tklm539
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I have seen several pictures of CUCV's with an upside down V on the doors. Can anyone tell me what it means?
Thanks
Tom
Thanks
Tom
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CUCV Markings
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ida34
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It denotes a coalition vehicle from the first gulf war at least. I am not sure of the use since then. The Vs were painted on all vehicles.
tklm539
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thanks for the info
Tom
Tom
Bigmick
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It's the Arabic number eight, painted on all coalition vehicles at the last minute, in transit to the gulf or in theatre. 1001 variations as they were applied with stencils, freehand, masking tape, marker pen, whatever was to hand.
The sideways chevrons pointing forward are from UK Op Telic through to OIF.
The sideways chevrons pointing forward are from UK Op Telic through to OIF.
Sarge
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Upside down V
Well, you asked what it means, so here goes.....
In the first Gulf War (aka Desert Storm) we had a serious problem with vehicle recognition.
The coalition consisted of 26 nations united against Saddam. 26 nations meant 26 different types of vehicles, well actually it was about 18 different types of vehicles, but that is another story.
That means a lot of confusion when the bullets and missiles started going off. When an A-10 warthog or a Longbow Apache has a target in his sites, he often only has a split second to decide whether to engage or not. If he makes a mistaken identification, a lot of allied troops will die. Not just aircraft but also ground engagements had this same problem. It's called "Friendly Fire", and let me tell you, there is nothing 'Friendly' about it.
It is just as deadly as enemy fire, probably more deadly, because we definitely had the better weapons and vastly superior aiming equipment. So it boils down to the man on the trigger making the right decision. Mistakes were made, ask the Brits.
You think it's easy to identify an enemy from a friendly vehicle in a firefight? Then you've never been in a firefight.
So, the bottom line is........
We painted the 'V' on the vehicle as an easily identifiable marker which meant "do NOT shoot at me!!!"
That's it, that is all it meant. The Iraqi's did not cotton on and paint their vehicles with the same mark, nobody knows why not. Well, I grew up in Abu Dhabi, so I have a good idea why not, but I'll not expound.
Today, the V is no longer used, instead IR recognition panels are used. The reason you never see the IR panels in DRMO or GL is because they are a restricted item. There is a very good reason for restricting them, I don't need to explain any further.
-Sarge out
Well, you asked what it means, so here goes.....
In the first Gulf War (aka Desert Storm) we had a serious problem with vehicle recognition.
The coalition consisted of 26 nations united against Saddam. 26 nations meant 26 different types of vehicles, well actually it was about 18 different types of vehicles, but that is another story.
That means a lot of confusion when the bullets and missiles started going off. When an A-10 warthog or a Longbow Apache has a target in his sites, he often only has a split second to decide whether to engage or not. If he makes a mistaken identification, a lot of allied troops will die. Not just aircraft but also ground engagements had this same problem. It's called "Friendly Fire", and let me tell you, there is nothing 'Friendly' about it.
It is just as deadly as enemy fire, probably more deadly, because we definitely had the better weapons and vastly superior aiming equipment. So it boils down to the man on the trigger making the right decision. Mistakes were made, ask the Brits.
You think it's easy to identify an enemy from a friendly vehicle in a firefight? Then you've never been in a firefight.
So, the bottom line is........
We painted the 'V' on the vehicle as an easily identifiable marker which meant "do NOT shoot at me!!!"
That's it, that is all it meant. The Iraqi's did not cotton on and paint their vehicles with the same mark, nobody knows why not. Well, I grew up in Abu Dhabi, so I have a good idea why not, but I'll not expound.
Today, the V is no longer used, instead IR recognition panels are used. The reason you never see the IR panels in DRMO or GL is because they are a restricted item. There is a very good reason for restricting them, I don't need to explain any further.
-Sarge out