Is parking a Humvee with the hood open while in the field a thing?

CW2 Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 26 Jun 2016 04:05:55 -0400

Back in the day when we would goto the field we were told to park our Humvees with the hood open to prevent detection from the glare off the windshield.

Has anyone one else heard of this? I've never seen it done since.

Response by TSgt Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 26 at 2016 4:09 AM

TSgt Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 26 Jun 2016 04:09:10 -0400

It's a viable strategy, but in all honesty your headlights will give off glare, any tiny metal and your windows on the side can't be covered without camo netting. It's easier just to have camo nets rolled up on each side (Including the front) and deploy it when digging in.

Response by LTC Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 26 at 2016 8:21 AM

LTC Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 26 Jun 2016 08:21:15 -0400

Never even heard of this one.

Response by MSgt Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 26 at 2016 2:11 PM

MSgt Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 26 Jun 2016 14:11:02 -0400

Never heard of it and we never practiced it.

Response by 1SG Charles Hunter made Jun 26 at 2016 6:26 PM

1SG Charles Hunter — Sun, 26 Jun 2016 18:26:09 -0400

We always did it with our 1/4 ton jeeps and other tactical vehicles. The windshield is the largest reflective surface on your vehicle, and reflections can reveal your position to your enemies.

Response by SSG Rickey Nelson made Jun 26 at 2016 7:05 PM

SSG Rickey Nelson — Sun, 26 Jun 2016 19:05:11 -0400

We did not open our hoods. If you have to move out quickly then you had to secure your hood before you could move wasting time. We had sandbags for the headlights and canvas for the windshields.

Response by SSgt Dan Montague made Jun 26 at 2016 7:50 PM

SSgt Dan Montague — Sun, 26 Jun 2016 19:50:08 -0400

I was in the artillery. If we could put our rubber sleeping matt in the window it was faster to move out. If not, we opened our hoods as well.

Response by GySgt Joe Strong made Jun 27 at 2016 12:59 PM

GySgt Joe Strong — Mon, 27 Jun 2016 12:59:05 -0400

80's & 90's. We carried Camo bags on the roof and would open the bag flap and drop it over the windshield. if we had an actual "got to go now" moment, we had them rigged with 550 cord so we could flop them back over the top.

Response by CW4 Gary Hamlin made Jun 27 at 2016 5:23 PM

CW4 Gary Hamlin — Mon, 27 Jun 2016 17:23:46 -0400

yes it was standing operating procedure while in the field.

Response by SFC John Hill made Jun 27 at 2016 10:26 PM

SFC John Hill — Mon, 27 Jun 2016 22:26:35 -0400

Nope, as part of the "30 Minute Drill" putting the camo nets up was in the SOP!

Response by SGT Keith Woodward made Jun 28 at 2016 7:26 AM

SGT Keith Woodward — Tue, 28 Jun 2016 07:26:26 -0400

Yes for the tactical vehicles and 2 1/2 ton trucks. 5 ton and Hemmit's we had camp bags strapped to the roof for deployment. Every Unit on Bragg did it in the 90s.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 28 at 2016 9:08 AM

SFC Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 28 Jun 2016 09:08:56 -0400

Yes we did this.

Response by SFC J Fullerton made Jun 30 at 2016 4:53 PM

SFC J Fullerton — Thu, 30 Jun 2016 16:53:25 -0400

I was in the old 9th Infantry Division (Motorized) at Ft. Lewis in the 80's when HMMWV's were still fairly new, and it was SOP to raise the hood when parked in a tactical environment. Later units I was in we had rolled up burlap that we would unroll to cover the windshield.