Everyone in uniform knows that life ain’t fair — that, sooner or later, the government they’re trying to defend is going to mess with them, somehow. Set up roadblocks. Make their mission harder. Treat them less than fairly. It’d be crazy to expect anything less from a bureaucracy as giant and disjointed as the Defense Department. So putting up with B.S. just another part of handling the job.
But this — this is too much:
Soldiers and their parents are still spending hundreds and sometimes thousands of dollars for armor they say the military wont provide. One U.S. senator said Wednesday he will try again to force the Pentagon to obey the reimbursement law it opposed from the outset and has so far not implemented…
Your expectation is that when you are sent to war, that our government does everything they can do to protect the lives of our people, and anything less than that is not good enough, said a former Marine who spent nearly $1,000 two weeks ago to buy lower-body armor for his son, a Marine serving in Fallujah.
The father asked that he be identified only by his first name Gordon because he is afraid of retribution against his son.
I wouldnt have cared if it cost us $10,000 to protect our son, I would do it, said Gordon. But I think the U.S. has an obligation to make sure they have this equipment and to reimburse for it. I just dont support Donald Rumsfelds idea of going to war with what you have, not what you want. You go to war prepared, and you dont go to war until you are prepared.
Under the law passed by Congress last October, the Defense Department had until Feb. 25 to develop regulations for the reimbursement, which is limited to $1,100 per item. Pentagon officials opposed the reimbursement idea, calling it an unmanageable precedent that will saddle the DOD with an open-ended financial burden.
So wait, let me get this straight: reimbursing 11 Bravos for their body armor is somehow “unmanageable.” But sinking hundreds of billions into a flailing, bloated modernization project that changes requirements and deadlines every couple of months, that’s perfectly OK? No, wrong. Helping soldiers and marines fight today’s war isn’t a “burden.” It should be a priority. The priority.
(Photo: Johan Spanner)
C:
You’re right, it’d be a good idea to set up a fund for armor and other battlefield basics. But individual warfighters also have to be trusted to decide what gear works best for them.
nms
The last I checked, there was plenty of body armor to go around in-theater, meaning the IBA’s with SAPI plates. There’s no need for this Marine to buy his own body armor. Granted, there is better armor available for the money, but the Army seldom provides the best that money can buy. It provides reasonable protection, but there are trade-off’s. I went to Iraq with the old style flak jacket, but when I got there, I received the IBA with plates. That was in Apr 2003.
This is wrong, but why am I not surprised after standing by helplessly watching someone I love struggle w/ an ailment that has just recentely been “officially” diagnosed as Gulf War Syndrome.
This is wrong on so many levels. I hope the people that read this after I post tell EVERYONE they love & care about to make SURE they have a copy of thier medical records QUEITLY, before they are discharged from duty. It is so important.
This is why I pray daily for our service men & women. I am sad that thier lives are on the line daily & they are not taken care of before, during , & after.
Godspeed to them 7 thier families.
LOWER body armor that is the item that was bought that was your legs and privates wont be blown off
I think that the problem has been much wider.
Every war has its lessons about equipment but this was a total failure in anticipating the post invasion scenario. This kind of war was not something planned to deal with. They were expecting flowers from the Iraqis for the soldiers. They/We are getting something different.
This is why much of the equipment needed was not even thought to be usefull.
As a consequence we have seen many emergency orders of equipment that now is considered basic. We have seen emergency solutions like recycled protective plates. All of this AFTER they realized how the real world was…
Under this point of view we have to accept how the strategic planners in Washington have failed. How the intelligence has failed. How the Whitehouse have failed.
And now we have to face reality…
There is no way out that the Pentagon/Whitehouse can control. This level of engagement can not be supported by the US for long and they have no idea of what this will end with…
Just remember– the Republiconmen support our troops… if by “support” you mean ‘do things that make it more likely that they get killed.”
Republicanconmen.….like Kerry-who voted against purchasing armor.…..
He was a Republican all along!!!
While many/most of the troops now in the field have the IBA fielded, during most of OIF 1 that was not the case. Many of us purchased commercially-available body armor, as the flak vests still being issued were not believed to be adequate protection. This is what we’d like to be re-imbursed for.
I’m reading this article again, who is using the lower body armor?
If you know someone-let’s here from you. When I saw that article all I could think was-“No gunner is ever going to survive a rollover with that thing on.“
At the time I presumes it was the armor I saw in Stars & Stripes and it certainly seemed to slow someone’s ability to move.
I’m not saying that people haven’t been screwed by the Army-but I’m betting that most guys who are getting the lower part really are not using it much. I wouldn’t have-but that’s not saying there is no role for it.
Is any of this suprising after almost a decade of Bill Clinton? I’m not trying to excuse the ineptness and stupidity of the jerks in power now, but I’ll bet that eight years of the Slick Willy White House is partially to blame for several of the military’s current problems.