So where does this $87 BILLION GO???!?!?!?!?!?
IT ISN"T GOING TO PROTECT OUR SOLDIERS....
THEY HAVE SHITTY EQUIPMENT....PERIOD!
COMMENTARY
Full Metal Jacket
Why must Americans in Iraq face death because of outmoded body armor?
By Jonathan Turley
Suzanne Werfelman is a mother and a teacher who has
been shopping for individual body armor. This is not in
response to threats from her elementary-class students
in Sciota, Pa.; it's a desperate attempt to protect her
son in Iraq.
Like many other U.S. service members in Iraq, her son
was given a Vietnam-era flak jacket that cannot stop
the type of weapons used today. It appears that parents
across the country are now purchasers of body armor
because of the failure of the military to supply soldiers
with modern vests.
Werfelman's son, Army Spc. Richard Murphy, is a
military policeman in Iraq. He was also one of my law
students last year before being sent off for a 20-month
stint. Upon their arrival, members of Murphy's unit
were shocked to learn that they would be given the old
Vietnam-era vests rather than the modern Interceptor
vest. (They were also given unarmored Humvees,
which are vulnerable to even small-arms fire.) Military
officials admit that the standard flak jacket could not reliably stop a bullet,
including AK-47 ammunition, used in Iraq and the most common ammunition in
the world.
Developed in the late 1990s, the Interceptor vest is made of layered sheets of
Kevlar with pockets in front and back for ceramic plates to protect vital organs.
These vests — one-third lighter than the old ones — have stopped machine-gun
bullets, shrapnel and other ordnance.
They can mean the difference between living and dying, which was made all too
clear to Sgt. Zachariah Byrd, a soldier with the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment,
who was shot four times with AK-47 bullets (twice in the chest and twice in his
arms) when his unit was ambushed. The vest protected his chest and he survived.
Byrd had been issued a standard flak jacket and, if he had been wearing it during
the attack, he'd probably be dead. However, at the beginning of the patrol, his
buddy who was driving that night gave his Interceptor vest to Byrd — a passing
kindness that saved Byrd's life.
Others don't have the Interceptor option — including some of the soldiers in
Murphy's unit who are still wearing flak jackets. Congress has received reports of
soldiers killed while wearing the old flak jackets. One from a mother related how
three soldiers in her son's unit were killed while wearing the outmoded vests. The
unit reportedly had only 30 modern vests for 120 men. Army Staff Sgt. Dave
Harris wrote a letter to Stars and Stripes that related how his friend, Mike Quinn,
was killed in Fallouja. Quinn's unit didn't have enough vests, so he gave his to a
young soldier. The decision saved the young soldier's life, but resulted in Quinn's
death when he was shot.
The greatest shortfall in vests and plates appear to be National Guard and reserve
units, though full-time soldiers like Byrd also have reported shortages. Gen.
Richard B. Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, confirmed last week that
it would not be until December before there were enough plates for all of our
people in Iraq.
Murphy's reserve unit, which initially had no modern jackets, was eventually given
some Interceptor vests weeks after they arrived in Iraq, but even then the new
vests were missing the essential ceramic plates. That is when Werfelman went out
and bought some plates for $650 — more than her weekly salary — and sent
them to her son so he'd have basic protection. Workers at one armor company
she called said that they had been deluged with calls from parents trying to buy
vests and plates for their sons and daughters overseas.
Of course, many soldiers do not have even empty Interceptors. When they have
received plates from home, they have reportedly used duct tape to attach them to
the backs of their flak jackets.
This is a dangerous practice, according to William "Butch" Hancock, who
recently retired from the Army after 30 years and currently consults for Point
Blank, a body armor manufacturer. He says that some of these plates are
designed for front pockets and will not work in such circumstances.
In speeches, President Bush has attributed the record federal budget deficit, in
part, to his insistence that U.S. soldiers have the resources they need: "My
attitude is, any time we put one of our soldiers in harm's way, we're going to
spend whatever is necessary to make sure they have the best training, the best
support and the best possible equipment." When Bush later taunted gunmen in
Iraq to "bring it on," many GIs must have nervously tugged at their obsolete flak
jackets.
For many GIs, Iraq appears to be a strictly BYOB war — Bring Your Own
Bulletproofs.
The shortages come down to money and priorities. In 1998, Interceptors were
available and issued to armies around the world. However, the U.S. military
treats the replacement of body armor as any other "general-issue item." Thus, five
years ago the military brass decided to implement a one-for-one exchange of
new-for-old vests over a 10-year period. The military recently moved to increase
production. The belated priority given to replacing the vests is particularly
shocking considering their performance in Afghanistan, where they are credited
with saving the lives of 29 soldiers. This is why American mothers are mailing
armored plates rather than the traditional baked goods.
It is unclear how we got into this predicament, but it is worthy of a congressional
investigation — particularly when it comes to the failure to equip all military units
with the modern vests before the Iraq war. After all, the military brass appears to
be spending in other areas.
For example, the Air Force announced that it had cut a deal with Boeing to lease
airplane tankers for billions more than it would cost to buy them outright.
According to the Congressional Research Service, the Air Force will waste
almost $6 billion by leasing the planes rather than buying them. Congress is
looking into the deal. By comparison, outfitting all of the 150,000 soldiers in Iraq
with Interceptor vest plates would cost less than $97 million at retail prices.
Because many have already been outfitted, the actual cost would be a small
fraction of this amount. Congress should insist that body armor be designated a
"sensitive item" and that every soldier be given an Interceptor with plates without
delay.
One approach might guarantee results. Any member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
who does not secure such vests for his service should be required to sit at an
outdoor cafe in Tikrit and drink a cup of tea while wearing an old flak jacket.
That might focus the general staff on the problem more concretely.
Once the government makes sure all our soldiers receive vests, only one thing
would remain: Someone should send Suzanne Werfelman $650 and an apology.
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