Trunk Monkeys

I’m concerned about Trunk Monkeys right now.  The term comes from the funny videos on YouTube, just go there and look it up.  It’s amusing.  But what’s not so funny is the job of Rear Security and the guys that have to pull this slot.  They are called “Trunk Monkeys”.  This is not an easy job to pull if you get tasked for it.  Reason being, you get told to be the Trunk Monkey, you jump into the back on an SUV and it’s pretty much up to you to make the best of it.

Trunk Monkey in Nepal.
Detail in Israel.

You can see these Trunk Monkeys are in the back with gear, tools, an unsecured spare tire…  No safety, no protection.  These Trunk Monkeys are hanging it out on the line more than anyone else in the detail.

Looking Cool is a Priority in the US Secret Service. Note how everyone is looking at the photographer who is about 2 second from getting lit up.

This is one of the most famous Trunk Monkey photos out there, as this one is US Secret Service.  I’m not giving anything away as this one has been out there for years now.

Now, of the Trunk Monkey is lucky, he’ll at least have a seat or something.  But again, very little protection for the Agent in the back.

This is how you make the best of the situation… With a really big freaking gun.

This guy has a seat and a weapon mount to help him do his job better.  Maybe a seatbelt, and some upgraded body armor…. but again, the protection is minimum his movement in the vehicle is minimum. The fronts of the vehicles are protected with bullet resistant glass.  The backs?  Not so much, and especially not if the rear window is opened.

I’d like to see an armor plate on that weapon mount.  Something to help deflect some incoming fire..  I’d like to see a swiveling seat on a slider so the Trunk Monkey and can move side to side to better engage and avoid threats.

7 thoughts on “Trunk Monkeys”

  1. OK – I’m outta’ my element here but why couldn’t you modify one of those robot platforms to work back there and take the guy manning it and put him in the middle seat with the armor protection and appropriate controls for the video feed and the weaponry?

  2. If you had weapons mounted ballistic shielding in the back, wouldn’t the bullets deflect into the interior of your ballistically shielded vehicle?

    Trunk Monkey: “Hey guys, why are we slowing down? Um… guys?”

  3. Well the problem is the operators are often flown in and the tail end Charlie vehicle guys are just assigned whatever SUV is available. If they are lucky they’ll have a choice of weapons. It would be handy if they had some device to quickly install and get the spare tire out of the “trunk”. I saw one SUV that had a spare roped to a roof. If you could hang in on the side or just outside of the hatch low it might be a good idea. Any armor would have to be light and capable of being broke down into something like a suitcase or two. In the Middle East it might be handy to have a goat you could throw out the back. That way you could gain enough time to get away when the bad guys stopped to hook up with the goat.

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