Military Vehicles, December 1996,: Ft McCoy Military Vehicle Thefts

Ft McCoy Military Vehicle Thefts

Jim Rice (RiceJ@silltcmd-smtp.army.mil)
Tue, 17 Dec 1996 13:56:43 -0600

For those wondering about the Ft. McCoy incident I mentioned, it is
covered in the Current MV magazine (hint, hint) as well as having been
mentioned in a couple of other publications. The bottom line is that
Department of the Army Civilians were stealing surplus/obsolete vehicles
bound for the cutting torch or to a life as a target on the local range.
These guys went so far as to requisition vehicles from other installations
to round out their wish list. The list of vehicles is extensive up to and
including a Sheridan Light tank. There was somewhere in the
neighborhood of $37 million worth of equipment involved. I don't have all
the details, but I think it was a group of seven civilians, including the post
range chief.

These guys were stealing the vehicles and targeting the Military Vehicle
Collector Groups to sell to. Needless to say, this has the government's
undivided attention. We need to be vigilant to keep the government from
simply deciding that private ownership of former military vehicles is
prohibited. At a minimum they may follow along the 1968 Gun Control Act
lines which will tax the priviledge to own a vehicle and require extensive
paperwork to transfer from individual to individual or even limit who can
own or transport. Yeah, this sounds pretty drastic, but who, in 1967,
would have thought this would happen with weapons in 1968.

You might ask, how do we keep this from happening. First, we must be
represented by a single collective voice. The firearms weapons folks
have the National Rifle Association (NRA) which is quite a force to be
reckonned with, military vehicle collectors have the MVPA. Face it, to
many citizens, if you drive an old jeep, much less armored car, you must
be part of a militia. THIS COULD NOT BE FURTHER FROM THE TRUTH.
Again, we have the MVPA as a single collective voice. Without unity of
effort, we will fail when the decision to end private ownership of former
military vehicles is made.

Jim Rice

>>> Carter Ledbetter <308nato@one.net> 12/17/96 11:42am >>>
On Tue, 17 Dec 1996 09:32:59 -0600, you wrote:
<snip>
It won't take too many incidents like the Ft
>McCoy fiasco to make the government decided that private citizens
>should not have the old vehicles. MVPA is our collective voice to
protect
>our interest.
<snip>

er, WHAT Ft McCoy incident? Inquiring minds want to know!

Carter Ledbetter
308nato@one.net
Cincinnati, OH

still serving...