Indholdsfortegnelse for August 2019 i Military Vehicles

There it was. Jack Tensen found it sitting in the side yard of a southern New Jersey farm. Jack had always wanted a staff car project, but he didn’t have the space to work on one. He urged me to take on the job. He promised that he would help me with it, so I figured we could tackle the job. When we went to look it over, we found it was pretty far gone. The finish was gone, replaced by plenty of surface rust. It had no hub caps though most the chrome work and bumpers were still present, though the chrome on the latter was mostly weathered away. The fenders and running boards had surface rust but no dents from former mishaps. The inside, though, was another story.…

We love to see and share photos of our readers’ HMVs. Here are few that appeared on our Facebook page. To see more, share your own photos or to simply “join the conversation,” log onto your own Facebook page and type “Military Vehicles Magazine” in the search bar at the top of the page. “LIKE” us to receive the most recent news and hobby chatter.…

The need for brake work is usually proceeded by any number of indicators: spongy pedal, lack of pedal free play, free play to the floor, just not stopping in an appropriate distance, or metal-to-metal screeching in extreme cases. Prior to the 2017 Military Vehicle Preservation Association (MVPA) Route 66 Convoy, New Zealanders Boyd Mitchell and Peter Yates purchased a 1953 M37 Dodge 3/4-ton truck to drive cross country on the Convoy and then ship home to New Zealand. After driving the Dodge more than 2000 miles, they began to experience some of these brake issues. During a Convoy rest day at our convoy rally point in a Walmart parking lot in Santa Fe, New Mexico, Mitch and Pete decided to dive into their on-board boxes of spare parts to change…

Oshkosh Defense, LLC, an Oshkosh Corporation company, showcased, for the first time, its L-ATV Ambulance at the Association of the United States Army (AUSA) Global Force Symposium in Huntsville, Alabama, from March 26-28, 2019. The new L-ATV Ambulance enables Army medics and Marine corpsmen to keep up with the powerful Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) while also offering protection for medical personnel and wounded warriors as they move to, through, and away from combat. “The L-ATV Ambulance is the next generation of ambulance vehicles, designed specifically to protect wounded Warfighters without sacrificing the speed and mobility needed to keep up with JLTVs on the battlefield,” said George Mansfield, Vice President and General Manager, Joint Programs. “In addition to its ability to protect and maneuver with the JLTV in combat operations,…

My story begins in 1949, when I purchased a surplus Dodge WC-43. The vehicle was a late-1942 production model with military style gauges rather than the civilian type found in earlier vehicles. At the time of my purchase, the WC had a boom mounted on the front bumper and a homemade wooden flatbed. A building contractor had used it before I got a hold of it. I purchased the WC to use for hunting and general work around the farm. The WC served well in those roles for more than half a century. I drove the WC on many hunting trips throughout Oregon, Idaho, and the central interior of British Columbia, Canada. Many times, I pulled a travel trailer on those trips. On my very first hunting trip in the…

As part of the ongoing effort by the Virginia National Guard (VANG) to preserve and protect its historical artifacts, soldiers from 2-183 Cavalry and the 157th Engineer Company recently moved an M42 Duster and a 40mm Bofors anti-aircraft gun from Portsmouth, Virginia, to the VANG Joint Force Headquarters at Bellwood, Virginia. This move, part of a training exercise in recovering “battle-damaged” vehicles, freed space in front of the 183rd’s Readiness Center so that Cavalry-related historical artifacts can be displayed. Several Virginia National Guard units were issued M42s and 40mm Bofors for their Air Defense Artillery (ADA) mission in the 1950s through the 196os and even in to the early 1970s. In the 1974 National Guard-produced film, “When the Chips are Down,” narrated by Bob Hope, the opening sequences feature Virginia-based…

A native of Winnemucca, Nevada, 72-year-old Stan Rorex fully intended to join the Army with his buddies in the 1960s. A childhood leg injury left him “4F.” So, instead of joining the Army, Stan joined the Winnemucca Police Department, from which he recently retired as Chief of Police. Stan always had a passion for history and began collecting anything related to his favorite vehicle— the M3 Half-track. During the 1970s and 1980s, he snapped up every piece that came available — usually paying just scrap prices. The vehicles have been resting in the Nevada sun for decades. Though there is no rust, every seal seems to have certainly dried out. No, they are not for sale. In fact, Stan is still accumulating! He recently bought a display BREN machine gun…

