Closer to home (at least for me), this vehicle was built by the Consolidated Diesel Electrical Company of Schenectady, New York during the late 1960s. Any "locals" out there who remember this Capital Region company?

I remember seeing them as late at 1984 at Ft. Bragg. I saw a demonstration of LAPES of a Gama Goat out of a C-130. Rather impressive, but I suspect it might have been more problematic in an operational situation. I understand the pallets can tumble quite nicely if everything isn't just right.

Oh, BTW, the acronym LAPES is for Low Altitude Parachute Extraction System.

When I was a kid I grew up living in Burnt Hills, which is just a scant 6 north of Schenectady. I distinctly remember seeing those strange looking Gama Goats coming out the door of their plant. I can't remember for the life of me what the street name was though. I do remember asking my dad (a US Army Reserve Major at the time who had just returned from Nam) as we drove by the plant what the heck they were because I had never come across the likes of one before. He responded that they were "Ugly Gama Goats" and were used quite a bit on bases throughout South Viet Nam and American bases at home.

During my own career in the Army I too had come across them up until the mid-80's. After that they seemed to disappear in a blink of an eye to God knows where??? Surplus I presume or overseas to Allied countries.

After having started out in Airborne and later Rangers, I've seen LAPES quite a few times and each extraction is never identical to another....many mishaps and a couple of C-130 Herky Bird crashes. The best ones were the palletized M-551 Sheridan Light Tank LAPES!!!! Nothing like a giant cloud of dust kicked up by the baby sliding hundreds of yards in the LZ!!!!! And mighty dangerous too! Lot's of flipped cargo, and in one case I've seen the turret separate from the Sheridan's chassis and kept rolling down range!!!

If you liked this story about the Gama Goat, be sure to check out dstrohl's piece on the Lockheed Twister.