The FReeper Foxhole Revisits our Profile of General William Westmoreland - July 22nd, 2005

http://www.sc.edu/library/socar/uscs/99autm/westmor.html ^ | Craig Keeney

[snippy_about_it]

Lord,

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.

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The FReeper Foxhole Revisits

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General William Childs Westmoreland
(1914 - 2005)

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Perhaps most noted for the role he played in the Vietnam War, General William Childs Westmoreland exhibited at a young age the strength of character that would one day deem him his generation's most renowned warrior. In a 1974 letter, Westmoreland reminisced about his involvement with the Boy Scouts of America and a trip he took at the age of fifteen to the World Boy Scout Jamboree in Europe. Peers looked to him for leadership and guidance from an early age.

Westmoreland was born in Spartanburg County on March 26, 1914, to Eugenia Childs and James Ripley Westmoreland. He attended The Citadel for a year, at the end of which he received an appointment to West Point upon the recommendation of South Carolina Senator James F. Byrnes. In June 1936, he graduated from West Point as first captain, the institution's highest cadet rank, and received the Pershing Sword - given each year to the most militarily proficient cadet. His colleagues noted that "Westmoreland sought, as a cadet, to achieve his leadership objectives by example . . . far more than by propriety and power of position."

These leadership qualities served Westmoreland well in his next assignments and established a pattern of steady advancement. He served with the 18th Field Artillery Regiment at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, and with the 8th Field Artillery Regiment in Hawaii. In May 1941, he became captain of the 9th Infantry Division at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. In April 1942, he assumed command of the 34th Field Artillery Battalion. During World War II, these divisions fought the Axis powers in Northern Africa and Sicily. On June 6, 1944, Westmoreland landed with the 9th Infantry Division at Omaha Beach. He remained in Europe until 1946 as commander of the 60th Infantry Regiment occupation forces in Bavaria.

The decade following World War II brought personal fulfillment and opportunity for Westmoreland. On May 3, 1947, he married Katherine ("Kitsy") Van Deusen. Their marriage produced three children: Katherine, Margaret, and Rip. Westmoreland earned his parachute and glider badges at Fort Benning, Georgia, and went on to serve as chief of staff of the 82nd Airborne Division between August 1947 and July 1950. He also served as a faculty member at the Army War College in Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania, for a year before becoming commander of the 187th Airborne Regimental Combat Team in Korea. During the Korean War, he was promoted to brigadier general. In December 1956, he received his second star, becoming the youngest major general in the U.S. army.


Westmoreland attended the World Boy Scout Jamboree in England during the summer of 1929. While there, he acquired this kilt from a Scottish scout

In July 1960, after two years as commander of the 101st Airborne Division "Screaming Eagles" at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, Westmoreland was appointed superintendent of his alma mater, West Point. During his three years at West Point, he initiated programs to expand facilities and update the curriculum. He left West Point in July 1963, when he was promoted to lieutenant general and transferred to the XVIII Airborne Corps at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

A year later Westmoreland was designated commanding general over U.S. Army forces in Vietnam, thus commencing one of the most tumultuous periods in his life. The General's leadership in Vietnam between 1964 and 1968 drew considerable protest from antiwar activists who went so far as to burn him in effigy; however, his soldiers almost unanimously praised his convictions and his concern for their welfare. In a letter dated January 14, 1974, an assistant, Betty Reid, wrote:

I only heard you swear once during those four years and that was when you first heard that term "Body Count"-you were so furious after a briefing that you came out and told Colonel Fullman, Mr. Montgomery, and me that it just made you sick. To you, you said, those "bodies" were our men-individuals with faces and names dying out there-not "just bodies."


The Westmoreland family (left to right, Rip, Stevie, Gen. and Mrs. Westmoreland, and Margaret) at the United States Military Academy, West Point, New York, circa 1960.

In July 1968, Westmoreland was sworn in as Army Chief of Staff and left Vietnam. He retired from the army in July 1972 after serving thirty-six years, but he continued to serve the American public. In 1972 the Westmorelands relocated to Charleston, South Carolina, and the General was appointed chairman of the Governor's Task Force for Economic Development by Governor John West. In 1974 Westmoreland launched a campaign for the governorship of South Carolina. As a candidate without political experience, Westmoreland expressed the belief that "the privilege of service is too valuable and has too great an impact upon the lives of many people to apathetically watch the political process move with its traditional lethargy." He carried thirty-nine of forty-six counties in the South Carolina Republican Primary election of July 16th but lost to Charleston's Jim Edwards.

