Vests soldiers need in Iraq lie in armory, bound in red tape
By Associated Press
Published May 29, 2004
OCALA - More than 1,200 bulletproof vests donated for the 351st Military Police Company in Iraq remain at the unit's headquarters here as the Army decides whether to approve the shipment.
Marion County Sheriff Ed Dean helped collect the vests, which the Army Reserve unit said it will use to line the bottoms of Humvees for extra protection against roadside bombs.
The used vests were delivered to the unit's headquarters last week. But federal law requires that any gift above $1,000 be reviewed by military lawyers, then by the Secretary of the Army's office, military officials said.
Steve Stromvall, a spokesman for Army Reserve Command headquarters in Atlanta, said Friday the command was still reviewing the gift request, which it received Thursday from the 81st Regional Readiness Command in Birmingham, Ala., the 351st's parent unit. Stromvall said the request would go to the Pentagon if it is approved in Atlanta. He did not know when that would happen.
"It was a great community effort, and our intention is to ship those things out. But we have to follow the law," said Maj. Bill Nutter, a spokesman for the Alabama command.
Sgt. Hugh Baugus, a local spokesman for the 351st, said the unit's 175 soldiers need the vests urgently.
"The longer the delay, the greater the chance one of my soldiers is going to get hurt," Baugus said.
Dean made a statewide appeal for the vests this month and 40 sheriff's offices and police departments contributed.
