posted on March 7, 2005 02:39:46 PM new
Updated: 01:16 PM EST
Many Missteps Tied to Delay in Armor for Troops in Iraq
By MICHAEL MOSS, The New York Times
The question of body armor for U.S. troops in Iraq was a hot campaign issue last year.
The war in Iraq was hardly a month old in April 2003 when an Army general in charge of equipping soldiers with protective gear threw the brakes on buying bulletproof vests.
The general, Richard A. Cody, who led a Pentagon group called the Army Strategic Planning Board, had been told by supply chiefs that the combat troops already had all the armor they needed, according to Army officials and records from the board's meetings. Some 50,000 other American soldiers, who were not on the front lines of battle, could do without.
In the following weeks, as Iraqi snipers and suicide bombers stepped up deadly attacks, often directed at those very soldiers behind the front lines, General Cody realized the Army's mistake and did an about-face. On May 15, 2003, he ordered the budget office to buy all the bulletproof vests it could, according to an Army report. He would give one to every soldier, "regardless of duty position."
But the delays were only beginning. The initial misstep, as well as other previously undisclosed problems, show that the Pentagon's difficulties in shielding troops and their vehicles with armor have been far more extensive and intractable than officials have acknowledged, according to government officials, contractors and Defense Department records.
In the case of body armor, the Pentagon gave a contract for thousands of the ceramic plate inserts that make the vests bulletproof to a former Army researcher who had never mass-produced anything. He struggled for a year, then gave up entirely. At the same time, in shipping plates from other companies, the Army's equipment manager effectively reduced the armor's priority to the status of socks, a confidential report by the Army's inspector general shows. Some 10,000 plates were lost along the way, and the rest arrived late.
In all, with additional paperwork delays, the Defense Department took 167 days just to start getting the bulletproof vests to soldiers in Iraq once General Cody placed the order. But for thousands of soldiers, it took weeks and even months more, records show, at a time when the Iraqi insurgency was intensifying and American casualties were mounting
By contrast, when the United States' allies in Iraq also realized they needed more bulletproof vests, they bypassed the Pentagon and ordered directly from a manufacturer in Michigan. They began getting armor in just 12 days.
The issue of whether American troops were adequately protected received wide attention in December, when an Army National Guard member complained to Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld that troops were scrounging for armor to fortify their Humvees and other vehicles. The Pentagon has maintained that it has moved steadfastly to protect all its troops in Iraq.
But an examination of the issues involving the protective shielding and other critical equipment shows how a supply problem seen as an emergency on the ground in Iraq was treated as a routine procurement matter back in Washington.
There is much more to read on the ARMOR ISSUE in the link below.
posted on March 7, 2005 04:02:21 PM new
The body armour still didn't protect the soldiers from traumatic brain injury, (TBI) akin to 'shaken baby syndrome' and they find that about 60% of those injured are suffering from it, the largest group being only 21 years old.
But as a retired person recently reminded me here, I shouldn't concern myself about these deaths or injuries as more lose their lives in traffic accidents each year and she did claim that these young men and women are fighting for HER freedom.
This link explains the injuries and how it affects these young people.
posted on March 7, 2005 05:08:55 PM new
Kiara, Thanks for your information. I read your post about brain damage its very sad and scary. The more information we get the more we see how poorly this war is being run. I wonder how these fine young and not so young troops feel about this White House wanting to charge all Vets money to use the VA Medical Facilities.
posted on March 7, 2005 07:57:20 PM new
It's very interesting Libra. Usually, people who can write, are also able to READ.
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Dick Cheney: "I have not suggested there's a connection between Iraq and 9/11..."
posted on March 8, 2005 05:10:29 AM new
Libra63, once again you don't understand what kiara or I posted and now you are just blowing smoke to cover up the truth. You are SHAMEFUL.
I know for sure that John Kerry and John Edwards WILL VOTE AGAINST this White House plan to charge ALL VETS MONEY TO USE THE VA MEDICAL SYSTEM. Do you want to bet?
How much of your "main stream money" do you want to put where your lying mouth is? Come on Libra63 EITHER PUT UP OR SHUT UP!!!
