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August 24, 2005
Body Armor
I honestly do not know what the fuss in the MSM is about the body armor issue. I have to say that I firmly agree with Secretary Rumsfeld's comment that you "Go to war with the army you have, not the army you wish you had." During the past few years, the Pentagon has done alot to supply us with more and better armor, but the whole process can't happen overnight. My unit (10th Mountain Division, 1st Brigade) was completely outfitted with kevlar vests, neck guards and groin protectors that are rated for shrapnel and 9mm. We also got SAPI (small arms protective inserts) plates that are rated to stop a 7.62 mm round, which is what the AK-47 fires.
Now we have part of underarm/side body and upper arm protection, and although we dont have the kevlar inserts for them yet, they are comming. Now I hear the Marines are testing an underwear-type kevlar pair of shorts.
There is a line that is rapidly being approached where all this extra armor actually increases the likelyhood of injury to the soldier. My armor weighs over 20 lbs, add to that my weapon, ammunition, 3 liters of water, Combat Life Saver equipment, etc and I am approaching 200 lbs. I weigh 150 normally. Eventually, the soldier will slow down and be easier to hit.
Remember the uproar over the armor on the Hum Vee's? The armor raised the center of gravity of the vehicle and slowed them down. Enough so that there were initially more rollovers, until the drivers got used to driving them. Unfortunately, I do not have a diesel engine inside me and adding these 11lb shorts and arm protectors will seriously inhibit me, weight-wise and bulk-wise.
I think I may submit a cartoon suggestion to Cox and Forkum about this...
Posted by TJ at August 24, 2005 12:41 PM
Comments
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