[Lang]

Mike

A lot of things on the forum point to people who have never been in the military thinking minute rules laid down are strictly adhered to.

Many rules and instructions, being quoted as justification for something happening, were, and still are, completely ignored (if the troops are ever aware of them). The military is a living working being subject to all the forces of the general community and many instructions are treated with "better things to do with our time" response.

A case in point is reenactors dressed to perfection in all the prescribed uniform and kit of the period. If you look carefully any photo of a group of 10 soldiers in the field, not on parade, of any army, it will show 10 different variations in dress and equipment and not one of them down to the last button shown in the equipment manual photos.

The current discussion on paint colour and schemes is an academic exercise as you will be hard pushed to find photos of any working WW2 vehicle in the field correctly marked down to the last red nut on the CMP wheels let alone a whole gaggle of them going somewhere all identical. They may seem identical but start to look at how the tarps are tied down, where names, numbers and plates are, lettering style and size, whether directional tyres are on the right way etc etc.

The longer they are in units, the greater the local changes and differences from any updated regulations which are generally ignored or at least delayed until convenient.

We need the researchers to give us the background but what is written is far from what is done.

Lang