Cfr 70-08889

[Jon Skagfeld]

Chris: Both 302Trooper and I are correct about call signs.

As 302 Trooper posted, 89 is the OC HQ Sqn in an Armoured unit, whilst 89 is also OC Admin Coy in an infantry unit.

In order to distinguish just who is who on, for example, a joint infantry/armoured cooperative tasking, arm indicators are used.

So, if an infantry unit and an armoured unit were participating in a joint mission, how could anyone figure out who was who, since they had the same call sign.

That's where arm indicators come in.

The prefix India or Kilo are used for infantry; the prefix Tango or Uniform are used for armour, i.e.

OC HQ Sqn Armoured unit wants to communicate with OC Admin Coy Infantry unit the process would be:

I89 this is T89, blah, blah, blah, over...

References:
B-GL-011-00E/FT-K01.

ACP 125 CANSUPP-1(B)

I guess this sorta explains why the side mounted GPMG was there.

[rob love]

The GPMG mount was only for the militia light recce. They were not for regular force units, and within the militia unit they were not really meant for the OC of HQ. The particular militia unit I was with had 15 or 20 M38A1 with the GPMG mounts and wire cutters for the fighting troops, and 3 M151A2s with only IKEEs for the officers.

As well, with the high VOR rates of militia jeeps back then, it was not common for them to have call signs painted on them (still isn't today) because they were generally applied in chalk at the beginning of an ex, when you knew how many jeeps you had and how many troopers showed up.

For that matter, it is rare to see callsigns on any militia vehicle. That is how you can tell a convoy of militia LSVWs and MLVWs from a convoy of regular force trucks....call signs and radio antenna.

When I was in Gagetown back in 1980 I think I did see a M151A2 with a GPMG mount in Cougar support squadron. Made no sense since the mount should not have been in a regular force unit, nor should it have been mounted on a M151A2.

[Scott Bentley]

Originally Posted by rob love

For that matter, it is rare to see callsigns on any militia vehicle. That is how you can tell a convoy of militia LSVWs and MLVWs from a convoy of regular force trucks....call signs and radio antenna.

Isn't that the truth....

The Reserve "Regiment" where I am currently posted (RSS) had three man-packable and one vehicle mounted radio when I arrived. Its a bit better now, but not much. Lots of driving around with the whip out the window of the MILCOT.

[chris vickery]

Whenever you are back online with the EDR I am eager to see what mysteries we can unravel regarding this jeep!
Thanks as always, Chris

[45jim]

I drove crazy eights while in the Lorne Scots and it never had a pedestal mount, or any gun mount for that matter. We being an Infantry unit had no need for a mount as we didn't have a single .50, just the old GPMG. None of the jeeps in the unit, or any other unit in HMD had one at the time. Friends in the Queens York Rangers lamented the fact of just having the side mounted Pig. Looking backward through rose tinted glasses me thinks.

The only pedestal mounts I ever saw were on cut up M38A1's in Cyprus. They were sitting on the bottom of the Med in a pile. We had the Iltis on my Cyprus tour but plenty of two-timers remembered firing .50 from the M38A1's from the pedestal and said it almost shook those old jeeps to pieces and was as stiff as a noodle, not a good mount for such an accurate gun.

Chris, I think you should forget the call sign thing, its just wishful thinking. Its really accurate to say that depending on who showed up and how many vehicles were available that weekend, would be the determining factor as to what callsign was given to a specific vehicle. And when talking command call signs, they were assigned to the person not the vehicle. If the vehicle broke down and he moved to another vehicle, he took his call sign with him.

[chris vickery]

Respectfully, Jon and others, but my post is starting to wander.
How did we get on to pedestal mounts? AFAIK, a pedestal is a mount in the back of a vehicle and no where did I bring this up in my query.
What I did indicate was the presence of the side mounted GPMG mount, typical of Militia jeeps.
I did also note today when looking at my jeep, that it has the wire guard on the back floor to protect the radio cable running from passenger side to driver side. Was this part of the dual setup or was it also used because radio mounting location had been changed from passenger to driver side?
I know the power supply comes in just behind the passenger seat and it is still there. Maybe radio types/ veh techs might have some answers, Rob, Jon???

[rob love]

The wire guard on the floor was not unusual. It could indicate mounting of a radio on the left fender vs the right, and may have nothing to do with dual IKEE setup.


As to wandering threads on MLU???? Never happens.