PARIS – There isn’t a war on at the Oxford County Sheriff’s Office, but people might think so from the new addition to the department’s vehicle fleet.

A camouflaged military ambulance has been parked in the upper lot near the Sheriff’s Office ever since it was retrieved from a Massachusetts base in July.

“This vehicle had some attraction, and I think we’ll get some good use out of it,” said Sheriff Wayne Gallant.

The county commissioners approved the acceptance of the vehicle at their July meeting. The ambulance was acquired from the Defense Reutilization and Marketing Service, which sells surplus military equipment to federal, state and local agencies, as well as the public, according to its Web site.

Gallant said the vehicle is a Chevrolet from the mid-1980s with four-wheel-drive capability. It has logged only 7,000 miles due to its confinement with a Marine detachment on the grounds of Westover Air Force Base in Chicopee, Mass. Gallant said the vehicle also has a plow frame and was used for snow plowing on the base for the past three years.

The ambulance was given to the county for free.

“I had to gas it up once with diesel coming back and that was it,” Gallant said.

Gallant says the Sheriff’s Office will get the vehicle painted and use it as a special response vehicle. Its uses could include providing a private place for interviewing people, emergency use, processing summonses, and transportation of personnel for raids or other operations.

The ambulance must be kept for two to three years before it may be sold.

Gallant said he took part in the defense reutilization program during his time with the Rumford and Wilton police departments and frequently checks a site in Portsmouth, N.H., for equipment the Sheriff’s Office can use.

“It saves a lot of money,” he said.