In the opening days of the Cold War, the US Army and American manufacturing industrial base were committed to the development and fielding of a tracked infantry carrier. While consideration was given to design concepts that would also make it a "fighting vehicle", these were shunted aside and the simple design of a steel enclosed, tracked box to carry a squad came to dominate doctrine and design for over thirty years. But what of the scouts?

Just how much saber and how much stealth was the appropriate mix for the scout units of both divisional cavalry squadrons and the regiments? Deciding this would lead to the appropriate evolution of doctrine, training and equipment. This is a question that has been under intense study and debate since the end of World War II and continues to this day as the Army reconfigures to face the tasks of combat operations in the new century. Interestingly, the major war experiences of the Army during this post WW II period, Korea and later Vietnam, often clouded the discussion rather than help provide a clear evolutionary path.

The US Army scouts of the reconnaissance battalions from WW II through the early 1960s primarily operated out of the ¼ utility wheeled vehicle. Other vehicles developed, the M3A1 Scout Car and the heavier M8 Scout also saw considerable service but the scouts who first buzzed through the Rhoen area of Germany in April 1945, were in jeeps. In the immediate post war period, the M3 was soon washed out of the inventory, the M8 saw considerable service with Constabulary units and remained in inventory well into the 1960s but was relegated to MP and then Reserve and National Guard roles.

In an interesting sidelight, the German military of WW II fielded a variety of very capable scout vehicles running from light tanks to high mobility-lightly armor four wheel variants to eight wheeled, fast tank killers. In the immediate post war period, all were evaluated for "lessons learned" and all were viewed as not appropriate for US needs. The Russians had a different point of view.

As LTC Spurrier sat on a ridge with his driver watching the 2-14 ACR road march from Schweinfurt to Bad Kissingen in 1951, the infantry squads were in ½ tracks, the tanks were M24s and M26s and the scouts were in jeeps. Only ten years later, as SCO Judson F. Miller observed his battalion deploy for Winter Shield maneuvers from Daley Barracks, all of the major equipment had changed with the exception of the scouts. They were still in jeeps, but not for long.

To create a comparatively simple vehicle, it took a fairly long time. In 1954, the Army notified manufactures of the requirement for a light, multi-use combat vehicle to fill a variety of roles to include "command and reconnaissance" missions, medical evacuation and platform for the BAT, Battalion Anti-Tank cannon. The initial guidance allowed for either wheels of tracks, it was to have a crew of four, weight class in the area of 8000 pounds and a top speed of 45 mph. The anticipated number of vehicles to be purchased numbered in the 3000 range, a fairly significant number, but the cost per unit was not to exceed a rather low boundary. The manufactures were to submit prototypes that combined both proven components and new materials as available.

Both Chrysler at Detroit Arsenal and Cadillac Division of General Motors at the Cleveland Tank Plant expressed interest, the former proposed diagrams bases on wheeled platforms, the latter went with the "small-APC" format. Funding was initially granted to pursue the designs from Cleveland and further funds for six prototypes were allocated in 1957. The T114 program was well under way. The light track concept had won the first round of the post war, scout vehicle evolution.

The prototype scout vehicles delivered to the Army for testing certainly had a "high tech" look and one can easily visualize the concept drawings in Cleveland and Washington featuring teams of T114s and T92 tanks prowling the nuclear battlefield. The light tracked scout had a two man turret pushed to the rear of the hull for the commander and observer; it was armed with the M85 .50 caliber machine-gun. Other manufactures were contacted for possible turret variations and the Army specified that the final turret decision was separate from approval of the general design of the vehicle.

The automotive drive line of the T114 was pulled to the front, engine to the right, driver to the left. The top of the vehicle featured a rather complicated superstructure design raising from a shallow raked front slope, however the overall height of the vehicle remained low. The rear of the T114 had a large rectangular hatch, the interior space, cramped for three troopers, allowed for a jump seat and a possible fourth man. Many of the automotive components were off the shelf GM items to include the 283 CI V8 gas engine and the Hydramatic transmission. This helped control costs.

The tracks, developed by the Caterpillar Corporation, were of the "rubber band" type, providing the supposed advantages of lower costs, reduced weight and ease of maintenance in comparison with a link track system. Manufactured as a single strip with bolted in track pads and grousers, this development never lived up to expectations. In an unsupported configuration on narrow road wheels, the "rubber band" allowed for the small GM engine, this in turn saved overall space and weight for the entire vehicle. In the event of light damage from mines or direct fire, there was no plan for a crew to repair broken track strips. In 1960, the Army began an extensive series of tests at Aberdeen, Fort Knox and the Arctic Test Center to evaluate the prototypes.

At the test centers and the production floor at Cleveland Tank Plant, the T114 program was much anticipated as a "winner". GM began serious planning for the assembly lines and hiring began necessary to move the Cleveland plant towards full scale production. In 1961, when the Army announced the required design modifications resulting from the test phase, some significant changes occurred, almost all of them designed to lower the cost per individual vehicle. With so much time already invested in the program, the designers went back to the blueprints.