Westmoreland suffered a mild heart attack in January 1975, but this setback slowed him only temporarily. If anything, the fall of South Vietnam to the North Vietnamese and American perceptions that the U.S. military forces failed in Vietnam put the General on a new offensive. The 1970s and 1980s saw a flurry of activity by Westmoreland to counteract public apathy and misunderstanding of military policies. He defended the performance of Vietnam veterans, and he withdrew from the 9th Infantry Division Association when it refused to admit Vietnam veterans. He composed editorials and delivered speeches concerning Vietnam, the draft, the Panama Canal treaties, and unstable foreign governments. In 1976 Westmoreland wrote his memoir, A Soldier Reports, wherein he discussed the limitations he faced while acting as commander of forces in Vietnam.


General William Westmoreland, then commander of the XVIII Airborne Corps, shows his soldiers the proper method of rigging a rifle, 1963.

Westmoreland's relationship with the media was an ambivalent one. He needed the media to broadcast his views, but he was often appalled by what he perceived as biased and inaccurate reporting. He was angered when CBS anchorman Mike Wallace - in the 1982 television documentary The Uncounted Enemy: A Vietnam Deception - accused him of deliberately falsifying information to his superiors. Later that year, Westmoreland sued CBS in protest of their libelous and unfounded accusations. In 1985 he agreed to drop the suit in return for a statement affirming his loyalty. A year later, Westmoreland noted with some satisfaction: "Ten years ago, I was kind of just the bad guy with horns.…Now it's all different. They [audiences] don't look on me as a curiosity. They think of me as a retired officer who performed to the utmost of his ability."

The collection speaks volumes about Westmoreland and the twentieth century through its documents and artifacts. Water-stained items from 1989 testify to the destruction wrought by Hurricane Hugo. Caricatures, photographs, news clippings, scrapbooks, reel-to-reel film, original artwork, and correspondence with celebrities, civilians, and veterans alike are all represented. Collectively, these artifacts illustrate a changing nation and one of its most respected defenders and servants.

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FReeper Foxhole Armed Services Links

[snippy_about_it]

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The New York Times
November 16, 1984

Commander of an American Defeat
William Childs Westmoreland

After one of the most promising early careers in American military annals, William Childs Westmoreland became the commander who presided in Vietnam over one of the worst defeats in United States history. In the view of those who know him well he has never fully recovered from the experience.

The now retired four-star, or full, general took the witness stand yesterday in a Manhattan court in his $120 million libel suit against CBS. He contends that the television network defamed him in saying he conspired to conceal from his superiors estimates of high enemy strength in Vietnam in 1967. Now 70 years old, General Westmoreland retains some of soldierly bearing of two decades ago, although his hair is now totally white and he is noticeably older. Until testifying yesterday, he sat quietly, day after day, in a third-floor Federal courtroom in New York, displaying no emotion as lengthy testimony droned on.


GENERAL WESTMORELAND AND GENERAL HAY

Since retiring from the Army in 1972, he has spent some of his time giving speeches to a variety of academic and social-service groups. As the years passed, some of these speeches tended more and and more to suggest that the Vietnam War was not lost militarily, but in a political sense. On the other hand, he has seldom, if ever, been shrill or emotional and is courteous to those who disagree with his views.

More and more, he has devoted his retirement years to an attempt to vindicate his conduct of the war from 1965 to 1968. Unlike many senior officers, he has appeared at public gatherings of Vietnam veterans in recent years, and has been warmly received.

Tet Offensive

From 1964 until 1968, General Westmoreland acted as the chief of the Military Assistance Command in Vietnam, the American establishment formed to help South Vietnam in its battle against Communist forces. In that year, a large Communist force fell upon South Vietnamese and upon American troops under General Westmoreland's command during the Vietnamese Lunar New Year known as Tet. Though the Communists suffered major casualties, the offensive had the effect in the United States of seeming to undermine both public and official will to pursue the war.

