Where did this mule serve?

M274 Mechanical Mule Wanted, For Sale (NO AUCTION or EBAY), and Knowledge Base
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Mike47
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Where did this mule serve?

Post by Mike47 » Fri Sep 08, 2017 10:37 am

This is my first time posting on the G503 Forum. My brother and I have an M374-A2 mule that we are restoring. We found markings under two layers of paint on the front bumper, left side (viewed from the front) that seem to be:

1C A V 2C 12
HQ 116

Can anyone identify what these markings represent? Thanks!


Mike47
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Re: Where did this mule serve?

Post by Mike47 » Fri Sep 08, 2017 10:39 am

Typing error... M274-A2. Sorry.

dogtags
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Re: Where did this mule serve?

Post by dogtags » Fri Sep 08, 2017 1:33 pm

Could it be Headquarters & Headquarters Company (HHC), 2nd Battalion, 12th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division?

"Reactivated in 1957, the unit was redesignated as Headquarters and Headquarters Comapny, 2nd Battalion, 12th Cavalry Regiment. It was deployed to Vietnam in 1965 and fought the 1st Cavalry Division's first engagement from 18 to 20 September 1965 as part of Operation Gibraltar. During the Tet Offensive, the Battalion played a critical role in the 3rd Brigade's successful mission to relieve Hue. The Battalion participated in the invasion of Cambodia and earned its sixteenth Campaign streamer for the Sanctuary Counteroffensive. On 26 March 1971, the Battalion stood down after 5 and a half years of daily combat in the jungles of Vietnam and returned to the United States for permanent duty for the first time since 1943. In mid-1972, the Battalion was inactivated and its personnel were reflagged as the 1st Battalion, 12th Cavalry, which had returned from Vietnam."
~https://www.globalsecurity.org/military ... -12cav.htm

~Robert

Mike47
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Re: Where did this mule serve?

Post by Mike47 » Mon Sep 11, 2017 5:02 pm

Here is some more information off the data plate on our Mule:

stock no. 2320-074-1167
U.S.A. reg. no. 337821
mfg. by Bowen-Mc Laughlin-York, Inc.
mfg. ser. no. BMY 3204
date of delivery 11-66
procurement by U.S. army
depot maint. by Marine Corps

Is there a master roster of Mules by registration number?

Chuck W.
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Re: Where did this mule serve?

Post by Chuck W. » Tue Sep 12, 2017 7:51 am

I have been keeping a list of serial numbers & registration numbers for years. Your data fits right into the sequence in the database. There is no way to determine where the machine served by the information on the data plate or the registration number, the only way is to uncover the unit markings (if any) that are painted on the front cross member or possibly the fuel tank. Thanks for posting your information.

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Re: Where did this mule serve?

Post by Mike47 » Fri Sep 15, 2017 7:36 pm

Dogtags and Chuck W: Thanks for your posts. Brother and I visited Camp Gridley gathering of Northern Recon branch of MVCC today (9-15-17) and found another mule with close association to ours. Chuck, in case it may not be in your roster yet, I offer the following info off the data plate:

stock no. 2320-074-1167
U.S.A. reg. no. 337930
mfg. by Bowen-Mc Laughlin-York, Inc.
mfg. ser. no. BMY 3348
date of delivery 12-66

Don't know who the owner is. Information we are gathering suggests our mule (337821) was one of a bunch acquired by the Army and assigned to the Marines. Was this common? What doesn't seem to fit the puzzle yet is the "1 CAV" paint marking on the left front.

Chuck W.
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Re: Where did this mule serve?

Post by Chuck W. » Fri Sep 15, 2017 8:22 pm

Information we are gathering suggests our mule (337821) was one of a bunch acquired by the Army and assigned to the Marines. Was this common?
No. While the data plate may show USA and U.S. Army, this is how the contracts are written for all USMC vehicles. The M274 and variants were all USMC vehicles. The U.S. Army did acquire a few mules FROM the USMC under contract. USMC registration numbers are always 6 digit, while U.S. Army mules usually have an alphanumeric prefix, such as 02A1234

I appreciate the info, but I already have M274A2 BMY3348 in my database

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Re: Where did this mule serve?

Post by dogtags » Sun Sep 17, 2017 8:42 am

Mike47 wrote:
Fri Sep 15, 2017 7:36 pm
What doesn't seem to fit the puzzle yet is the "1 CAV" paint marking on the left front.
Can you post up a picture?

~Robert

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Re: Where did this mule serve?

Post by Mike47 » Mon Sep 18, 2017 9:10 am

I have a picture to post, but I haven't broken the code on how to put it on the G503 Photo Album so I can post it here. I'm registered with the Photo Album with a logon, but did not get the information email on how to upload a photo. Anyone have a clue?

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Re: Where did this mule serve?

Post by Guest 1 » Tue Sep 19, 2017 5:13 pm

FYI, the mules came into service around 1958 reference PS magazine. I beg to differ Chuck W about Army getting vehicles on a marine contract. That might have been the case midlife cycle of the mule. My current mule was a marine mule, it's an A5, my other mules in the past did not mention any thing marine on data plates they were A2's. I was a paratrooper in the 82nd Airborne before being sent to Vietnam. The 82nd in 1970 had hundreds if not thousands of mules. The motor pools in an Airborne Infantry Battalions were full of mules. It was normal to see one trooper on a mule while 4 or 5 pushed them around trying to jump start them. That was just one division, the Airmobile div's also had mules. There is nothing shocking about 1 Cav marked mules, 2/12, 2/8, 1/7 plus many other Battalion in the Cav had mules. In fact the ones that were on our fire bases were invaluable due to ammo & food. It was delivered by air and landed out side the Fire base wire and those mules carried all that into the fire base. Op's sorry guys got long winded!
V/R
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I stand corrected about my first couple of mules, they were M274A1 converted to A4's
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