Deep Forest Green

The US Army was always on the forefront of mechanization.  They realized that shipping horses, mules, their fodder, tack, and all the other gear needed to operate massive numbers for animals for cavalry, towing wagons, and artillery was just too much space for shipping across the Atlantic.

The first motor vehicles had balloon tires that were white, they were like a big inner tube and got punctured frequently.  Later they added carbon to the rubber and made it both stronger and black.  Heavy loads still could not be carried on these balloon tires so tires similar to those wooden wagon wheels were developed.  They were a solid black rubber band heated and then slipped over the steel wheel.  It would shrink and bond to the wheel.  They were very tough and provided better traction than steel wheels without the rubber.  These were used in World War One.

Later the pneumatic tire was invented, not unlike tires of today.  Many thousands of US Army vehicles were switched over to the new tire type.  These were much like automobile tires of today, not the big off road knobby tires usually associated with military vehicles.  Those came later, during WWII.

My WWI era US Army vehicles get painted Olive Drab, but my 1938 US Army vehicles mostly get Rust-Oleum Deep Forest Green.  In peacetime the US Army usually drifts away from the mission of war fighting and the 1930s were no exception.  The began painting vehicle glossy paint jobs and painting large bold unit insignias on them.

This is one of my WWI era trucks, spoked tires.

The same with the canopy up.

And the first truck but painted in Deep Forest Green and with pneumatic tires.  After getting the Deep Forest Green, which as you can see if very flat, I will gloss coat them.