Weird serial numbers on this M151A1 ?

[rickf]

I would love to own that Bell, if I had the Money.
I was talking to a expert on Vin numbers and Budd plates being faked. He made a very good reason, especially ones on the road in the USA. A lot of them were "borrowed" or driven off bases (stolen). The then (theft) owner desired to hide it's real id and that is why so many are fake out there.
Good news though, if it has a State title it is best to leave it alone and be happy. Cheers !!

Ok, expert huh?. Have you ever read the volumes of history information regarding the 151 and the reasons for the missing data plates and body tags? The main one being that the govt. removed them in a lot of cases as part of the demill process.

[acudanut]

No Rick. However this scenario makes better sense imo.

[rickf]

You don't simply drive off of a military base in a military vehicle without papers. I don't know about your time in but in my time if you had a vehicle it was signed out to you and if you had to leave base for any reason you didn't get through the gate without papers saying why and where you were going. Same with today. So if someone drove off base in a M151 and did not come back with it then they went to Leavenworth!

[acudanut]

Well the MP's never stopped us leaving base, but coming back in was another story.
Another likely senerio would be DRMO removed them and claimed to have crushed them.

[Mark]

Here's my say; if going thru the front gate individually alone, then the MPs would check your trip ticket, if in a convoy the OIC/NCOIC would show the them the orders, etc. they would get checked out, then wave them thru.Of course, there were back ways in, still someone was watching, the base was a controlled environment like everything else.This is being in garrison, in the field it's a different story
I would say today even more so.
But I am an old man who remembers only what I can.LOL!!

[acudanut]

Trip tickets back the the 80's were a joke. I made my own.

[Mark]

everything was relative to the situation, but no trip ticket meant no authorization to drive the vehicle.(garrison)

[1SGCAV77]

Trip ticket was a must item in garrison. Those of us that had a rocker or two we knew better if we wanted to keep those strips.
Those that didn’t have rank above E-5....they knew better too. At least in units I was assigned to.

While stationed at Ft Hood in late 70’s “brass thieves” were known to steal vehicles from ranges. There was a guy just outside North Ft. Hood had a 5 quarter (forget the M number) and several M151 series jeeps scattered around his place. He was a known “brass thief”. So the story was he used these vehicles to steal at night. Should range control get after him, just abandon the vehicle, run into the brush.

[m3a1]

Kabul Military Training Center (KMTC) had some brass thieves. Guard posts out by the ranges consisted of old Russian vehicles such as you see here.

Afghan, 10-08 083.JPG

Afghan, 10-08 086.JPG

KMTC was a HUGE place and the roads through KMTC were used by the locals. Naturally, the night-time guards didn't consist of 'the sharpest crayons in the box' so you know they were goofing off every chance they got. Well, somebody didn't watch our scheduled range very close because some "brass thieves" blew themselves up whilst planting a landmine on the range we were to use for quals the following day. OOPS.

Obviously we didn't get to use the range, as it had not yet been swept. The best excuse the Afghan Army could come up with was two fellows must have built a fire directly over a landmine.

Yeah, ri-i-i-i-i-ght.

I always enjoyed going out there and always dreamed of arranging to bring something home and I knew just the right people to make it happen. Fortunately, Aghanistan's General Daud was a murderous thug and not really the kind of person a red-blooded American boy should enter into negotiations with, so it never happened. But, Oh BOY, talk about Toyland!

Afghan, 10-08 091.JPG

Cheers,
TJ

[rickf]

Only a single sidearm? Must have felt comfy and cozy that day. Is that a 60 with a custom stock on it?

[m3a1]

This was taken on a range day at KMTC. I'm off the line and we have perimeter security set up with clear lines of sight in every direction so I'm as safe as I would be in my mother's arms.

That's the Range Guard's PKM, by the way, and he has been instructed not to go anywhere NEAR that weapon while we are on the range. If he did, he'd be shot full of holes before he got a round off. But we were nice guys and we always brought the guards food....the purpose of which was to keep them busy eating, rather than getting into mischief.

You can't buy an Afghan's loyalty but you can darned sure RENT IT!

Cheers,
TJ

[rickf]

Never had any experience with the PKM so I just did some research on it. 17 lbs.! Well, that certainly beats the 23lbs. for the M60. Then I saw who designed it and I realized this gun is indestructible. They will be around long after we are gone.

[acudanut]

LOL, I posted this at least 10 years ago. My buddies and I pushed an A2 off of a Live Morter Range in 1985. We then towed it a bit, put gas and oil in it and drove it around a bit on the weekends..When we had our fun, we tried it hide in, it the brush (on base) but was found by a Infantry squad practicing maneuvers. The NSA got involved and questioned everyone. "we knew nothing" lol. Those dumb arses thought it swam back from Hawaii. I should have just driven it off base, but I was too scared, and I liked my stripes. Ahh, the good ole days.