On the whole, General Westmoreland pursued a conservative course militarily durng his four years of command in Vietnam, where he spent most of his time - in starched green fatigues - in the MACV headquarters in Saigon, known as Pentagon East. After United States combat units began to arrive in 1965, at his urging, he is said by fellow officers to have preferred to employ those units and to relegate Vietnamese Army forces to secondary roles in maintaining local security.


Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara and General Westmoreland, Vietnam Assistance Command Commander, talks with General Tee on condition of the war in Vietnam. General Tee is (I) Corp Commander in Danang Area. Photo taken 08/1965.

General Westmoreland's strategy was one of a "war of attrition," in which he sought to kill infiltrated and indigenous Vietnamese Communist soldiers more rapidly than they could be replaced.

Military Strategy

The general followed a plan of "search and destroy" missions in which well-trained and armed American Units would try to find and bloody so-called main-force Communist forces. However, General Westmoreland was under constant pressure from Washington to avoid the kind of disaster that befell the French Army during the 55-day siege at Dien Bien Phu in 1954 that ended the French effort in Indochina.

For this reason, he normally forbade any military operations by units smaller than a battalion of about 750 men. He also developed a somewhat unusual method of operation in which artillery guns were airlifted into fire bases and troops were, for the most part, forbidden to proceed past the 11,000- to 20,000-yard "fan" of the artillery.



However, several objections were raised to this plan. One was that Communist units could avoid the artillery fan and continue to fight. Another was that the war of attrition did not work and that North Vietnam was able to infiltrate Communist soldiers faster than General Westmoreland's soldiers could kill them, Gen. Creighton Abrams, the notable World War II tank commander who replaced General Westmoreland, but who has since died of lung cancer, overturned his policy.

General Abrams encouraged company-sized operations involving 150 men of fewer and pulled United States troops back, closer to cities and inhabited areas, to enforce what he called "population control."

By that time, General Westmoreland was in a new position as Army Chief of Staff, in which he played only a minor role in the prosecution of the Vietnam War. General Westmoreland complained that President Johnson bullied him into enlisting publice support for the war. The General gave several news conferences at the instigation of the President and one address to a joint meeting of Congress.

Standout at West Point

General Westmoreland was born March 26, 1914, in Spartanburg Country, S.C., into the family of a prosperous textile manufacturer. At West Point, where he was a member of the class of 1936, he ranked very high in leadership and other achievements, becoming both captain of cadets and winner of a Pershing Award for leadership.



He began his career as an artillery-man and during World War II served in North Africa and Sicily as a battalion commander of artillery. He subsequently became a staff office in the Ninth Division and served in that capacity after the invasion of France. He subsequently became parachute-qualified and commanded an airborned brigade for part of the Korean War. He later commanded the 101st Airborne Division and the 19th Airborne Corps.

Youngest Major General

At the age of 42, he became what was then the youngest major general in the Army. At 46, he became the second-youngest superintendent of the Military Academy at West Point, older than only Gen. Douglass McArthur. General MacArthur once warned General Westmoreland that his new post in Southeast Asia was full of promise, but also of peril. General Westmoreland married Katherine Van Deusen, the daughter of an Army officer, and they have two daughters and a son.

General Westmoreland, who retired from the Army in 1972 and has served on the boards of a number of corporations, ran unsuccessfully in 1974 for the Republican nomination for governor of South Carolina, where he had built a home in the historic old section of Charleston.

Charles Moher

[snippy_about_it]

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As commander of U.S. forces in Vietnam from 1964 to 1968, Gen. William Westmoreland oversaw the introduction of ground troops in Vietnam in 1965 and the subsequent buildup of U.S. forces there. He was a key architect of the U.S. military strategy and a consistent advocate for a greater commitment from Washington. In 1968, after asking for more ground troops in response to the Tet Offensive, President Johnson recalled him to Washington to become U.S. Army chief of staff. After support for the war collapsed in Washington, he retired in 1972. He was interviewed for the COLD WAR series in June 1996.

On the introduction of U.S. ground troops in Vietnam in 1965:

The United States moved into Saigon as the French were moving out. And frankly, I don't believe there was a great appreciation in our country that resulted in a commitment. It was going to be quite costly. ...



At the time, things were quite quiet. We had advisers [in South Vietnam] -- we had in fact replaced the French in that regard -- and we had advisers down to battalion level within the Vietnamese military structure. The problem at that time was not an invasion of the area by the North Vietnamese, but it was the erosion of the effectiveness of government brought about by the so-called "VC" -- the Viet Cong. It was not open warfare, but, as we referred to it at the time, insurgency. And we were involved in the counter-insurgency operations.

