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| Green Smoke |
Sgt. Elize McKelvey, USMC
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Acquisition Number: 2018.75.1
Medium: Oli on canvas
Newly commissioned or appointed Marine officers at The Basic School at Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia conduct a green smoke exercise, which provides them concealment as they approach a simulated enemy position in an urban environment. Marines on the ground have traditionally used colored flares to signal their positions and condition to nearby aircraft. During the Vietnam War, helicopter crews located Marines on the ground by requesting them to “pop a smoke” in the landing zone.
Artist Elize McKelvey was observing Military Operations on Urbanized Terrain (MOUT) exercises and stopped in her tracks “because the way the light was shifting through green smoke.” She recalls that “The vastness of the smoke engulfing the Marines while they ran through it was a pretty cool sight to see.
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