Gibsonm, do you guys ever get to use the small hand held thermal imagers when unbuttoned like the AN/PAS-23 and other's?
They are essentially 1x unity magnification, but with a 30 degree or more FOV and can scan a large area quickly, at least to where you might notice things out of place or have the larger optics of the vehicle more quickly hone in to make better identification.
This is the unit I own, video of it outside of a car driving, the unit has been around for 10 years or so now. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1aYjBAHToU Conditions were humid, and wet after a rain, in Hawaii.