Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

Bloody dysfunction

Because of the Army's sluggish procurement system, our troops in Iraq are waiting too long for needed body armor. Such delays can cost lives.

The early war in Iraq was going so well the Army decided in April 2003 to cancel additional bulletproof vests for 50,000 soldiers behind the front. A month later, as snipers and bombs took their bloody toll, the Army realized its error and ordered body armor for every soldier. Mistaken judgment is bad enough in war, but the real tragedy is that the first vests didn't arrive in Iraq for another 5 months, and the needs of soldiers to protect themselves against roadside bombs are still unmet.

Even now, the general responsible for providing the vests seems unconcerned. "While we would all like to be faster and more responsive, it was fairly responsive," said Gen. Paul Kern, who retired recently. That's too reminiscent of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's put down ("You go to war with the army you have") of a soldier who asked for more armor. Americans have made it clear that "fairly responsive" isn't good enough when the lives of their soldiers are on the line.

The frustrating delays for bulletproof vests are detailed in a 2004 report by the military's inspector general, but it wasn't made public until the New York Times requested a copy. The newspaper revealed that it took 47 days for the Army to even allocate the money after the order for more vests was given. One of the low bidders to make 20,000 bulletproof ceramic inserts was a retired military researcher with no manufacturing track record. His company delivered only 356 plates.

In all, it took 167 days from the time the Army recognized the need until the first vests arrived in Iraq. Everyone knows that the military is a vast bureaucracy, but lengthy delay wasn't necessary. Our allies in Iraq requested more bulletproof vests at the same time, but they went directly to a manufacturer in Michigan. Their vests began arriving in 12 days.

If that weren't revealing enough of the military's dysfunction, the Pentagon initiated the inspector general's report because it thought the allies were taking vests intended for American troops. As it turned out, the report concluded that the military has only itself to blame.

ArmorWorks, one experienced maker of bulletproof ceramic plates, said the Army kept giving conflicting orders. "It was stop, start, stop, start," company president William Perciballi told the New York Times . Even a Rapid Equipping Force created by the Pentagon to help soldiers counter roadside bombs was stymied by the traditional procurement system.

Consequently, soldiers in Iraq still have inadequate armor for Humvees and too few bomb jamming devices. Such delays have cost lives, yet the Army is still incapable of adequately protecting its troops. How much blood has to be spilled before the Bush administration, Congress or the Pentagon acts?

[Last modified March 8, 2005, 16:52:55]