Troops short on body armor - Lifesaving vests hit by U.S. delays

By Matt Kelley - Associated Press

October 14, 2003
 

WASHINGTON -- About one-quarter of the 130,000 U.S. troops in Iraq still have not been issued a new type of ceramic body armor strong enough to stop bullets fired from assault rifles.

Delays in funding, production and shipping mean it will be December before all troops in Iraq will have the vests, which were introduced four years ago, military officials say.

Congress approved $310 million in April to buy 300,000 more of the vests, with 30,000 destined for the troops in Iraq. Of that money, however, only about $75 million has reached the Army office responsible for overseeing the vests' manufacture and distribution, said David Nelson, an official in that office.

Angry members of Congress have denounced the Pentagon. They say up to 44,000 troops--more than the Pentagon figure--lack the best vests because of the sluggish supply chain. Relatives of some soldiers have resorted to buying body armor in the United States and shipping it to troops, congressional critics say.

"I got a letter from a young soldier in Baghdad saying that the men in his group were concerned that they had cheap armor that was incapable of stopping bullets," Rep. Ted Strickland (D-Ohio) said.

The Interceptor vests include removable, front and back ceramic plates that can stop bullets such as the 7.62mm rounds fired by Kalashnikov rifles common in Iraq and Afghanistan. Older-model vests can protect against shrapnel and other low-speed projectiles but not high-velocity rifle rounds.

Several soldiers serving in the countries have credited the Interceptor vests with saving their lives. Each vest with plates weighs more than 16 pounds and costs more than $1,500.

The shortfall in Iraq came because the military's need for body armor outstripped its ability to make and deliver the Interceptor plates, said Nelson, the Army's deputy product manager for outfitting soldiers.

Plate production surged a year ago from about 3,000 per month to 6,000 to 10,000, Nelson said. Current production is about 25,000 plates per month, and the Army is working to double that, he said.

"It's not a question of money, it's a question of capacity to manufacture these devices," the Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman, Gen. Richard Myers, told a Senate committee last month.