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Have Vest, Will Loan
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By David H. Hackworth
October 20, 2003: My British-made bulletproof Tetranike vest served me well in
the badlands of ex-Yugoslavia, Somalia and Latin America back
in my days as a war correspondent – that is, before darling
wife Eilhys changed the drill.
But that doesn’t mean the vest is also retired. No sirree.
Since 9-11, my trusty Tetranike has served one tour with the
Army in Afghanistan and three in Iraq: with the Army, FBI and
presently protecting a retired “snake eater” who’s training
the Iraqi police force.
The reason that sucker’s so well-traveled is that the Bush
administration just can’t get its priorities right when it
comes to giving each and every one of our soldiers the right
stuff to kick up the odds of their making it through the
hit-and-run hell of insurgent combat.
About 40,000 of our sons and daughters in harm’s way in Iraq
actually have to buy, borrow, beg or go without adequate body
armor because a bumbling Pentagon bureaucracy hasn’t been
issuing 100 percent of our troops the very best full metal
jacket money can buy – even though the money has been long
appropriated.
Worried moms and pops are sending vests to their kids in care
packages that in other conflicts contained cookies and
Kool-Aid. A manufacturer’s ad in Army Magazine says it all:
“Our vest could be the best four pounds a soldier ever
gained.”
The latest vests – worn by a large percentage of our luckier
grunts – are composed of layered sheets of Kevlar with pockets
in front and back for ceramic plates to protect vital organs
and will stop a point-blank 7.62 small-arms fire. One-third
lighter than the Vietnam-type gear, they, of course, aren’t
the final solution, but they’re far better than anything else
the engineers have cooked up to date.
Our soldiers swear by them – and so do the docs. Body armor
saves lives and has well-demonstrated its bullet- and
shrapnel-stopping efficiency in bad places like Somalia,
Afghanistan and now daily in Iraq – where so far about 2,000
soldiers have been killed or wounded.
If these more modern flak jackets aren’t preventing hundreds
of legs and arms from being blown off – keeping the docs at
Army hospitals like Walter Reed burning the midnight oil – at
least they’re standing between more of our kids and the
morgue.
But too many troopers in Iraq tell me they still have
Vietnam-era antiques that are about as effective as wrapping
cotton batting around their torsos.
The reason for this Pentagon criminal negligence is twofold:
first, the $310 million Congress approved for the vests got
parked at various places, where bucks were siphoned off for
noncombat-related items; and second, the Army has treated the
vest issue the way it handles routine requisitions, such as
portable toilets and tent poles.
Soldiers for the Truth executive retired Marine Lt. Col. Roger
Charles was dead on target when he said, “The Pentagon has
handled the replacement of body armor as though it’s a routine
general-issue item.”
A few years back, the top supply brass decided to implement a
one-for-one exchange of new vests for old vests. Apparently,
the realities of Afghanistan and Iraq still haven’t hit the
radar screen of these logistics wizards, so biz-as-usual
continues to be the order of the day – despite the mounting
casualties.
Congress is about to approve about $65 billion for the U.S.
military in Iraq and Afghanistan. But Bush & Company haven't
included one penny for body armor, even though the cost of the
extraordinary security precautions on the president’s recent
Asian tour would cover a vest for every soldier seconded to
the Iraqi sand traps.
For sure, enough cash would be skimmed off that giant pile of
taxpayer dough to fix this critical problem if Rummy, Gen.
Richard Myers and a few of the Pentagon supply generals were
outfitted with obsolete vests and sent off with our serving
heroes to patrol the mean streets of Iraq.
The vests would suddenly be exchanged as quickly as Abrams
tanks’ and Bradley Fighting Vehicles’ tracks get replaced –
with U.S. plants working three shifts and the heavy tracks
then rushed by air to the battlefield.
Which is the way it always should be.
If we don't take care of our troops, how can they take care of
us?
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