Profile of nee

Define Best.

Then define Tank.

It's basically a way to make serious statement, such as insulting another person or making unqualified claims, but be able to hide behind the suggestion that you might be joking.

If you played OKW you would know a couple of things;

-Obers lack utility compared to the rest of OKW's infantry options (the best thing on them is the booby trap point)

-This lack of utility means they have to be very good at their 1 roll

-They are just good at their 1 roll

-When it comes to specialist units being only "good" at the 1 roll they can preform is a death sentence because the theory behind specialist units is that they are useless for anything else which justifies them being excellent in their 1 roll

-OKW has a lot more AI options than previously

-Thus the reasons for making Obers is few and far between.

They have what I like to call "The Curse of Mediocrity" they occupy that space between "excellent" and "bad" units were you don't often see them because people will ALWAYS want to make the best unit they have available to them which most of the time isn't Obers.

If I may add to this list:

-Obers' sole role is anti-infantry. They are excellent, but they also come quite late into the game.

-Expansion of Obers' role is possible, but it requires you to gain veterancy through using said Obers. And even these expanded options (Blenkorper, Boobytrap) are just anti-infantry options.

-They come in T4, which means you need to decide whether to improve your anti-infantry (which is rarely a good choice considering earlier tech) and start getting tanks. Seeing as you already get Sturms, Volks and other infantry options at T1-3, going for Obers is almost never a preferable option.

-The doctrinal IR MP44 upgrade is nice since it allows Obesr to effectively engage infantry in cover, but again, you'll be worrying more about tanks than garrisons units by that point in a match.

Here's a random thought that might add some novel use out of Obers:

First, reduce the veterancy rate of all OKW units.
Second, slightly reduce Obersoldaten cost while slightly reducing fighting effectiveness.
Third, Obersoldaten gains a radius that boosts things like veterancy rate to all nearby units.

This makes Obers an supporting infantry squad to all surrounding units, and works on the opposite concept of USF officers: rather than gaining XP from nearby units, it allows nearby units to vet faster. You will always want at least one of them in a game because that means your other units will become veterans faster.

What this means is the Ober squad becomes less of another anti-infantry killing machine and more of a benefactor to the entire army. Strategy around the Ober then makes it one where you'll aways want such a unit around, but must consider its costs relative to what your army can get from it. Moreover, the enemy can deny this advantage by targeting the squad, which still has 4-man size and no anti-tank capabilities of its own.

In a typical game then, any player spotting an Ober squad will know that the opponent has spent the resources to improve the rest of his units. This might end up being a trivial issue if you can quickly destroy his better units and keep him on his toes- a few units with greater vet gain won't always be a powerful benefit if he just keeps losing units.

The rationale behind this idea is that Obers are meant to portray veteran troops, and this method of designing Obers sort of reflects that. They can perform combat roles, but it is neither their forte, and neither would you be using your investment efficiently.

well one thing is for certain is USF is in dire need of new hardware and toys to play with since axis is currently hogging and hoarding all of the best AT, armor and infantry in-game

To be honest that is a very poor argument for advocating a new unit, especially if it carries all the issues everyone just pointed out.

USF is lacking unit variety yes, but the problem is the core units' overreach in roles. What the Chaffee can do, means it replace not only Stuart and Sherman, but if it's penetration is good then also the M10. In the package of a Light Tank, no less. How can you justify high CP/ popcap and MP/F costs for a light tank that can perform so well?
The only other recourse is to make the Chaffee quite terrible in many other things...but then no one would even bother with Chaffee if it fails to do it' jobs well. Jobs that stock units already cover.

Bottom line is, whatever ideas that make the Chaffee a good idea, is inherently a bad idea because it automatically competes with Stuart/ Sherman. Which is not surprising: that was the point of developing the M24 in the first place.

If it's a doctrinal unlock it would have to be in like Captain tier, which means it still competes with Stuart...and also tempts the player to just spam Stuarts rather than get Major and Shermans. Given it's characteristics, you either get a very spammable light tank, or a hilariously unrealistic portrayal of a light tank that can do certain jobs very poorly despite realism.

Would be a nice unit for the mechanized company as it fits well in my opinion or for Recon Support Company instead of the Paratrooper Support Squad

If you've never heard of the Greyhound, that is.