The political structure of South Vietnam was rather shaky at the time, because nobody knew from day to day who was running the country. ... Our mission at that time was to try to bolster the Vietnamese government, the morale of which was in disarray. We were dealing in a geographical area where we'd had very little experience in the past. We were dealing with a political-military situation. It was really quite complex. So what I'm really saying is, as we moved in to help the Vietnamese defend their country and confront the Viet Cong (the Vietnamese communists, controlled from Hanoi), we were in the process of getting acquainted with the terrain, the Vietnamese political apparatus and the Vietnamese army. And it was quite an interesting but challenging time. ...

I would say the main problem was [with] the Vietnamese society. It didn't seem to be a cohesive operation. There were factions that were fighting within the South Vietnamese society. ... And it became very clear that Hanoi was in effect strategically running the [Viet Cong] operation. ... This was a type of war that we'd had no experience with before and we were on the learning curve. And some of our policies were kind of trial and error in character. So, I suppose to sum up what I've said, we members of the United States military moved into an arena that was foreign to us, not only with respect to nationality and language, but the type of challenge that we met.

On fighting a limited war:

Well, that was a major problem. At the outset, the president made the statement that he would not geographically broaden the war, and that meant that military actions were confined to the territory of South Vietnam. The enemy was not operating under such restraints, and therefore over the years the border area of Cambodia and Laos were used freely by the enemy. But by virtue of the policy of my government, we could not fight the overt war or deploy military troops overtly into those countries. And that was a major problem. A major problem. That gave the enemy a sanctuary that was of benefit to him. I mean, when he moved into the South Vietnamese soil, he was defeated, he took great casualties; but then he moved across into Cambodia or to Laos, licked his wounds, and restored his military capability. And that is why the war lasted so long. It was a frustrating experience for us. ...



We were winning on the battlefield, but whether we were winning strategically is another matter. But the strategy came from Hanoi and there was little that we could do about it. And the people in Washington -- the Secretary of Defense and [the people in] the White House -- understood [that] from a military standpoint, [our policies involved] a restraint that was inevitably going to prolong the war. I mean, I think this was well-understood, but nevertheless, it was [our] policy, based on the fact that we were not the aggressors. We were not going to be party to enlarging the war.

On the Tet Offensive:

We saw the Tet Offensive coming and we were prepared for it. And the enemy took tremendous casualties there; and we felt that the magnitude of those casualties would result in the enemy coming up with some sort of diplomatic solution. But that never took place. ...

The American public were caught by surprise. We were making military progress at the time -- which [is] a statement of fact. And when the Tet Offensive took place, the American people were not prepared for that, and I assume some significant responsibility for that. and I've made this statement many times. If I would have to do it over again, I would have made known the forthcoming Tet Offensive. At that time, I didn't want the enemy to know that I knew what was going to happen. I did know. I made a mistake in not making that known to the American public, because they were caught by surprise and that was a very much of a negative factor.

On the impact of television journalism on the war:


Evacuation of U.S. military and civilian dependents from Vietnam in compliance with a directive by President L.B. Johnson. U.S. Ambassador to Vietnam Maxwell D. Taylor, chats with General William C. Westmoreland, Commanding General, U.S. Military Assistance Command, Vietnam at Tan Son Nhut Airport, Saigon. They were at the Airport to see part of the dependents prior to their departure to CONUS. Photo taken 02/11/1965.

Well, it's the first war that we've ever fought on the television screen and it was the first war that our country ever fought where the media had full reign, [where] they had no restraint. We provided no restraint over the media. I mean, that was a policy by the president, and the enemy exploited it. It was something that plagued me from the very beginning. On the other hand, when I knew the Tet Offensive was coming, I should have made a public statement and maybe gone in front of the TV cameras and made known to the American people that a major offensive action was to take place. I didn't do that because I didn't want the enemy to know that I had access to his plans. ... And in retrospect -- and I've made this statement many times -- that was bad judgment on my part.

On the war in general:

We were succeeding. I mean, when you looked at specifics, this became a war of attrition, [and] we were winning the war of attrition. The price that the enemy was prone to pay greatly exceeded our expectations. ...

