Military Vehicle Quick Start

This Military Vehicle Quick Start page lists the key things you can do right away to get into the world of Military Vehicles. In addition to studying the extensive material on Olive-Drab.com, if you want to find out the 'who, what, when, where, and how' of MVs, this is how you do it.

Pfc. Jason Jenkins, from Provisional Reconstruction Team Farah, International Security Assistance Force, mans M2 Machine Gun atop his HMMWV during a mission to Kinesk in Farah Province, Afghanistan, 24 August 2005.

Today in WW II: 17 Sep 1939 Soviet troops invade Poland from the east. More ↓

17 Sep 1944 Thousands of Allied planes begin airborne assault on Holland, Operation Market Garden.
Visit the Olive-Drab.com World War II Timeline for day-by-day events 1939-1945! See also WW2 Books.

Getting Started with Military Vehicles

This list lays out the seven things you should do right away to get off to a good start with military vehicles:

1. Join the MVPA. The Military Vehicle Preservation Association is the leading world-wide organization serving the interests of people involved with military vehicles for any reason. At their web site you will find many valuable resources. They also have a magazine Army Motors and newsletter Supply Line. I have been a member since 1976 and I strongly urge you to join up now and support them!
2. Subscribe to Military Vehicles Magazine. Between this magazine and the publications you get as an MVPA member, you have the major bases covered. This is a "must have". [Another excellent choice, especially if you are based in Europe, is Military Machines International -- see the Olive-Drab.com page on magazines.]	Logo of Military Vehicles Magazine
3. Join a Military Vehicle Internet mailing list or forum. This is the quickest and best way to find out what is going on and to establish contact with experienced people who can help you get started.
4. Go to MVPA local chapter meetings as well as regional and national events. Click on this picture of a regional MVPA convention in Massachusetts to go to a list of events maintained on the Military Vehicles magazine web site. Check the MVPA web site (Upcoming Events section) and the magazines for more. Especially in the summer, there is something going on all the time. Sign up and go!
5. Get a Portrayal Press catalog. This publisher is the leading provider of military publications including originals and reprints of hundreds of manuals related to military vehicles.
6. Investigate the sources for direct sales by the U.S. Government. Full details on the Olive-Drab.com page on Government Auctions.
7. Check out Military Vehicle Dealers in the Olive-Drab.com Supplier Database and the advertisers who appear on the site pages. Photo: Courtesy White Owl Parts Co. Inc.

Through the Internet forums or mailing lists, MVPA chapters and events you can meet people who own and/or have worked on vehicles which match your interests. That is how you get the unbiased advice you need, from people who have no financial interest in selling you the vehicle, parts, or service. There are many good-hearted men and women who have been in this hobby for a long time and who can and will tell you what you need to know based on hands-on experience. Study the technical materials in the manuals and magazines, then with a little effort and an open mind on your part, these contacts will put you on very solid ground very rapidly.

Be sure to read Wanna Buy a Truck? on the linked page.

Find additional photos and hi-res versions of military vehicles of all types at the Olive-Drab Military Mashup:

T6 Medium Tank, fitted with 75mm M2 cannon with a counterweight at the end of the barrel, probably located at Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD, circa September 1941. The T6 was a prototype of the M4 Sherman medium tank, standardized in October 1941 after some changes to the T6.

M919 Mobile Concrete Truck, Texas Military Forces Museum, Camp Mabry, TX.

The number of civilians in the Ordnance Department grew during World War II from 27,088 to 262,000. Women Ordnance Workers (WOWs) like these accounted for approximately 85,000 of the civilian workforce. Truck appears to be a Dodge VC-1 1/2-ton 4x4.

M-110A2 8in Self-propelled Howitzer at the US Marine Corps Mechanized Museum, Camp Pendleton, CA.

US Army MGR-3 Little John free-flight artillery rocket/missile, 23 October 1956.

Members of Co C, 84th Engineer Const Bn, US 8th Army, use a crawler crane to lower a 40 foot steel pile into water to be power driven 22 feet into the Imjin River bed during the reconstruction of the Freedom Gate Bridge at Munsan-ni, Korea, 16 October 1952.

Find More Information on the Internet

There are many fine websites that have additional information on this topic, too many to list here and too many to keep up with as they come and go. Use this Google web search form to get an up to date report of what's out there.

For good results, try entering this: jeep military or army. Then click the Search button.