Camo dude drives it like he stole it

I was parked by one of those gravel piles near the ET Highway, just south of Coyote Summit. Based on Google Earth, probably here:
37.552063° -115.627164°
I was waiting for the low altitude A-10s to egress from Red Flag. Based on previous observations, they were known to fly in the general area when leaving the range.

I saw a white truck turn down the road, driving like he stole it.

I recognized it as one of the camo dude Ford Raptors, but I hadn't seen anyone go up the road for the dude to chase. While it would have been fun to follow the dude, I was waiting for the low flying aircraft. About 15 minutes later, I saw a dust cloud coming down the road. I prepared to get a photo of what I expected to be the dude returning, but it turned out to be the truck of shall we say a private citizen.

Fortunately, the truck driver and occupant decided to visit with me. Without revealing too much, it turned out that the driver was one of the old guard that used to hang around the base in the Glenn Campbell (not the singer) era. He was passing through the area and decided to check out some spots he used to visit. He got the idea (and not a good one) to go driving down one of the washes and got stuck. It took a while for the two of them to dig out the truck. Further, the truck was in a place where the camera on Bald Mountain couldn't see them, hence the code-3 camo dude response.

Eventually the camo dude, who had approached from probably the front gate, had to drive back down to the ET Highway. Now the dudes also have an "overland" route back to the front guard shack, but the roads around the range are presently in terrible shape due to recent heavy rainfall. [Parts of route 6 were shut down for repair a few days earlier, as well as route 93.] Thus I suspect the dude didn't want to drive all the way back to the gate on dirt. However, he had to get past my camera. So I got a few good shots of these new (maybe from the last 18 months) trucks.

Here is the side profile. It is denoted as 6.2 L (liter), which makes for one bad ass truck.

The tires are BF Goodrich all terrain, probably the best offroad tire you can get. [Not so good on the road, especially in the rain.] That black pod on the top of the cab might be for the trunk radio system, though it looks more like a Sirius satellite antenna.

This is the front view.

It has a skid plate, always a good idea for offroading. The dude appears to have shifted to the passenger seat. I believe he was trying to get the license plate of the private citizen's truck.

This is a blow up of the camo dude truck interior:

Clearly using binocs, and for once, not pointing at me!

Excellent shots there BTW.

Question. what do you think you were doing differently that made the Camo Dude ignore you or not notice you. Just wondering why the binoculars weren't eventually turned on you.

I see he doesn't have a front plate. I thought that was illegal? Did you get any shots of the rear plate, by chance? It would be nice to be able to look it up.

so the camo dudes drive SVT raptors now??
i can see why, as those trucks are heavily beefed up from the factory, and that truck would suit that terrain well.

im pretty sure those tires you mentioned and the skid plates come on that truck from the factory.
i know they have ohlins suspension and have a full 12-14'' of travel.
they were also marketed as basically a trophy truck you can take racing right off of the showroom floor

and the antenna is a srius/xm unit for sure.

very nice truck though, i dont really understand why camo dudes have to drive $60,000 ford raptors (more like a toy) than a military spec jeep that would be way cheaper.

another fun fact:
SVT division of ford also built the f150 lightnings, the gt500 shelby mustangs, cobras, svt focus, and also the gt40

edited: i did a quick search on the tires. the bf goodrich all terrain t/a's are the oem tire that come on the truck from the factory.

reply to post by gariac
good job of basic intell and some snappy photos. (I still thought they used Jeep Cherokees!?!?

Gathering info on the info gatherers! got to love it

thanks for the update

reply to post by BASSPLYR


For once, I wasn't a pain in the camo dude's arse. The dudes need to get license plates number for their report, which is what I suspect the dude was doing with the binocs.

I got a good story from the "private citizen" about the Glenn Campbell days. One day Glenn, this driver, and Jim Goodall of Aviation Leak magazine got the brilliant idea to hang out in the hills near the back gate to try to view a plane leaving the range. It has long been suspected that test aircraft leave the range around the back gate area since it is far away from the tourists. These guy had left their vehicles and were on foot. That is always a problem for the dudes since it is far easier to track vehicles than people on foot. [In all likelihood, you could probably get very far into the restricted zone on foot.] What was interesting is the dudes had what this guy described as a FLIR on the roof of a vehicle. The FLIR was rotating, as if looking for a hot spot in the terrain. They were never found. It snowed that night, making for some not so pleasant camping. And alas, no secret aircraft was spotted.

reply to post by SilentKoala


Camo dudes don't need no stinkin' license plates!

To my recollection, the dudes around the gates will have government plates, but the vehicles they send to remote areas haven't had plates in years. They drive on and off road without plates.

The dude mobiles are often found at the Alamo Hall of Justice. I don't know if they have an office there or not, but I suspect the dudes are quite chummy with the sheriff and the Nevada Highway Patrol substation staff. This is the same building where they park the white bus.

reply to post by dirtycrickrat


i'm sure they have these trucks over jeeps so that they ca get anywhere in a jiffy, whereas a jeep would be far to slow and uncomfortable, this is area 51 we're talkin about..

reply to post by gariac


Camo Dudes supposedly when they driven on public lands adjacent to Groom Lake Base, ET Highway and the Álamo area, they have never carried license plates on their vehicles, so far been documented in photographs, yet if the Nevada Highway Patrol and even Lincoln County Sheriff see to the camo dudes on public roads without license plates, they can reach them stop? or they know that they are "Groom Lake Security" or "Camo Dudes" and ignore them?

For what reason camo dudes they driven on adjacent lands to Groom Lake and public areas of the Alamo area without license plates?, is for the residents and the local people for to avoid being unaware that they are Government or Military?

Looks like that truck was parked, where was the driver?

reply to post by rayktheon


The camo dudes have plates near the shack. When the go offroad, they usually don't have plates. If you want to know why, you would need to ask them. I even caught a dude driving a Ford Explorer with regular Nevada plates.

As I stated previously, the dudes hang out in the Alamo Hall of Justice. They know the deputies and troopers. The law doesn't apply to camo dudes.

reply to post by HomerinNC


The truck was parked (well stopped). The driver apparently slid into the passengers seat to get a better view.

The truck was also stopped since I had a camera and he would have to drive past me. Camo dudes do not want to be photographed. They can lose their job if identified. This is the so-called Mexican standoff. If I made a point of being hanging out there, the dude would call the sheriff and I'd get a civics lesson, and told not to be a bodily orifice.

If I get a clear shot of a dude, I disguise the identity.





Incidentally, one website does a "swirl" over the dude's face. The swirl is reversible, so it is worthless security. If you want to see some camo dude faces, it doesn't take that much work.

www.ehow.com...

Groom Lake (Det 3, AFFTC) security perimeter consists of several companies of private contractors?, ie, they change continuously of contractor for groom perimeter? For what make these? To prevent camo dudes or contractors share information?

reply to post by rayktheon


I don't know if they change contractors for Groom Lake on a rotating basis, but it seems like Groom, the NTS, and the TTR have different security contractors at any one time. In the case of Groom, EG&G has been dissolved as far as I can tell, so I don't know exactly who runs the present day camo dudes. It could be JT3, since they have much of the old EG&G business.

The NTS and Groom Lake guards are union. Probably the same for the TTR. That means it is possible to find the operators if someone was really interested. The camo dudes when on strike a few years back. I believe the sign said "I can't say who is unfair."