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.From what I can remember, the markings on the bumpers are as follows:
A rectangle around the number meant it was part of FSSG (Force Service Support Group)
A diamond around the number meant it was a Division unit vehicle. In the M151s case 2nd Marine Division
Now the number…….
2542 on the M51A2 is 8th Engineer Support Battalion 2nd FSSG
2134 would be a grunt unit of 2nd Marine Division
2533 on the M54A2C is A Company 8th Motor Transport Battalion 2nd FSSG
These vehicles are from Camp Lejeune, NC
I was with 8th Motors in the mid to late 80s.
Now the colored squares on the bumpers likely were for staging purposes. When there was a deployment or a “float” as we called it, the parent company would “loan” both Marines and corresponding equipment to the deployment. As for the vehicles, they were crowded onto cargo ships in no particular order. When they arrived at their destination country or port, advanced party Marines (who flew over and had every vehicle endorsement on their government license) unloaded the ships. Not knowing unit numbers, the drivers would just take their red coded vehicle to the red staging area and so on, so when the Navy ships full of Marine units arrived later, they could go to the proper staging area to retrieve their equipment. Going back to Camp Lejeune after the operation, the opposite happened. There were other ways of doing this also, like a paper in the window, but color coding was easiest. Hope this helps you……..
219th Area Support GroupGood evening guys I need help decoding bumper markings on an M816 wrecker. Passenger side says "219 ASG HHC" Driver's side says " HHC 116-07" does anyone know what it all stands for? Thank you
Joe
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