He Paints Humvees For A Living, He Just Noticed Something REALLY Strange About The Color…

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49 military vehicles at Fort Hood in Texas recently received a “rush” order to be repainted from their present desert camouflage to a green tint that is better suited to forests or temperate areas.

Gary Pasley, his colleague David Stidham, and a small group of troops had just 19 days earlier in June to repaint 49 pieces of military hardware, ranging from Humvees to medium tactical vehicles, according to The San Antonio Express-News.

The Express-News explains that to disguise the recognizable desert tan, Pasley and Stidham painted the trucks and equipment a dull green after the GIs had cleaned them. As a result, 44-year-old Iraq War veteran Pasley made the assumption that the Army’s focus was changing away from the Middle East and Afghanistan.

“I’m pretty sure that we’re downsizing from that region of the world and kind of focused on our efforts elsewhere, so I would say the vehicle (color) might be terrain appropriate,” Pasley said.

He and the Army were unable to specify where the new focus might be.

Fort Hood currently has a small number of vehicles painted in a basic shade of olive drab, or “woodland green,” which may be used as the base for a camouflage pattern that is specific to each type of vehicle after 20 years of fighting wars in vehicles painted to match the desert.

As yet, no camo has been applied.

The operation “signals a pivot in readiness from fighting in arid countries like the Middle East to fighting in more verdant regions,” according to a brief statement from Fort Hood’s 13th Expeditionary Sustainment Command.

Green in the sense of verdant, having lush grass or other plants. That might be Pacific Islands or European Forests, however, the Army provided no further details. Recently, the Marines trained in the field in Norway.

In an interview, the commander of the 13th ESC explained that the directive was part of teaching soldiers “field craft” whether they were preparing for combat in Europe, where the 1st Cavalry Division is currently assigned, or with the United States. According to current war preparations, the 4th Infantry Division, which is currently stationed at Fort Carson, Colorado but was once stationed at Fort Hood, will be sent to the Indo-Pacific Command.

The Express-News noted that the new paint jobs are “part of the Pentagon’s move away from counterinsurgency warfare and a return to what some call ‘great power’ conflicts that could lead to nuclear war” the report on the hurried refresh for the vehicles’ paint points out that the “last time the Army painted its vehicles, the shift in priorities — and location — was readily apparent” when the U.S. “went to war in Afghanistan and Iraq with multiple divisions, hundreds of thousands of troops.

Watch it here: Youtube/Uniform History

Sources: Westernjournal, Expressnews, Pressreader

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