An interesting take from our friend Michael Yon in the National Review on the story we ran yesterday about painting Strykers desert tan...
The Strykers currently in Afghanistan probably should be painted brown, but it is not true that the military dragged through these years without noticing, or that Gates, Petraeus, McChrystal, Mellinger, and Prosser didn’t ask for something they needed. Stars & Stripes plays a valuable role as a military watchdog, but this time, they’re barking up the wrong tree.
Yon has spent a lot of time in the shit, so his analysis should be taken with a huge amount of credence. But I will say, even though he argues the Strykers have been operating in Iraq without the desert tan to great effect for years, it doesn't make sense to me that it took this long to get in gear and paint them to match the environment. I was with a Stryker unit in Baquba back in Jan. '08 and I will say the green camo vehicles stuck out like a sore thumb.
Now I'll agree with Yon that if the CSM and CG wanted them painted tan, they'd be tan in a jiffy. The vehicles were frequently used as transport of senior staff on the battlefield and you can bet a dollar for doughnuts they'd want their vehicle draped in the best camo scheme possible.
-- Christian
