Direct proof of use
The Iveco VM 90T's Iraq War record is supported by U.S. archival image metadata for an IVECO 40.10WM, the closely associated VM 90-family designation used in the parent vehicle record. The National Archives/DVIDS record identifies Italian Army personnel at Tallil Air Base in Dhi Qar, Iraq, aboard an IVECO 40.10WM light truck for early-morning convoy escort duty on 28 April 2005 during Operation Iraqi Freedom.
The same image is also preserved on Wikimedia Commons as a U.S. Army public-domain photograph. Its caption identifies an Iveco 40.10 from the San Marco Regiment departing Tallil Air Base for convoy escort duty and describes the Italian Army as a coalition partner in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Sources: NARA/DVIDS Iveco 40.10WM Iraq Image, Commons Italian Military Iveco 40.10WM Image
Timeline
The dated public evidence centers on late April 2005. The NARA/DVIDS finding-aid metadata gives 28 April 2005 as the photograph date, while the Commons file description dates the image record to 29 April 2005 and states that the convoy-escort departure occurred on 28 April.
That evidence places the vehicle in the post-invasion occupation phase of the 2003 Iraq War, not in the March-April 2003 invasion phase. The documented role is convoy escort and mobility support from Tallil Air Base, rather than an independently sourced combat engagement or casualty incident.
Sources: NARA/DVIDS Iveco 40.10WM Iraq Image, Commons Italian Military Iveco 40.10WM Image
Operational role
In this conflict, the sourced user was Italy within the United States and coalition side. The photographed vehicle was described as an Italian Army or San Marco Regiment vehicle operating from Tallil Air Base, a coalition facility in southern Iraq.
The VM 90T/40.10WM evidence supports a mobility and force-protection role: personnel movement, convoy escort, and light truck carriage. The NARA/DVIDS caption further describes the vehicle as a 1,500 kg 4x4 light truck armed with a Browning M2 .50 caliber heavy machine gun, which explains its documented escort configuration without turning the truck into a primary strike platform.
General VM 90T background sources describe the Torpedo variant as a 4x4 light tactical utility vehicle for troops and equipment. Those sources support the vehicle identity and role category, while the Iraq-specific claim rests on the archival image metadata from Tallil Air Base.
Sources: NARA/DVIDS Iveco 40.10WM Iraq Image, Italian Army VM 90T, Deagel VM 90
