[MarkSheppard]

https://www.twz.com/news-features/us...ars-of-service

The U.S. Marine Corps recently marked the formal decommissioning of the tracked Assault Amphibious Vehicle (AAV) family after more than five decades of service. Since 2018, the Marines have been working to replace the AAV fleet with new Amphibious Combat Vehicles (ACV), an 8×8 wheeled design.

The Marines held a sundown ceremony for the AAV at the Assault Amphibian School at Camp Pendleton, California, on September 26, according to an official release put out yesterday. Whether any AAVs technically remain assigned to units as the service continues to work out plans for their final disposition is unclear.

The retirement event at Camp Pendleton featured a small parade of the vehicles, one of which had an individual in an alligator suit standing in an open hatch, as seen at the top of this story. Alligator and gator have been common nicknames for tracked amphibious vehicles, in general, since they first began entering U.S. military service during World War II. The term amtrac, a portmanteau of amphibious tractor, is also commonly used in the United States to refer to vehicles of this type.