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T114 seen from the ¾ view at rear. Note the rectangular rear hull hatch. This feature was also eliminated at the end of the test phase. --Hunnicutt		M114 early model as issued to the scouts, note pedestal mounted M2 and .30 caliber machine guns, round rear hatch and greatly simplified upper hull.  --Hunnicutt

The M85 armed two man turret was eliminated in favor of a much more simple TC observation hatch-cupola arrangement; this was moved forward of the previous location. The superstructure of the hull top was greatly simplified into basically a flat piece of aluminum, a small hatch was added to the rear of the TC hatch for the observer and the large rear hull hatch was changed to a less costly circular design. The armament was to consist of a pintle mounted M2 and a 30 caliber machine-gun for the TC and observer respectively. The Army continued to look at other turrets that could be retrofitted later and production funding was allocated to the budget when the new design, based on the Army’s changes was approved.

As the modified blue prints went to Washington, the first funds, 2.7 million dollars went to Cleveland to begin plant modifications at Cadillac to accommodate M114 production although the final contact had yet to be awarded. The plant had been operating at about 20 % capacity manufacturing self propelled howitzers and the Sheridan program was seen as still years away. Politicians and union halls hailed the new jobs. A Cleveland Press reported press release in July 1961 stated, " ... it (the M114) will utilize a considerable number of aluminum parts to conserve weight for airborne missions. It will carry infantry personnel and have special weapons capability the details of which remain classified.". In October of that year, the first large order was authorized with a value of 15 million dollars. One third of this covered the costs of the full scale assembly line, the balance paid for an initial run of 1215 vehicles.

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M114A1 featuring the M2 machine-gun in lowered cradle with new cupola with sighting and internal traverse - elevation controls. --Hunnicutt		Same model, seen from above. --Hunnicutt

In August 1962, the assembly line was in full operation with a single shift of over 3600 employees involved. On hand as the first M114 was completed was Plant Manager Clifford D. Dernier, BG Wheeler G. Merriam, Development chief of the Army Material Command and several local politicians. Counting other contacts in force at the Cadillac Plant, the Army had committed $ 99, 000, 000 to GM’s defense efforts. One year later, the Army and GM officials visited the plant again to hail the 1000th unit built, 200 more were programmed for delivery that calendar year.

Production continued at full pace through the following year then, in 1965, began to decrease as the Army expressed no interest in further large scale orders. The lay offs began as Chrysler won the contract to operate the plant and M114 production line went to "slow mode" in anticipation of closing by the end of 1965. A total of 3710 copies were manufactured with an evolution of TC turrets before M114 production ceased. Fielding appears to have begun in 1962-1963 to the armored cavalry regiments and divisional reconnaissance battalions / squadrons.

The pattern later seen with the selection of the M551 gun system first can be traced to the turret and weapons associated with the M114. The Army decided to not buy the two man turret featuring the M85 machine-gun that had survived the design conferences and prototype models as an austerity measure. However, just as the Soviet PT 76, with it’s swim capability, had effectively ended the T 92 program, as the M114 went into production, active consideration and debate was under way as to how to arm the "armored jeep" with consideration to the family of light but well armed Soviet tanks and scout vehicles seen regularly on parade in Moscow.

The Soviet designers had fielded a wide variety of both tracked and wheeled scout vehicles, many with both troop carrying and fighting capabilities, that had virtually no NATO counterparts. The heavy wheeled BTR 60 series, robust BRDM and BMP all initially dated from this period. In the West, only the British seemed interested in scout specific vehicles; as West Germany began their own weapons production in the early 1960s, the first combat vehicles approved were "heavy scout" platforms.

As the M114s progressed down the assembly line, the first 600 or so featured the agreed upon pintle mounted M2 and 30 caliber machine-guns. A minor modification involved the observer’s weapon as the M60 machine-gun entered the Army inventory, the rear pintle mount changed on the M114. Then, at approximately vehicle number 601, the turret was changed to accommodate a new sight and manual traverse and elevation set of controls that would allow the scout commander to engage targets with the M2 with all hatches closed. This vehicle eventually was designated as the M114 A1 model.

Other turret and weapon configurations continued to receive developmental funding and to give the scouts a heavier weapon, a combination of the built under license- Italian designed Hispano Suiza 20mm cannon with a powered turret, was funded, approved for production and retro fitted to previously issued M114A1s. This 20mm cannon had a long and unhappy life in the US Army; seemingly every question at the Armor Board at Fort Knox could be answered in the 1960s by saying, "... well ... lets add the 20mm cannon and see what happens!". Both the M551 and the MBT 70 were evaluated with the H-S cannon bolted to the turret top. It was only with the M114, however, that the weapon actually reached the troops. Once configured with a new powered cupola and cannon, the vehicle was designated as the M114E2 if the original platform had been a low serial number M114 or, as the M114A1E1, if the platform had been first designated as an M114A1.