Neglected by Pentagon, Citizens Step Up for Soldiers
As the federal government has been incredibly lax about supplying soldiers in Iraq with adequate armor, Oklahoma is pushing through legislation that would create Patriot Plates. Purchase of a $35 license plate would contribute $20 toward body armor for Oklahoma soldiers. I wish the Bushies would sit up and take notice that it’s not the responisbility of individual contributers to supply troops with armor. That people have to make a donation above and beyond their tax dollars for armor is ridiculous. Our military should not be a charity case.
In another expample of what seems to be a constant struggle to properly equip soldiers overseas, today The Marine Corp announced they have recalled 5,277 defective vests from troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. Though they were defective enough for a recall, “The Marines defended the vests and denied risking the lives of troops in war zones by giving them poor equipment, arguing that the vests were vastly superior to the ‘outdated’ flak jacket they replaced.” (Reuters)
The continuing armor shortage was addressed in the April Government Accountability Office report GAO-05-275. (highlights) (Both PDF)
According to the report, “…body armor was not issued to all troops in Iraq until January 2004, 8 months after major combat operations were declared over.” (P. 36) “By December 2003 the worldwide number of back orders [for the vest component of soldier’s body armor] reached 328,023.” (P.76)
Because of the shortages, many individuals bought body armor with personal funds. The Congressional Budget Office estimated (1) that as many as 10,000 personnel purchased vests, (2) as many as 20,000 purchased plates with personal funds, and (3) the total cost to reimburse them would be $16 million in 2005. (P. 78 )
Another continuing problem is a lack of adequately armored HMMWVs. “Current HMMWVs are protected only by canvas tops and have no additional armor protection.” (P. 122) In this case, for protection from ambushes and roadside bombs, an add-on armor kit is required. However, “as of September 2004, the Army supplied 8,771 of the 13,872 Add-on Armor kits required by CENTCOM but still needed 5,101 additional kits to meet all requirements.” (P. 121)
The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that “Though the Army says all of its 35,000 vehicles in Iraq now have some sort of armor, 11,700 of them are protected with nothing more than crudely cut sheets of steel.” Worse, “attacks on vehicles have accounted for as many as 40 percent of the 1,037 deaths attributed to hostile action” leading many to attribute up to 400 deaths to inadequate armor.
But at least we can sleep soundly knowing that manufacturers are seeing record profits from all of this.