How Ukraine Turned a US Military Icon into a Swiss Army Knife for War

5000+ Humvee's and counting

Ukrainian Humvee with a mounted anti-tank weapon. Courtesy AFU

By the time I joined the US Army infantry in 1997, I had seen the now iconic Humvee on TV and in the news, mostly from watching the First Gulf War, Operation Desert Storm in 1991.

But when I first sat in one, I was shocked by its spartan interior.

When the United States designed the High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV)—or Humvee—in the 1980s, it was meant to be a durable, adaptable workhorse for moving troops, supplies, and light weapons across rough terrain.

I would later drive one around the Iraqi desert as QRF (Quick Reactionary Force) and I may or may not have chased around big lizards in the desert with my Humvee – oblivious to the fact that there were still land mines lying about - leftover from the Gulf War.

Hey, they don’t exactly seek out the smartest of us for the infantry.

My Humvee in Iraq on our Quick Reactionary Force (QRF) vehicle. Note that our mounted machine gun only has about 20 bullets on the belt hanging on the left lol.

Fast forward to 2025, and Ukraine has taken that adaptability to a whole new level.