I think one has to understand what our objective was. The objective in Washington was to raise the cost of the war from the standpoint of the enemy, to the point that he would come to some negotiated settlement. The attitude of the enemy was not comparable to what our attitude would have been under the circumstances. He was ready, willing and able to pay a far greater price than I would say we Caucasians would. ...



I wouldn't say that such a war was necessary, but it took place. And I'm reminded of Mr. Kennedy's inaugural address: "We'll pay any price, bear any burden, support any friend, oppose any foe for the survival and success of liberty." That was ... in Kennedy's inaugural address when he became president. And that being policy, when the situation presented itself in Washington that had prevailed in Southeast Asia, those words came back to us.

Additional Sources:

www.cnn.com
www.uwm.edu
www.army.mil
www-cgsc.army.mil
www.multied.com
www.casperplatoon.com
www.navycorpsmen.com
history.searchbeat.com
www.donutdolly.com
www.uwm.edu
The FReeper Foxhole Profiles General William Westmoreland - July 19th, 2003

[snippy_about_it]

'[The enemy] believes in force, and his intensification of violence is limited only by his resources, and not by any moral inhibitions.'

-- General William C. Westmoreland
(U.S. Capitol, Washington, D.C., April 28, 1967)

'So sympathetic were some of the people to the VC that the only way to establish control…among the people was to remove the people and destroy the village.'

-- General William C. Westmoreland

[snippy_about_it]

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Vietnam commanding general dies at 91
Rey Guzman, Army News Service
2005-07-21



WASHINGTON (Army News Service, July 20, 2005) – Retired Gen. William Childs Westmoreland, former Army chief of staff and commanding general of U.S. forces in Vietnam during the Vietnam War, died July 18 at a nursing home in Charleston, S.C. He was 91.

Westmoreland, a 1936 graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., served as a commissioned officer in the Army for 36 years before his retirement as Army chief of staff in 1972.

He commanded U.S. military operations in Vietnam from 1964-1968 as head of the Military Assistance Command, Vietnam. Under his command, American troop strength in Vietnam increased from about 20,000 in 1964 to 500,000 in 1968, when Gen. Creighton W. Abrams took command of MACV.

Born in Spartanburg County, S.C., on March 26, 1914, Westmoreland was the son of a prosperous textile manufacturer, and became an Eagle Scout before his enrollment into the U.S. Military Academy in 1932. After his graduation from West Point, he became an artillery officer. During World War II, he rose to the rank of colonel and participated in combat operations in Tunisia, Sicily, France and Germany. By war’s end, he was serving as the chief of staff of the 9th Infantry Division.

During the Sicily campaign in 1943, Westmoreland’s battalion was selected as artillery support for the 82nd Airborne Division. His connection with the 82nd continued after the war when Westmoreland commanded the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment in the 82nd and then served as the division chief of staff.



Westmoreland commanded the 187th Airborne Regimental Combat Team during the Korean War. At age 42, in 1956, he became the youngest major general in the Army. He took command of the 101st Airborne Division in 1958. He later served as superintendent of West Point from 1960-1963 and commanding general of XVIII Airborne Corps from 1963-1964.

After leaving command of MACV in Vietnam, Westmoreland was appointed Army chief of staff, where he served until his retirement in 1972. During his tenure as chief of staff, he successfully guided the Army as it transitioned to an all volunteer force.

Among the numerous honors he received during his service, Westmoreland was awarded four Distinguished Service Medals, the Bronze Star Medal, the Presidential Unit Citation, the Combat Infantryman’s Badge, the Master Parachutist Badge and numerous foreign decorations.

He ran unsuccessfully on the Republican ticket for governor of South Carolina in 1974.

Westmoreland is survived by his wife Katherine S. Van Deusen, their three children: Katherine, Margaret and James Ripley and six grandchildren.


Time Magazine Man of the Year - 1966

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Good Morning bump to the Foxhole's Donut Fryer :-)

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[Professional Engineer]

Good morning ladies. It's Friday!

[E.G.C.]

Good morning, Snippy and everyone at the Freeper foxhole.

[aomagrat]

Today's classic warship, USS Illinois (BB-7)

Illionis class battleship (predreadnought)

Displacement. 11,565
Length. 368'
Beam. 72'3"
Draft. 23'6"
Complement. 660
Speed. 17 k.
Armament. 4 13", 14 6", 16 6-pdr., 6 1-pdr., 4 tt.

