Re: Re: [MV] Whats My Dodge?

From: corvair@mindspring.com
Date: Fri Dec 03 1999 - 12:44:55 PST


Having spent my formative years on SAC bases, I'll note that the name of the unit to which the vehicle belongs is commonly stenciled onto either a) the rear bumper (as the US Army does) or b) a little piece of scrap aluminum which has been painted to match the vehicle body color (usually that dark blue).

The unit designation was normally rendered in spray can high-visibility yellow (which never quite matches the door lettering), and the stenciling is typically 1" - 1.5" high letters--no larger (1" common on the 'license plates,' larger common on the bumper). The aluminum rectangle is then attatched to the rear license plate mount.

Typical format for the unit identifier is wing above with squadron underneath or to the right depending on available space.

So, a "bread truck" (short wheelbase Chevrolet Step Van) at Loring AFB owned by the avionics maintenance squadron would have a 'license plate' that reads:

   42BMW
    AMS

If you're aiming for authenticity, hold the stencil a little away from the plate as you spray it--overspray was pretty common.

In later years (after about 1985), the dark blue vehicles got rarer and rarer--were replaced with OD items similar to National Guard equipment in a nod to the idea of AF assets being forward deployable.

SHamil0725@aol.com wrote:
> Keith in TN was correct about your truck being an off the shelf MV. The Air Force has never used many real tactical MVs; they are usually standard 12
volt pickups, van and sedans.
Your truck would probably been an aircrew truck, but in some cases might have
carried a maintenance team. SAC Bomber Alert crews were each assigned a 6
pack, a standard civilian four door 6 passenger pickup. A few also had 24
volt electrical systems added in addition to the 12 volt system to power
aircraft radios.
The 72B191 is the truck's registration number and would have been painted in
yellow on the front bumper, each front door, and the tailgate or rear bumper.
The door markings, in yellow, usually would be:
U. S. AIR FORCE
FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
72B191

Sam Hamilton
Stillwater, Oklahoma

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