October 27, 2009
One of the most widely used items of surplus military equipment is the humble ammo can. Since WW II, many millions of these sturdy cans have found their way into garages and workshops, used for just about anything that fits.
A new section of Olive-Drab.com tells the story, with individual pages of info and photos on the most common kinds:
June 29, 2009
In the history of warfare, the role of horses, mules and other pack animals or cavalry mounts cannot be overestimated. But with the advent of mechanization in the 20th century they all but disappeared.
A new section has been added to Olive-Drab.com with details on the use of animals in the U.S. military as well as the story of how mechanizaion was introduced. The modern role of the few remaining animals is also covered, stimulated by the horse soldiers in Afghanistan in 2001 (mounted SOF riding with the Northern Alliance).
The Military Horses and Mules section starts at the linked page.
April 27, 2009
Additional pages have been added in the section covering Soldier’s uniforms and weather protection from 1980 forward. The new pages include:
The ECWCS page has its own subsection for Gen I, Gen II, and Gen III, of ECWCS.
January 3, 2009
A new page has been added to the WW II War Stories section with the history of the Doolittle Raid, 18 April 1942:
Lt. Col. Doolittle launched B-25B bombers from an aircraft carrier to bomb Tokyo and Nagoya. This near-impossible feat was the first U.S. attack on an enemy power in WW II, coming at a time when all the other news was bad. The American public, still reeling from the Pearl Harbor attack in December 1941, cheered the news.
In addition to the text and photos, be sure to watch some of the video, including original War Department footage and the trailer from the movie “Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo.”
November 17, 2008
Photo pages have been added to the Military Firearms section with photos of individual weapons. These supplemental photos add depth to the material on the main page for each firearm. For example, the page on the M1 Carbine is now supplemented by a page of M1 Carbine photos.
So far, the photo pages have been added for these military weapons:
Pages will be added for other firearms as time permits.
November 10, 2008
The Red Ball Express was an extraordinary logistics operation in Europe during WW II. Thousands of trucks were used like a vast bucket brigade to transport fuel and other supplies to the rapdily advancing front. Nothing like it had ever been done before, but the whole operation was organized and put into motion in a matter of days. Although, like the Pony Express, it was only used for a few months, the Red Ball Express became a legend for its amazing accomplishments.
A new page of Olive-Drab.com (in the War Stories section) presents the facts:
November 6, 2008
New material has been added for this piece of World War II towed artillery:
May 23, 2008
The M37 3/4 ton 4×4 Cargo Truck and its siblings are a family of very tough light trucks, produced starting in the 1950s. Though long replaced in the US military, they are remembered fondly for their rugged reliability and ease of maintenance. Olive-Drab.com has had a few pages on the M37 for years, but now has an expanded section with much more information and photos.
It all starts here: M37 Family of Trucks
Individual pages for specific trucks in the family include:
There is much more to explore. If you have any photos of some of the rare variants, please send them in.
May 14, 2008
New pages have been added to describe the digital camouflage uniforms adopted by the U.S. military in recent years. Here is an index to the new material:
Introduction: U.S. Armed Services’ Digital Camo Uniforms
Detail pages:
May 14, 2008
Olive-Drab.com is ten years old, this month. The domain registration record for the name Olive-Drab.com says that the record was created on 20-May-1998. Starting with a few pages about military jeeps, the site has grown to cover a varied array of military topics with over 1500 pages, thousands of photos and many other features like the web’s largest list of military suppliers.
Many thanks to everyone who has helped add to the site content, making it much richer than I could do alone. People who have taken the time to provide additional information or to correct errors are much appreciated as they have increased the value to all visitors.
What will the next ten years bring? As they say, stay tuned!
Chuck Chriss
Editor
Olive-Drab.com
