Military working to improve vehicles’ armor, officials say
WASHINGTON – Military officials said Thursday they were working hard to upgrade the armor on Army vehicles in Iraq, a day after a soldier had pressed Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on the subject. President Bush said, “The concerns expressed are being addressed.”
Close to three-quarters of the Humvees in the Iraq war theater now have upgraded armor protection, but many larger trucks and tractor-trailer rigs do not, according to congressional figures.
Military officials said that armoring Humvees has been the top priority because they are used to patrol areas where attacks are likely. The heavy haulers, meanwhile, usually travel convoy routes that are more frequently swept for guerillas and bombs.
The issue of whether the military is providing enough protection to soldiers is receiving new attention after a National Guardsman on his way to Iraq questioned Rumsfeld on Wednesday as to why he and his comrades had to scrounge through scrap piles to protect their vehicles.
Lt. Gen. Steven R. Whitcomb, commander of the 3rd Army, was questioned about that by Pentagon reporters Thursday in a teleconference from Camp Arifjan, Kuwait.
“If I can add another plate or another inch or more to the vehicle I’m riding in that gives me protection, it’s better,” he said. “So I think that’s a prudent thing to do, if the soldier has the capability. … In my opinion, it’s not being done in mass numbers or mass quantities.”
He said vehicles with upgraded armor were being added every day. “Our goal, and what we’re working toward, is that no wheeled vehicle that leaves Kuwait going into Iraq is driven by a soldier that does not have some level of armor protection on it,” he said.
At the White House in Washington, Bush, too, was asked about the situation.
“The concerns expressed are being addressed and that is – we expect our troops to have the best possible equipment,” Bush said. “If I were a soldier overseas wanting to defend my country, I’d want to ask the secretary of defense the same question. And that is, ‘Are we getting the best we can get us?’ And they deserve the best.”
Questions have been raised about why the military had not started armoring its vehicles sooner than August 2003, when insurgents turned to bombs to attack U.S. forces. Some critics point to the lack of light armored vehicles as further evidence the Bush administration was unprepared for the kind of insurgency it has faced in Iraq.
It’s the big trucks that do much of the heavy hauling around Iraq, ferrying supplies, troops and even other vehicles through rough stretches of highway. The better-known Humvee serves as a light troop carrier, weapons platform and all-purpose jeep.
But the big trucks, like the five-ton M939 medium truck and the tank-hauling Heavy Equipment Transporter, face some of the same threats as the Humvees, including roadside bombs and gun and rocket ambushes.