Quote:
Originally Posted by Bladewire
DoD: Military vehicles flying Trump flag in Louisville not driven by active unit, Defense Department says
“These are not U.S. military vehicles,” Davis said. “They are Humvees, but there’s no unit designator on there. In the Army, if we go out we have our vehicles identified.”
Active military vehicles are marked with identification of the units to which they are assigned, Davis said. It’s generally spray painted on the bumpers of the vehicles, but the ones caught on video Sunday had no such markings.
The “Trump” flag would also not be flown on an active military vehicle, Davis said. Some military vehicles will have an American flag or a unit flag, but never a flag endorsing an individual.
The Kentucky National Guard said Monday that the vehicles did not belong to them.
A convoy of Humvees seen flying a Trump campaign flag in Louisville on Sunday were not active military vehicles, according to the Department of Defense.
Eight to 10 vehicles were seen traveling northbound on Interstate 65 about 11:30 a.m. Sunday, according to Steve Thompson, 32, of Shepherdsville. Thompson took a video of the vehicles as they passed by him between the John Harper Highway and Gene Snyder Freeway exits. It and another video have generated much discussion on Facebook and Reddit because of the politically oriented flag that would normally not be allowed on vehicles being used by a military unit.
The vehicles were probably used by the military at one time, but are no longer being operated by current U.S. military members, Department of Defense spokesman Maj. Jamie Davis said Tuesday. It’s possible they were sold to civilians after being retired from active use by the military.
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That's a BS story by the DoD.. None of these vehicles had license plates which would be required if they are registered to private groups or people and yes they did have some sort of unit id/identification on their doors it just couldn't be read/identified in the blurry video.
That alone means it's extremely likely those were "active" military issued vehicles. It's illegal for any person or group to roam the highways in un-tagged/registered vehicles.
Also another issue is those Humvees had armored doors. Those doors/windows are very expensive and I've yet to ever see a Military Humvee sold that the armored doors were left on. Not saying it hasn't happened but I've never seen it. Almost always those doors are taken off before it's sold.
This leaves 2 options...
1) The DoD doesn't know what they are talking about and have not verified all facts to do research on what unit it was(likely) or they are lying (unlikely)
2) It was a private military contractor transporting them on the highway illegally or some rogue group who managed to buy armored Humvees and is driving them illegally..
EDIt watching it again is further proof the DOD is full of shit. the very 1st & 2nd Humvee have clearly marked id numbers on the backs. 94-77575 is the Humvee with the flag.. DoD is lying or didn't fact check before claiming this..
edit again.
Looked a bit more.. Seems the above wasn't issued by the DoD but rather a Kentucky Military base claiming it wasn't theirs.. It turns out they are Navy Seal Team and I'm betting someone is in some trouble...
"The convoy were service members assigned to an East Coast-based Naval Special Warfare unit driving vehicles while transiting between two training locations," Lieutenant Jacqui Maxwell, a spokesperson for Naval Special Warfare Group 2, told ABC News. Naval Special Warfare Units is the official Navy term for its elite SEAL special operations teams.
Military Convoy Flying Trump Flag Belonged to SEAL Unit - ABC News