Body armor in action (vid)

[SCpoloRicker]

Not to touch on political toes; but the survivability of a given soldier is the highest its ever been.

/Colin Powell school of warfare
//'91

[Jack & Coke]

...wasn't there complaints earlier in the year that soldiers didn't have enough body armor?

"earlier" ? ...nothing has changed.

Many, many soldiers still lack proper armor (body and vehicle) and are not as fortunate as the dude in the video in the first post.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/07/11/60minutes/main708179.shtml

[Army]

J&C..MUCH has changed, except your ignorance of the situation.

All Soldiers deployed to Iraq since early last year have been issued new impact resistant vests, and SAPI plate inserts. While not perfect (no body armor available is), it is the best currently available for US Soldiers. New additions to the body armor are what SoldierzHonor has pointed out.

Vehicle armor is evolving. All wheeled vehicles are now either being re-fitted with armor kits, or have been factory built and sent to Iraq...and have been since late 2003. We just received 110 HETs at work, because it is cheaper to send these "soft" trucks home, and replace them with hardened trucks that will protect their drivers better, rather than re-fit them in-country.

Been there, done that, STILL HAVE THE BODY ARMOR!

Not to mention, your CBS link is about a reporters interviews of a YEAR ago.

[Jack & Coke]

J&C..MUCH has changed

really? much?

From last I read (2005 articles), there still is a "lack of body/vehicle armor" problem...
(although not as large, nor as ridiculous as 2 years ago...)

http://anon.salon.speedera.net/anon.salon/media/2004/12/gps1_q300.mov

http://slate.msn.com/id/2095705/

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F30D14FE39550C768EDDAD0894DD404482&incamp=archive:search

http://www.theunionleader.com/articles_showa.html?article=52972

http://www.optruth.org/main.cfm?actionId=globalShowStaticContent&screenKey=issues&htmlId=1537

http://www.globalsecurity.org/org/news/2005/050307-armor-missteps.htm

http://www.armytimes.com/story.php?f=1-292925-832873.php

• All Soldiers...
• The best currently available...
• All wheeled vehicles...

really? "All"? "best"?

I honestly have my doubts about this claim.

I know there have been thousands of units of body and vehicle armor deployed to our occupying force in Iraq since this big "lack of armor fiasco/complaint" was exposed to the public a couple years ago by our troops.

When I say "no change", I'm exaggerating to get my point across (yes I'm guilty): There is still a "lack of body/vehicle armor" problem.

The degree of which can be debated, whether you're trying to portray the image that:

"...nothing is wrong, move a long, everything is ok now..."

or

"...hey, we still have some problems here! Let's fix it!"

[Steelrat]

I'm pretty sure the stuff they are wearing IS the best body armor out there.

[fire1811]

very nice

[BigEvil]

IMO, a soldier can NEVER have enough armor when in combat. Im sure that the equipment that is in country now has evolved by leaps and bounds from what it was at the start of the war. (Army can correct me if I am wrong about that)


Im glad to see the medic who got hit is ok. I think we should pay attentoin to how our men captured the snipers and didnt kill them. But then again, that is the difference between us and the rest of the world. I just hope that compasion like that doesnt lead to our demise.

[SoldierzHonor]

The question on the armor....we recieved our armor before we left the states. Proof the armor does what its supposed to is that the soldier's wasnt penetrated. I only went to the army times link, it was posted in may of 05. However, the final results were from 04. The person who stated a soldier can never have enough armor is correct. Even if you were wearing better armor than is currently ther best, a VBIED loaded with 8 - 10 artillery rounds makes one heck of a boom. Even if I was able to show one of our trucks that was hit, I wouldnt. 1 of the 3 soldiers was killed. One even escaped without injury. The other was wounded but he was a few feet from a VBIED when it went off and still survived. If you seen the truck, you'd ask yourself how in the world did any of them survive. The armor performed perfectly. There were other events that happened being the reason the young man died. Another soldier here was killed but ONLY from shrapnel from a blast that was extremely lucky on the insurgents behalf. Due to the new criteria, it wont happen again. The armor again, even being what we call hillbilly armor, performed as it should. New criteria for driving around of base is causing more vehicles to need more armor. A vehicle we used extensively is now considered unsafe due to the new criteria for safety. It has all the armor on the sides and such but is waiting for cab top armor. We have a yard full of new fielded armored humvees waiting for a home on our FOB. I can show links to improvements they are looking at fielding such as full armor for turret gunners. It even has a climate control onboard to keep the suit at 70 degrees and face shields. The CROWS system is even currently being used in Iraq. It takes a gunner out of the turret and uses a remote gun turret. Its not like they are hanging us out to dry. Even our eyewear is dictated in what we wear.

[Jack & Coke]

..hillbilly armor..