M-9 Armored Combat Earthmover (ACE)

The M-9 Armored Combat Earthmover is an amphibious, fully tracked vehicle used to prepare firing positions for artillery, tanks and other weapon systems. It features an 8.7 cubic yard scraper bowl and bulldozer blade. The hydro-pneumatic suspension allows the front of the vehicle to be raised, lowered or tilted to permit dozing, excavating, rough grading and ditching. It has a two-speed winch with a 25,000 pound pull.

The M-9 ACE has two smoke grenade launchers for its own protection and also provides chemical-biological protection for the operator. It is equipped with an aluminum structure, which protects against small arms fire and artillery fragments.

USMC M-9 Armored Combat Earthmover (ACE) undergoing suspension and a sprocket drive gear modifications, Camp Pendleton, CA, December 2002.
USMC M-9 Armored Combat Earthmover (ACE) undergoing suspension and a sprocket drive gear modifications, Camp Pendleton, CA, December 2002.

Today in WW II: 10 Feb 1942 Japanese submarine shells Midway, the fourth attack since 7 Dec 1941, part of a campaign to break US resistance to Japanese capture of the atoll.   

M-9 Armored Combat Earthmover (ACE)

The M-9 Armored Combat Earthmover (ACE) is a highly mobile armored tracked vechicle that provides combat engineer support to front line forces. In addition to construction of fighting positions, its tasks include elimination of enemy obstacles as well as maintenance and repair of roads and supply routes.

M-9 Armored Combat Earthmover (ACE) Characteristics

Length 20.5 feet
Width 9.2 feet
10.5 feet with dozer wings
Height 8.9 feet (windshield down)
9.9 feet (windshield up)
Weight 26.9 tons
Max speed 30 mph
Range 200 miles

M-9 Armored Combat Earthmover (ACE). Photo: Courtesy of Mark Holloway
M-9 Armored Combat Earthmover (ACE). Photo: Courtesy of Mark Holloway.

USMC M-9 Armored Combat Earthmover (ACE), Twentynine Palms, CA
USMC M-9 Armored Combat Earthmover (ACE), Twentynine Palms, CA.

USMC 5th Marine Regiment M-9 Armored Combat Earthmover (ACE), with an equipment trailer attached, in the Kuwait desert during Operation ENDURING FREEDOM, 18 March 2003
USMC 5th Marine Regiment M-9 Armored Combat Earthmover (ACE), with an equipment trailer attached, in the Kuwait desert during Operation ENDURING FREEDOM, 18 March 2003.

Marine uses an M-9 Armored Combat Earthmover (ACE) to create berms at Camp Coyote, Kuwait, during Operation ENDURING FREEDOM, 6 February 2003
Marine uses an M-9 Armored Combat Earthmover (ACE) to create berms at Camp Coyote, Kuwait, during Operation ENDURING FREEDOM, 6 February 2003.