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M37 accident photos taken in Japan during 1955

M-37Bruce

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Cool Pic's

I noticed the lettering, three dif styles.
AF truck w/ lettering on the hood instead of the door, where is Lifer when you need him?
Still nice pictures, the reflection makes me think the finish has some hardener in it's formula too?
 

CARNAC

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RE: Cool Pic

FEAF--Far East Air Force if I remember correctly??

Note the "Safety First" painted on the passenger side window. Wonder who was at fault on this one.
 

Lifer

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Re: Cool Pic's

M-37Bruce said:
... where is Lifer when you need him?
... the reflection makes me think the finish has some hardener in it's formula too?
I'm right here. I don't check this part of the forum much, actually. I get and/or "share" most of my M37 info on "that other forum."

To satisfy those "enquiring minds," the AF became a separate service in August, 1947. They continued to use the Army style of vehicle markings for quite a while after that.

You'll notice that the trucks have the ID info on the hood and on the doors. This would indicate a "transition" vehicle that got the markings on the doors when the new reg came into being but had retained its hood number. By 1958, however, the hood numbers were gone, the numbering system was changed, and the door markings had been standardized so that a specific font and size was used throughout the Air Force.

The reflection does not surprise me, either, since the T.O. specifies that "all Air Force vehicles shall be painted with full gloss, blue, color number 516, except as specified..."

Regarding the damage to the M37s, it looks like both came out ahead in their territorial disputes. ;)
 

Lifer

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Your FEAF Dodge is looking good, Jeff! Wanna come do mine? ;)

Incidentally, if it is the 1951 model shown on your signature, you're OK with the OD. After 1954, however, the correct color would have been blue. In 1958, local commanders were authorized to implement camouflage schemes IF they were in a combat zone and the vehicles were used in a combat role...otherwise they stayed blue. In 1970, all USAF tactical vehicles (i.e. M-series) were to be painted "a lusterless olive drab," and by 1975 the 3-color NATO woodland camo was implemented service-wide. That pretty much describes the color options for M37s during their entire active-duty life cycle.
 

GruntMP

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Hey Lifer! This puts it all into perspective! A little more info than we discussed privately! By the way, the photo at Waterboy radar site on the Vietnam Security Police Asso. website is not clear enough to tell if the truck is OD or blue, but, I found out the logo on the door is the 366 SPS insignia. They were assigned to Waterboy from Da Nang at that time. I can't make up my mind to go with a 'nam scheme or restore to represent my base (Kingsley Field) when the USAF opened it as a fighter base in '57. Either way, these pics and your posts certainly help!
 
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