Why are some of the dates printed on the photos from 1991,1995,1997? Don't flame me, just asking....
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Probably that's when they were taken. I've seen these same pictures for several years now.
When a US unit goes on a UN mission it goes something like this:
The unit gets tasked to go to BFE for whatever stupid ass UN mission it is. They start planning, get specialized training (like countermine, or whatever) for their type of unit and their particular mission. This is pretty much the same for any deployment.
They paint their vehicles white (if they need to, depends on the mission) with the black "UN" and draw mission specific equipment(like blue beenies, etc). Again this is SOP for any deployment UN or not. If a unit deploys to Kuwait, they paint their vehicles tan and get dessert stuff. If they deploy to the Arctic, they paint stuff white and get Arctic stuff. With UN it's UN stuff.
They load their stuff up on whatever they are using and deploy. This can be purchase trasport to a port, convoy to the airfield for air movement, convoy to rail-head for rail to port, etc. Frequently it's a combination of everything, because different equipment requires different handling. Yet again, this is SOP for a deployment. We moved the equivelent of the city of Seattle, people, vehilces, everything, 13,000 miles for the Gulf War. The military trains for moving their stuff all the time, and moves it for nearly every FTX.
After the mission cycle is complete, they do everything in reverse to get the people and gear back to the US. These aren't "UN vehicles" in the picture. These are US vehicles deploying and redeploying just like they've done dozens of times a year. They just happen to be in UN markings. They aren't owned by the UN. They aren't manned by the UN. They aren't even governed by the UN. The troops of the owning unit are driving those trucks, following the orders of their own chain of command. They operate in a normal US fashion (which all foregin military folks will admit is a slightly different style, good and bad) the same as if they were on Team Spirit in the ROK or Reforger in Germany, or Brim Frost in Alaska, or Golden Saber in California, or Cobra Gold in Thailand, or...etc.
Worry less about a US unit redeploying back home and worry more about what Congress is doing to your rights here and now. Alot of folks just focus on the UN or Red China because they have to believe that there is some super conspiricy behind the loss of our rights. It's too depressing to think of it as a simple domestic problem that the average Joe feels powerless to stop. So he orients his anger towards a namable enemy. It's called coping. The only people we have to worry about is our own politicians. They are the ones taking our rights. They are the ones to confront on our rights.
If you still believe the UN is such a big threat, then the poiticians are still the puppets and the only way the UN can gain access to our guns and women (or guys). So again, the people to take issue with on this is the AMERICAN POLITICIANS.
Ross