Vehicles procured by the US Army generally fall into two types - Tactical or Administrative.

Tactical military units deploy from the base where they are located in order to perform their assigned mission. Manpower and equipment for tactical military units are authorized by the Table of Organization and Equipment (TOE). Each soldier in a TOE unit - from the General down to the last Private is specified on a line in the TOE that includes the authorized rank (pay grade) and Military Occupational Specialty (the job for which the soldier was trained). Thus, a soldier in a Tactical Military Unit could be identified by the specific TOE, the Paragraph of the section, and the line number which specified and AUTHORIZED him or her. This was also true of each piece of equipment issued to the soldier and his section. This included weapons and tactical vehicles. Each tactical vehicle was identified by type, size, and special equipment - TRUCK, ¾ ton, 4x4, w/winch - for example. No personnel or equipment that was not listed in the TOE could be assigned to a unit or deployed with it.

In actual practice, seemingly identical units were often assigned slightly different missions so the TOE's were customized and called Modified Table of Organization and Equipment (MTOE).

Generally, most other soldiers that were not assigned to a tactical military unit were assigned to duties that supported the overall mission of the Army. These included functions such as recruiting, general administration, providing housing, operating and maintaining training facilities and doing all the things that kept the Army going while tactical troops were deployed to perform their primary mission. For the purposes of this discussion we will refer to these duties as Administrative, however these duties were equally critical. These “administrative” soldiers were assigned to these critical duties in many types of military organizations and at all levels. Many were in “task organized” commands that functioned in office environments. Some performed in laboratory environments.

To simplify this discussion about the two types of vehicles, we will look at the soldiers that are closest to the tactical troops. These are the soldiers that operate the bases where the tactical troops are housed and trained when they are not deployed. They take care of logistical support - upper levels of vehicle and equipment repair or replacement. They replenish all expendable supplies and insure that the tactical troops are ready to deploy. These “administrative” soldiers at the “garrison” are authorized by a Table of Distribution and Allowances (TDA). The TDA is similar to a TOE/MTOE in that the manning is specified as is equipment to support “administrative” type functions. A TDA authorizes desks and computers but does not list weapons or vehicles. In fact, when tactical soldiers are not deployed and have certain “administrative” tasks to perform, they draw those things they need from the garrison’s TDA.

Usually there are no vehicles specified for a TDA init. Vehicles needed by TDA units are dispatched to them by a central Administrative Motor Pool (Admin MP). The Admin MP was a function of the commander of a post or garrison which had the mission of providing housing and training facilities for tactical units. Typically they are dispatched on a comparatively short term basis to meet a specific requirement. “We need two busses to transport tactical soldiers to a special training event next Thursday.”

A TOE/MTOE unit might request a vehicle from the Admin MP for certain requirements such as carrying VIP's when the available tactical vehicles were not suitable. Many General Officers in TOE/MTOE units had the use of a sedan from the Admin MP because their authorized tactical vehicles were not comfortable.

The vehicles in the Admin MP were almost exclusively civilian type vehicles procured from the various manufacturers. As always in the Army, there was a suggested list of vehicles to meet a standard set of requirements. Typical were sedans, station wagons, light pickup trucks, vans and stake bodied medium trucks, and busses. These were generally two wheel drive vehicles.

When a unit or agency supported by the Admin MP had a valid, recurring requirement that could not be met by the usual vehicles, the Admin MP would go through usual procurement procedures and obtain these unique vehicles. Here's where civilian The “Sweptside” Power Wagons showed up.

Normally, Admin MP vehicles were painted gloss OD and were marked with the Army registration number on the doors along with the words, "FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY".

It was also common for Admin MP vehicles to display Army license/registration plates on the same front and rear brackets used to display civilian license/registration plates. The Army plates were the same size and shape as their civilian counterparts. They usually were white with "US ARMY" and the vehicle Army registration number below it all in black letters.

Admin MP vehicles were not permitted to deploy with TOE/MTOE units, so it would have been unlikely that any ever saw combat.

If you want to have any authentic markings on your non-tactical truck, they would be as described above. No unit BUMPER NUMBERS, and NO STAR.

A point of interest… The Army has gone almost exclusively to rented vehicles for administrative use. Some are contracted from regular car/truck leasing companies. And a few may still be obtained from General Services Administration assets.

There has been a lot of discussion on military vehicle collector forums about the movies showing the M37’s fielded to the US Army in the early fifties with various German markings and hauling “movie” soldiers doing WWII stuff. In the past, military reenactors would paint a 1958 Chevvie pickup OD or grey and apply a star or swastika and pretend it was okay to use in what ever year they were portraying. Now the governing bodies for reenacting have begun to insist that there should be historic accuracy in vehicles and equipment.

I have watched “Cars” many times and I was surprised at the historical accuracy in a kids cartoon.