor Warfighting Conference. The 251 will be on display in the vendor area May 17-20.

The 251 is loaded onto a HETT for transport to Skidgel Hall.

The vehicle is secured with chains for the short trip.

May 22 - Volunteer Robert "Stick" Decker welcomed a new grandson, Braden Robert Decker, into the world. Father Brandon and mother Nikki are also doing well.

JUNE 2010

June 5-6 - Several Patton Museum volunteers participated in a reenactment and commemoration of D-Day presented by the LST 325 Association in Evansville, Indiana.

Throughout the month, work continued on Cobra King. Donor road wheels were removed from the M10 in front of the museum for use on Cobra King for her 1944 configuration. Also more old paint was removed.

JULY 2010

July 17 - During a scheduled work day, Chirs Kolakowski, director of the General George Patton Museum, met with volunteers during their lunch break in Abrams Auditorium. Chris went over the plans for the new museum and how the volunteers will be needed to help implement these plans. Volunteers worked on Cobra King, RSO reassembly and the Panzer IV, among other things.

July 23 - The right rear bogie assembly was removed from Cobra King and dissasembled to aid in the removal of road wheels which had proved difficult to remove.

AUGUST 2010

August 2 - Don Moriarty worked on the track and suspension arm of Cobra King.

August 4 - Don Moriarty, Robert Cartwright and Garry Redmon worked more on Cobra King. Robert and Don removed the final road wheels while Garry continued to remove paint from the hull. Also, two HETTs and their crews delivered the T29 and T30 heavy tank prototypes to Richardson Motor Pool. The tanks were removed from their locations on base and combat dropped from the trailers. They will later be prepped for shipping to Fort Benning. Photos below show the drop of the T30.

The trailer is slowly lifted in the front.	As the trailer lifts, the vehicle starts to roll.	The T30 rolls onto the trailer ramps.
Rust that has built up over the years flies off the tracks and wheels as the tank rolls onto the lot.	The T30's momentum carries it several yards.	It finally comes to a rest.