Quote:
Originally Posted by Ed Storey
Why are Jeeps still being referred to as Pattern this and Pattern that, when they are M series vehicles? M38A1CDN1, CDN2 or CDN3 correctly spells out what the vehicle was. The M151A2 as Pattern 74, really; so I guess that makes the Iltis a Pattern 86....? Following this Pattern logic, what would the CJ7 or the YJ be called? Why the made-up names?
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That Ed is the rivet counter's dilemma. The troops learn what they are taught and tested. The books have full names for everything, but the troops aren't always taught those names. (Who calls an HLVW a Steyr Percheron?) I never heard any soldier call the M151 by that name, and the '67 Pattern was to distinguish the 1950's deliveries from the newer models. What socially self-conscious trooper wants to be singled out as, that smart ass who knows more than the Sergeant?
And just to make things confusing, how often are vehicles with awkward names just called, new something?