"The Rise and Fall of the Humvee" Topic

Various militaries have given the world plenty of interesting vehicles, but few reach elite status as cultural icons. It's nearly impossible to think about World War I without remembering Britain's Mk IV tank; no movie about Vietnam is complete without a UH-1 and "Fortunate Son." Likewise, the mental picture of American service members in the Middle East will always include a Humvee…

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Having been assigned both a M151 and the Humvee in my military career, I regard them as useful. Absolutely low maintenance for the Jeep. It's use for quick supply was invaluable. As a platoon leader, radio replacement here, a few boxes of ammo and cases of c ration were always in my Jeep. Mine was crowded with three crew. That was a big difference between the Jeep and Humvee. The space for crew gear and supplies were vastly increased.
Purpose of Humvee as a supply and troop transport and not a combat vehicle. When roles change modifications and new vehicles become a must.

I'll never forget when my battalion in Korea switched from the M151 to the Humvee. Big sad faces all around for two reasons:

(1) The switchover ratio was one Humvee for every two jeeps turned in. So with a lot fewer light wheeled vehicles the powers that be were a lot stricter on who could check out a vehicle and for what purpose. Trips got consolidated and more closely scrutinized.

(2) The M151 could do a 3-point turnaround on the narrowest of lanes, or the larger earthen dikes between rice paddies, but the Humvee was just about as wide as a deuce-and-a-half so if you took a wrong turn you had to go all the way to a major (by rural South Korean standards) road to turn around.

My last three months, however, I was the XO for Echo company (the antitank company) and by special dispensation I got to keep my M151. What a fun little vehicle to drive!

Going big was not always the solution.
Harder to maintain, move, repair and tow around.
A bigger target too.
Moving a stuck vehicle was easier when it was a lightweight little M38 or M151.

Humvee size and weight usually meant vehicle tow.

Funny I remember when they started appearing. One of the first uses was to by rebels/cia to attack commie targets in Angola using the TOW. Anyone else remember the US senate panic over having such advanced tech falling into commie hands?

151s are just cooler, in my opinion. I popped the clutch on the jeep range and the drill's hat flew off his head! That's still funny over 40 years later.

Our driver instructors taught us how to shift gears by holding an open cup of scalding coffee over our thighs as we drove.

Smooth accelerations and gear shifting became smooth incredibly fast in our learning curve.

I would have been in the burn ward.

Love my MUTTS!

I learned to drive a stick in the Navy. One day out of the blue I got duty driver. The OD told me to take these guys to the air terminal. I hopped in and was confronted with a three on the tree. We never got out of second gear.

I was in Berlin when my platoon transitioned from jeeps to humvees. I always liked the jeep for the narrow allyways but the humvee looked more impressive at check point charlie!

Joe