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Vehicle wraps provide realistic military touch

Local company has created disguises for vehicles used in  training U.S. troops.

Co-owners Roger and Cathy Peters with an example of a vehicle wrap they did on their own vehicle. Signs Now says it has provided vehicle wraps used by the U.S. armed forces to train military personnel headed to Iraq and Afghanistan, according to a news release. The 1277 N. Fairfield Road signs and graphics company created the vehicle wraps for Mission Essential Personnel LLC, a military contractor, the news release states.

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By Tim Tresslar, Staff Writer Updated 7:14 AM Tuesday, May 19, 2009

BEAVERCREEK — A local company has added a touch of realism to exercises aimed at acclimating soldiers to the streets of Baghdad or Kabul before they are deployed.

Signs Now, a sign and graphics firm located at 1277 N. Fairfield Road, makes decals and insignias that transform a white sport utility vehicle into an Iraqi police car with blue doors, or a rented pickup truck into a military vehicle decked out in camouflage.

The company produces the so-called vehicle wraps for Mission Essential Personnel LLC, a defense contractor, which helps train U.S. troops before they deploy to Iraq or Afghanistan. Thirty vehicles transformed from rental cars into taxis, ambulances and police vehicles were used primarily in training with the U.S. Army’s Fifth and Third Stryker Brigades at Fort Lewis.

Roger Peters, co-owner of Signs Now, said trainers use the disguised vehicles in simulations aimed at familiarizing troops with their overseas surroundings. The idea for this type of wrap grew out of a conversation between Peters and a Mission Essential employee, the latter of whom said the company was bringing in Iraqis to roleplay in training sessions. As Peters asked more questions, he realized they could use vehicle wraps such as those made by his company to enhance the training, he said.

“It was a nice fit. I’m ex-military, so I could understand what they were doing,” said Peters, who spent eight years in the U.S. Air Force.

Signs Now’s staff designed the wraps using pictures of vehicles in Iraq and Afghanistan, said Peters, who co-owns the local Signs Now franchise with his wife, Cathy.

Soldiers involved in the training often thought the vehicles had been imported from Afghanistan and Iraq, Todd Miller, deputy director of the Global Operations Group for Mission Essential Personnel, said in a statement.

Signs Now also provides outdoor and indoor signage, banners, window and vehicle graphics, dimensional letters and other products.

Signs Now

Address: 1277 N. Fairfield Road, Beavercreek

Owners: Roger and Cathy Peters

Phone: (937) 427-3431

Web site:signsnowdayton.com

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This is interesting the only company out there that has the license to wrap military vehicles with branded military patterns is Covert Coatings out of Xenia. I saw there stuff at a military industry conference and it was awesome.

Adam
7:26 AM, 10/20/2009

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