Following an extensive competition, AM General won the contract in 1983 to begin building the military’s new High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV). The basic vehicle is the M998 and could be configured in either two- or four-doors. When supplied with a winch, the same vehicle is designated the M1038. The M998A2 series, introduced in 1994, had numerous improvements in the power train. The engine was now the 6.5-liter (400 cubic-inch) diesel, and the automatic transmission was now a four-speed unit rather than the three-speed previously used. Surplus sales of HMMWVs resumed in 2016. Hundreds have been sold. While almost all are sold with paperwork indicating “For off-road use only,” many states have been introducing and passing legislation to title the vehicles for road use. Check with your state’s titling…

MSG (Ret) Eric Briggs said this photo was taken at Fort Hunter Liggett, Calif. when he was an E-4 in 1982. He explained, “An M113 armored personnel carrier in blackout drive ran over this M151A2. No one got hurt. I towed it back to the motorpool with my M543 5-ton wrecker. The unit was Transport Co., Combat, Development, Experimentation Command (CDEC). I spent four years there.” If you have a suitable photo for SNAFU, please send it to Editor, Military Vehicles Magazine, 5225 Joerns Drive, Suite 2, Stevens Point, WI 54481, USA. All submissions become property of F+W Media, Inc.…

A question that many historic military vehicle (HMV) owners are often asked about their vehicles (besides, “is it hard to find parts for?”) is where they acquired it. As many enthusiasts know, the general public usually assumes that “Army trucks” are purchased at government auctions where brand-new WWII Jeeps in boxes sell for fifty dollars a dozen. However, those of us in the hobby often have much more interesting tales to tell about how and where we found our vehicles. These often include some amusing or adventurous stories about how we got our treasures home. While some HMV folks do buy their vehicles from government surplus dealers — many of whom offer their wares in this magazine — and other vehicles are indeed purchased at government auctions, most vintage military…

“That is not a Caterpillar D7” was the subject line of an e-mail I received from my friend Jeff Rowsam one Sunday morning. Jeff went on to write: “Hi Mark, I opened my latest issue of Military Vehicles tonight and read with great interest your article about Dave Flinn’s adventures in Vietnam [“Operations into the A Shau Valley, 1968-69,” MVM, June 2019, no 203, pp 26-30]. Nice article. I am glad I got to know Dave a little bit when we were on the 2017 MVPA Route 66 Convoy together.” Jeff spent his working career with Caterpillar Diesel Engines and Machines. His e-mail continued, “As a Caterpillar guy I didn’t get past the first photo in your article and said to myself, ‘Nope. That is not a well-worn D7.’ You…

Back in 2010, I was working on the restoration of a 1964 CJ5. I had planned to replicate an M38A1 paint job on it. While talking about military vehicles with my brother Randy, he said, “I should trade you the old Dodge I never use for the motorcycle that you never ride.” I thought he was kidding. He loved that truck. Even though he used it to plow snow and haul wood, it did sit in his yard most of the time. I thought about that truck all night. Growing up, I had watched it in action and even rode in the back of the truck for a 4th of July parade in the late 1970s. By the next morning, I decided to see if my brother was serious about…

In the months that led up to it, the Rock Island Auction Company (RIAC) May 2019 Premier Firearms Auction had shaped up to be an absolute colossus of an event. The rare Colt “Millikin “Dragoon served as Úagship and was Úanked by powerful military vehicles, lifelong collections, pristine condition pieces, and inconceivable rarity in nearly every genre. It was an event absolutely jam-packed with exciting pieces collectors could not wait to get their hands on. While 2018 was a record year for absentee bids with 118,000 received, already in 2019 RIAC has received more than 55,000 after just two major auctions. RIAC also saw record web traffic for this auction with 3.6 million catalog visits as well as record numbers of bidders, winners, and watchers using our RIAC Live software.…