I live near Ft Drum, NY and I see a couple of trucks both are cab over designs with single tactical tires, one is 4 x 4 and the other is a 6 x 6. They are camoflauged and have canvas tarp covers over the cargo area when carrying troops. Are these the replacement for the M35 series 2 1/2 Ton or the M900 series 5 Ton trucks? I have not noticed any pictures of them in Iraq/Afghanistan.
They are called the FMTV or Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles. They come in the 4-wheeled (2½ ton) or 6-wheeled (5 ton) versions. They are the replacement for the M35 series 2½ ton and 900 series 5 on trucks. They have been in the system since about 1996, but regular M35 and 900-series trucks are still quite common. They are in use in Iraq and a new armored cab has been developed and installed.
They are made by Stewart Stevenson in Texas, I believe it is a license built copy of an Austrian Styer design, but I am not positive about this.
The truck comes in various body styles including a 5 ton wrecker, cargo bed with materiel handling crane, 5 ton tractor, a 5 ton fueler and many more. I learned to drive one a couple of years ago and it is a real beauty to drive, but they are not as rugged as the old reliable Deuce and 5 ton. The ones I had at my maintenance school had all sorts of minor problems like door latches coming loose, doors not closing quite right, etc. Not as easy to maintain either.
There are a few of them rolling around Afghanistan, well, at least there were when I was there last year (has it been a year already?). They seem tiny sitting next to the MTVR 7-tons that we brought with us.
I still see the old M800 & 900 series and HEMMT wreckers running around the area.
Any digital camo in the works? The Marines new uniform looks like it works better than the old BDU camo. Is the Army thinking of changing?
The Army has a new digitized uniform that is being used by Stryker Brigades as it deploys. The Army calls it the ACU or Army Combat Uniform. It will be mandatory by either 2007 or 2008.
Unlike the USMC pattern, the Army will have one uniform pattern for desert and woodland whereas the Marines have both a desert and woodland uniform.
Both the USMC “MARPAT” and the Army ACU patterns were designed by the US Army’s Natick Labs in Natick, Mass.
The FMTV 5 ton wrecker is not intended to replace the M984 HEMTT wreckers. It is replacing the M936 wrecker, but you can still see the old M816 wreckers and other variants of the 800 series and 900 series trucks.
The new “digies” take a little getting used to, but you’ve got to love the wash & wear aspect, no more ironing!
The running joke when the new MARPATs were introduced was that there had to be a couple of 1stSgts and Sgts Maj about to have a brain aneurism from all the different uniforms people were wearing (new cammes w/ old boots, old cammes w/ new boots, tans, greens, all sometimes in the same formation)
Back on topic: I’m surprised at how quickly USMC switched over to our new family of trucks, does anyone know what happens to all those 800 and 900 series trucks? Do they go to DRMO or what?
They went to the National Guard, Army Reserve or to plus up the pre-positioned sites. Many of them are being passed around in reserve units. The high priority Guard and Reserve units had the newest stuff and took it into theater with them when they deployed. Subsequent follow on reserve forces are using the equipment left behind by the hi-pri reserve units. When the hi-pri units returned stateside, they needed to get the old equipment from the various equipment sites so they could continue training and performing their reserve missions.
Hey, BDUs were wash and wear when I first got mine in 1983. No ironing or starching allowed, punishable by UCMJ. By the mid-80s they were being pressed and by the 90s they were being starched as well.
Once the current war ends and we go back to a peacetime setting, we’ll see how the wash and wear goes. There is a large population of servicemen in the Armed Forces that wear the BDU everyday (and ACU in the future) that never ever go to the field.
I don’t want to date myself too much, but I have OD green T-shirt, shorts and handkerchief. My jump boots shined like the mirror on the Mount Palomar telescope in the daylight. Terror filled my eyes when we were sent to Graf. MUD!!!
The brown suede boots make much more sense. And the berets look good also, very professional.
Any change in the vehicle camo to digital? I remember the British Berlin Brigade had a digital/dazzle camo pattern, worked well in the urban area.
I pulled almost two years in a pickle suit. It was a requirement when I was in ROTC even though I had four sets of BDUs issued to me at basic.
I drive dino the dinosuar over here in korea! its an old m820 series truck (expando van type thing) we use it to haul tables, chairs and supplies,ect,ect for our tactical assualt command centers (tac) . i honestly beleive i drive the oldest truck in the armys active duty inventory , the manufacter tag is april of 1970 and it was depot rebuilt in may of 1998 here in korea and has around 3200 miles on it now. its the only one i have seen in at least 10 to 15 years in the regular army . it has a 5 speed manuel (the nintendo generation cant drive standards most of them anyways) turbo charged , 6x6 drive capability and the heater actually works and the new fmtv vehicles do have advantages and disadvantages. but i do get a kick out of driving dino around, it dose turn heads every where .