Can Someone Esplain the Paint Scheme Thing?

[w30bob]

Hi Guys,

I was out walking the dog late last night and on the way back I swung the flashlight toward my M. I get the idea of painting MV's olive drab....good color for blending in with most vegitation and impossible to see at night. So smart move. But having big white stars on the side of the truck really doesn't do much for concealment. Nor does having red and orange reflectors all around the truck. You shine a light near an M at night and you can't miss the big white star and the reflectors. So how are those things supposed to help with concealment again??

I understand the hood star for identification by aircraft. Just not the stuff on the sides of the truck. If we put white stars and reflectors on so we can identify our own vehicles in combat......so can the enemy...which defeats the whole OD paint scheme.....no?

Just wondering......as usual. Set me straight on this one...will ya?

regards,
bob

[Jim Branson]

I would think there is more danger from friendly fire than the enemy if the vehicles were not marked well enough? Since most of the vehicles on both sides had some type of OD paint you would have to look to see which one it was. Hard to know unless you were there!

Jim

[Paul in Kempner, TX]

See your Army recruiter. He can arrange for you to get the answer to this - and many more of your questions. You just raise your right hand and take one step forward.

Paul F. Cook, CW3 (Ret), US Army 28 Aug 61 to 31 Jan 82

[k8icu]

Bob,

The idea of conceal and cammoflage is both old and new. In WWI both sides experiemented with cammoflage with mixed results. When WWII came around we went with flat paint and blue drab lettering. But as the war progressed and we had air superiority and the White star became the thing to use. It's on the sides because aircraft often see the vehicle from the side and shoot at it from the side long before they can see the star on the hood. Plus with things like windshield folded down it makes it hard to see the star on the hood. Reflectors where put on the side because not all MVs are in combat all the time. They do travel roads for training and the reflectors are needed for safety. We went to semi-gloss paint because we were the bad boys in the hood so to speak. As technology developed and how we fought and who we were going to face required us to look at cammo. The ideal situation would be in a tatical situation the crew of the vehicle would cover all glass and all reflectors so that they could not be spotted. That's ideal but not all ways practical. If you look at pictures of equipment stationed in Germany from the late 60's and early 70's before the 4 color cammo (MERC) system came in many of the "front line" units were painting the stars and markings in flat black. That's a rough outline of the who, what's where and whys but not all of it. It's a study in itself the whole history of vehicle markings.

[Monkey Man]

See your Army recruiter. He can arrange for you to get the answer to this - and many more of your questions. You just raise your right hand and take one step forward.

Paul F. Cook, CW3 (Ret), US Army 28 Aug 61 to 31 Jan 82

Uhhhh - OK, how long does the course run and I hear they give free haircuts too?

MM

[w30bob]

MM,

I think the course is a few semesters......errr...years. Free haircuts, but I hear the food sucks. But I guess you can't have everything.

regards,
bob