USS Illinois (BB-7) was laid down 10 February 1897. by the Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Co., Newport News, Va., launched 4 October 1898; sponsored by Miss Nancy Leiter; and commissioned 16 September 1901, Captain G. A. Converse in command.

After shakedown and training in Chesapeake Bay, the new battleship sailed 20 November 1901 for Algiers, La., where she was used to test a new floating dry dock. She returned to Newport News in January 1902 and from 15 to 28 February Illinois served as flagship for Rear Admiral R. D. Evans during the reception for Prince Henry of Prussia. Bearing the flag of Rear Admiral A. S. Crowninshield, the battleship departed New York 30 April 1902 and arrived Naples 18 May, where the Admiral took command of the European Squadron. Illinois carried out training and ceremonial duties until 14 July 1902, when she grounded in the harbor of Christiana, Norway, and had to return to England for repairs. She remained at Chatham until 1 September 19 02, then proceeded to the Mediterranean and South Atlantic for fleet maneuvers.

Illinois was detached from the European Squadron 10 January 1903 and assigned to the North Atlantic. She engaged in fleet maneuvers, gunnery and seamanship training, and ceremonial operations until December 1907, when she joined the Great White Fleet for the cruise around the world. Following a Presidential review, the mighty battleships sailed from Hampton Roads on their important voyage. The Atlantic Fleet joined the Pacific Fleet 8 May 1908 in San Francisco Bay and after a review by the Secretary of the Navy the combined fleets continued their cruise. The ships visited Australia, Japan, Ceylon and other countries, arriving Suez 3 January 1909. At Suez word of the Sicilian earthquake sent Illinois, Connecticut, and Culoga to Messina. After rendering valuable aid to victims of the disaster, the ships rejoined the fleet, returning to Hampton Roads 22 February 1909. President Roosevelt reviewed the fleet as it arrived, having given the world a graphic demonst ration of America's naval might. Illinois decommissioned at Boston 4 August 1909.

The battleship was placed in reserve commission 15 April 1912 and recommissioned 2 November 1912, in time to take part in winter fleet exercises and battle maneuvers with the Atlantic Fleet. During the summers of 1913 and 1914 Illinois made training cruises to Europe with Midshipmen. In 1919 the ship was again laid up at Philadelphia Navy Yard and was later loaned to the State of New York 23 October 1921 for use by the Naval Militia.

Excluded from further use as a warship by the terms of the Washington treaty, Illinois was fitted out as a floating armory at New York Navy Yard in 1924 and was assigned to the New York Naval Reserve. She remained there for more than 30 years, though reclassified IX-15 8 January 1941 and renamed Prairie State to allow her name to be assigned to a projected new battleship. During World War II she served as a U. S. Naval Reserve Midshipmen Training School at New York. Followin g the war, she was retained on loan to the State as quarters for a Naval Reserve unit until 31 December 1956.

Prairie State, after over 50 years of useful service to the Navy and the Nation, was towed to Baltimore and sold for scrap to Bethlehem Steel Co., 18 May 1956.

[w_over_w]

Morning Glory Folks~

Ping for a later read.

[Soaring Feather]

Good morning everyone!

Whew, TGIF!!

[w_over_w]

Let's make that MORNING GLORY!!

[USMCBOMBGUY]

Thank you for the great reads. Keep up the outstanding work.

[Diver Dave]

Mornin' Snippy and SAM and all who enter the Foxhole.

Thanks for the General Westmoreland presentation. I'll finish reading it later, but Friday is Field Day at the diver household and I've gotta get busy with my broom and mop.

Have a GREAT weekend y'all.

[USMCBOMBGUY]

I have a question that you may be able to answer. I know the U.S. Navy went through several paint schemes and colors, especially during WWII. When was the decision made to go with all gray?

[aomagrat]

It wasn't long after the "Great White Fleet" cruise when the navy started painting all of it's ships grey. During both world wars, the navy experimented with various camouflage schemes

[SAMWolf]

Morning all.

[SAMWolf]

LOL! Only the military could take a ship and make it look just like any building on an army post.

[SAMWolf]

I've gotta get busy with my broom and mop.

Beats scrapping paint and barnacles right? ;-)