Actually, we are in the process of learning all sorts of things about the truck. It was only surplussed because it was getting difficult to buy parts. We found Memphis Equipment papers in the glove box where ignition specifications were provided as well as other "settings" information. The surplus justification was largely that manuals were no longer available and parts had to be purchased through collectors sources. While we bid on the truck at Barstow GL, the paper work for the transfer indicated it came from Yuma Proving Ground. I managed a contact with the curator of their Heritage Museum and he has been kind enough to research the history of our truck. It is a research still in progress, but given the Garrison is staffed with civilian researchers who are fairly long term he has been able to find people who remember the truck and what it did. The white color may have been originally the fleet color of "Harry Diamond Laboratories" or it may have been painted white to reflect some of the desert heat and make it a little more visible on the range. Initially it was used to collect telemetry data on the range. It was used most of its history on Artillery research and in the later time frames , rather than collecting data, it was used as a conference center on the range. Its value was that it had dual air conditioners and its own generator out in the middle of range somewhere. We did not get the generator set up with the truck, but we are working on something in one of our M105's