Carriers in U.S. Service

[G166UC]

If you look at the two photos above of the carriers modofied by the marines or being used by the marines, they both appear to be T-16s. These vehicles weren"t produced until late 1943, and probably wouldn"t have made it the to theatre of operations until 1944. These vehicles were slated for use by commonwealth forces, and by 1944, the US forces were not short of vehicles. Why would they need a vehicle such as a T-16 which was probably not well suited to the Island hopping campaigns? Does anyone have an original signal corps copy of either of these pictures which will tell where they were taken?
Rod Shaver