In the autumn of 1947, a tank platoon was developed at Bardufoss Airport. They used ex-German Kampfpanzer IV and later four M-24 Chaffee. M-24 had 75mm low pressure guns, a 7,62mm coaxial machine gun and a 12,7mm machine gun. The platoon was part of the airport defense. Brigade North were an infantry unit from 1953 and had no tanks. The platoon participated in the brigade exercises, mainly on the "enemy" side. This platoon was the only tank element in inner Troms county until the establishment of a light reconnaissance company (eskadron) in 1961. In 1965 a tank company consisting of 17 M-48 Patton on Bardufoss. These tanks weight 45 ton and was equipped with a 90mm gun. The company was under command of "Troms Landsforsvar (TLF)", but functioned otherwise in parallel with other units in the Brigade North. In 1969 the M48's were replaced with Leopard 1 with 105mm high pressure gun. This tank had and still have extraordinary good manoeuvrability in terrain.

The Leopard head. PBN stands for "Panserbataljonen" or the armor batalion.

The company now had 3 tank platoons, 1 storm (armoured infantry) platoon, 1 transport platoon and 1 engineering workshop platoon. This was the organization of the company until our mother unit, the Panserbataljonen (The Armour Battalion) was established 1986-87. The company gave away all the platoons, except the tank platoons. Parallel the 2nd Tank company was established consisting of a Leopard platoon moved from Andøya airport and Bodø airport, though The 1st company was the largest until 1994. Now both have three platoons (two operative in peace time)

   Tactical signs   

The tactical numbers of the tanks, including it's name, and the history of the horse once using that name. All names have been used by horses in the old Norwegian cavalry. The first number is the company number, the second is platoon, and the last an third is the number of the tank. number 1 is the chief(lieutenant), 2 is second in command (second lieutenant) and 3 and 4 is the sergeant tanks. Number 3 drives in front and 4 as the last tank.

   A Tribute to Hugo Kystvåg   

Hugo Kystvåg was commander of 114 Akab from 1997 to 1998. He and his crew was the "King of mud". They always managed to get stuck in the swamp, river, snow or even loose their belt. In a one week long excersise, the 114 crew managed to NOT fire a single shot, because they were stuck in the mud or lost their belt (picture nr.3).

This is not a personal vendeta. Hugo is a close friend of mine, and he is capable of seeing the humor in these situations. I guess his name is still on the lips of commanders in Esk1.

Note that 114-1 1999-2000 sgt Anders Bakken got stuck only once :-)

Se the images below, and judge for yourselves. Click one to view get full size.

"I didn't sleep..." -Hugo himself	The loader IS sleeping. Look at the mess. Combat ready?	Stuck! Note the tank behind him. He is returning from the mission...
Whops, lost my belt.	The river looked like a shortcut on the map, but then again...	Muddy swamp. Need some help here.
The snow covered the swamp...	Go backward isn't always that easy, especially not down this hill

• www.sdr.mil.no Søndenfjeldske Dragonregiment (Camp Rena, the Cavalry headquarter)

   Hvor er esk1-folka fra 1997-1998 idag?   

Tropp1:
111-1 Roald Berntzen: Politihøgskolen i Bodø, 2001
112-1 Morten Jørgensen: Var i Bosnia, ukjent pr idag
113-1 Roy Haaland: dataingeniør, jobber som interaktiv utvikler
114-1 Hugo Gjøen Kystvåg: NTNU, siv.ing. produktdesign

Tropp2:
121-1 Einar Aarbogh: Krigsskolen 2, 2001, NK Esk 1 2001-02
122-1 Robin Anthonsen: Krigsskolen 2001, Admoff Esk 1 2001-02
123-1 Richard Jørgensen: Hvileår 2000, Krigsskolen, 2001
124-1 Pål Andre Torgersen: NK Stridsvogn, Rena, 2001

Staben:
91 Pedersen: Widerøe, personalledelse?
92 Georg Kleppang: Sjef esk1 2000, Skolesjef BSK, 2001
Admoff Henrik Moe: Han er igjen troppsjef, tropp 2, 2001, KS2 2001-

Stridsvognsverksted:
Ketil Høiås

Andre sersjanter:
214-1 Ole Thunshelle: Simulatorseksjonen Rena, 2000. Han er nå 112-1, 2001
213-1 Sidsel Berg: Tilbake fra Bosnia, hun er nå 211-1, 2001
223-1 Lars-Stian Hallonen (Pekka): Instruktør stridsvogn, befalsskolen, 2001
224-1 Håkonsløkken: Krigsskolen 2001, nå blitt stormer!

Har du informasjon om hvor soldater og befal fra 1997-1998 kontingenten Stridsvogneskadron 1 befinner seg idag, hva de gjør og epostadressen deres? Det hadde vært fint om du kunne sende det til meg på epost så kan jeg legge det ut her...