I know I'm going to get pointed and laughed at, but here it goes.

For a brief period of time, the U.S. Army had in it's possession some LAV-25's. Would any of you happen to have an idea of which units, timeframes, and camo patterns that might have been?

Thanks,

Jed

2 ACR tested them out at Ft Polk. I believe they were all NATO camo.

I believe the Formation with these was the 82nd Airborne but I am pretty certain they had USMC three colour schemes on them as they were loan vehicles. The first 6 LAV 25 we recieved in Australia (2 Cav 1990) were from this source and still in the USMC markings. Those vehicles were later upgraded to ASLAV standard.
CHeers
AL

Excellent. That gives me a good start on where to research. Thanks, guys.

Jed

I have some nice pictures of the ARMY Lav 25 or I think they were called Cougars. I was stationed at Ft Lewis, Washington at Yakima Test Firing Center. Although they had 6 wheels not 8 as they look presently. They were testing them over the Bradley's in the early 90's. Got some nice Desert Pictures SSG MS Kaufman

The 6-wheeled Cougar is a different version that was tested early on and not accepted. It is similar to, but not the same as a LAV-25.

Martin,

I would very much like to see your photos. Could the vehicles you are talking about be a Canadian Grizzly on loan to the US Army for trials?

Concord Publications "Blitzkrieg in the Gulf" has a photo of a LAV 25 deployed to Saudi Arabia. It looks like a basic original LAV 25 in NATO camouflage with a heavy coating of field applied sand camouflage.

The photo caption says "The 82nd Airborne has a scout platoon of LAV-25 Light Armored Vehicles for reconnaissance role. Shown is an LAV-25 on exercise with the "All Americans" paratroopers in Saudi Arabia."

Jed,
It was the Scout Platoon for 3-73 Armor (Airborne) who had the LAV 25s during ODS... I am not sure about the camo but I would go with the pic that Jason mentioned. I know that 3-73's Sheridans were NATO tri-color with the "overspray" of mud to blend the vehicle in with the terrain.

If my memory serves me correctly, the Army borrowed them from the Marines in 88-89 to evaluate their performance as a replacement vehicle for the Bradley in scout platoons. This was one of the results of the Rand Study on poor BLUFOR reconnaissance vice OPFOR at NTC. Ultimately, as we all know, the HWMMVs replaced the Bradleys with for scout platoons.

I never heard any accounts of their employment during the 100 hours of fighting and assume that they went back to the USMC after the 82nd returned from Saudi.

John

Sweet! I've got a fella I work with who was in 3-73 for a long time, starting as a 2LT, and leaving as a CPT just after DS. I'll have to ask him some bits, as well. He was a good source for Sheridan info.

Thanks, guys, for all of the info. Definitely generated more interest than I thought. I'm looking to take an old ESCI LAV and do it up Army. Tons of Marine LAV's out there.

Jed

Just be forewarned, the Esci LAV bears only a passing resemblance to the real thing. Hull is the wrong shape, and the styrene wheels have a very wrong tread pattern. Italeri's version, though imperfect, is much better, though it also has poor tires.
The new Trumpeter version is available pretty much anywhere for around twenty bucks, and it's very nice.

Jason- send me your address, and I'll send them to you- But I need them back when your done- SSG MS Kaufman

Thanks for the warning on the quality and accuracy. Not a huge LAV fan, so I'm only looking at the passing resemblance. Kind of more of a tinker model, where I try something different or new, but don't ruin a more expensive model.

When I build, it helps if I picture the setting or storyline that the vehicle belonged to, so that I build towards a goal or timeframe.

Thank you again,

Jed

I was in the hhc 3/73 armorDiv."scout pltn"
1 was one of our 13 drivers on the lav-25...
I can answer an questions you have about the lavs, that were on a 2 yr lease from the Marine Corp.. plus I have pics and specs. They had to be sent 4 at a time to Canada to have 1 inch shabed off the turant,in order to be air dropped.
Nichols

You do know that he originally posted his question back in 2006?

Check the date on posts before responding buddy. I know I made the same mistake on my very first Armorama post years ago.

Even if it is an old post, I would still love to see the pics!

Wow, funny you mention that. When I went through 45 Kilo school in Aberdeen MD back in 1982/83 there was one sitting in our building. We never touched it for school, but it was in the building with all our tank turrets. There was also a Bradly in there that we never messed with.