The U.S. military practice of naming its vehicles is not a new practice, but the U.S. Army was proud enough to share it’s latest tank’s name with the world.
In a Wednesday tweet, the official U.S. Army Twitter account posted a picture of “Baby Yoda” – an M1 Abrams tank.
#MayTheForceBeWithYou!@3rd_Infantry M1 Abrams armored track vehicles are aligned and ready for inventory after loading operations concluded on the American Roll-On Roll-Off vessel, for #DefenderEurope 20 in Savannah, Ga.
Photo by Pfc. Daniel Alkana#Ready2Fight pic.twitter.com/mx5EIVEEIH
— U.S. Army (@USArmy) February 20, 2020
“Baby Yoda” is one of the 3rd Infantry’s M1 Abrams tanks. The name is a reference to the Mandalorian Disney+ show character referred to as “Baby Yoda.”
Other U.S. military vehicle names have drawn intrigue in the past.
WWE wrestler turned movie-star Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson was the namesake for another U.S. Army tank, which belongs to the 1st Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment.
“If you smell what America’s Tank Division is cooking!”
Shoutout to the #IronSoldiers assigned to the @Blackhawk_SQDN for naming one of their tanks in homage to the @TheRock.
Hopefully the “People’s Champ” will see it and give you guys a shoutout and a retweet!#TuesdayThoughts pic.twitter.com/xMm2aKBArS— 1st Armored Division (@1stArmoredDiv) March 12, 2019
The U.S. Army’s 1st Cavalry Division also named one of its M1A2 Abrams tanks after movie-star Chuck Norris, after Norris went to Fort Hood, Texas to film a show featuring the tank.
This afternoon, #IRONHORSE Troopers from 2-8 CAV had the honor to work with THE Chuck Norris. He came to Fort Hood to film a show that will feature the M1A2 Abrams tank. It was our pleasure to host this production. We’ll keep you posted when the episode will air! #LiveTheLegend pic.twitter.com/qAIKg2Is62
— 1st Cavalry Division (@1stCavalryDiv) May 15, 2019
“Baby Yoda” was pictured after participating in an exercise to test the unit’s ability to load and unload vehicles from a vessel as part of the DefenderEurope 20 military exercise.
Soldiers assigned to 🇺🇸 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team @SpartanBrigade, 3rd Infantry Division loaded vehicles and equipment onto @ARCships vessels for shipment to Europe at the Port of Savannah in the period Feb. 10-12, 2020, in preparation for the #DefenderEurope 20 exercise. pic.twitter.com/f5X24QVIHK
— Baltic Security (@balt_security) February 18, 2020
The DefenderEurope 20 exercise entails the deployment of a division-sized combat force to Europe, departing from the port in Savannah, Georgia.
