Oregon Public Broadcasting

An Oregon national guard unit will be the first in the country to get an upgraded version of America's primary fighting tank, the Abrams M1 A1. 

Lieutenant Colonel Kevin Sheehy is the commander of the 3rd Battalion, 116th Cavalry.  That regiment of citizen soldiers hails predominately from Eastern Oregon.

Sheehy said getting the upgraded tanks is "a compliment to the unit's skill and professionalism."  He said one big improvement is the weapons sight.

Kevin Sheehy: "You couldn't really identify your targets out to 4,000 meters, but the gun could shoot that far. So one of the things they've done since then is this enhancement package which gives it a 50 power sight so you can actually see and identify targets out to the range of the gun."

Sheehy said the regiment will get 29 new Abrams tanks and an upgraded fleet of the Army's Bradley fighting vehicles in late 2011 or early 2012.