Quoted: There are less than 1000 hmmwv's in the civilan market.  i think the number is 989. there are some rewelds but i thinh you should stat away from those.

I think that there are probably more than that, that is probably the number that the Marine Corps sold to US surplus customers before the embargo. There were lots more sold in Europe and Asia as surplus, and it is likely that some of them have found thier way back to teh US on the grey market. There is a ship full of 97 Chrysler Neons (all brand new 0KM vehicles) sitting in Charleston right now waiting on a disposition descision, an importer tried to bring htem in unnoticed, and convert them to US specs and sell them for $4000 each, got caught when somebody noticed they were right hand drive. The point to that is that if Europeans are willing to bootleg Neons why would they hesitate on reimporting vehicles as valuable as HMMWV's when they could easily get fifteen or twenty thousand dollars each.

ETA: I think they are still surplusing these vehicles in Europe and Asia without requiring them to be cut, the DOT and Hummer don't carry much water overseas.

Quoted: so when you bid on a DRMO item who do you ask for at the front gate to see it? is there like a DRMO OIC or what. I dont want to show up and have the Gate Guard give me teh WTF look and have to explain everything. the ads usually say set up an appointment  to see it but rarely gives contact info

Most bases have a DRMO activity, a warehouse or small compound, I haven't been to one in a long time, but you could probably find that information on the base website.

Quoted: Considering all the hurdles, red tape, and potential problems, you might as well just buy a Cherokee and paint it OD. Or "better" yet, get one of the new Wrangler Willys.

I actually recall the military using Cherokees as non tactical vehicles, they were painted that awful lime green color, they used lots of Dodge rampages as well.