Yo, Snidely! Here's how it works with military vehicles.
You can have them fast. You can have them with great armor. You can't increase one without sacrificing the other. [The following is for anyone else tuning in who may be the hard of hearing:]
Armor is a trade off for speed when it comes to military vehicles. |
The way war works (and has for thousands of years) is you look at the mission and decide what is the balance of armor/speed you want to give you the best edge. When you get out to the field, and find that the planning wasn't good enough, you make can you vehicle faster by dumping armor into a land fill, or (as they're doing now) pull it out of the dump and recoat the vehicle to make it stronger but slower.
Sometimes it's the faster vehicle that makes you survive.
Something else, soldiers who don't improvise once they get to the field usually don't survive as well as those who do
" Sometimes it's the faster vehicle that makes you survive."
" Speed is security " was the operative phrase in many areas of Iraq , during the height of the insurgency.
Everyone that needs to know and is in a position to affect change, is well aware that some troops are cannibalizing old tanks and taking scrap metal to up armor their vehicles.
This is not news.
My brother had a conversation with a very high ranking member of this administration about the situation he and his men encountered in Iraq.
The conversation included the good and the bad.
It was done in private-not in a public forum , with the slavering media ready to pounce.
The welfare of the troops and the operational situation on the ground, is paramount to the Bush administration .
The situation is being dealt with through the appropriate chain of command-which does not include Maureen Dowd and Peter Jennings.
Something else, soldiers who don't improvise once they get to the field usually don't survive as well as those who do
Right on both counts. We didn't have up armored's when I was there, and I wouldn't want them if I went back. Travelling light and fast as hell will save your life. Being able to get in and out of your vehicles quickly is another. Most importantly, you've got to keep your eyes and ears open no matter how routine and uneventful your day has been so far.
I saw countless supply convoys driving along with soldiers half asleep in the turret. At one point we passed a column of Strykers on a narrow road near Mosul that didn't even see us rapidly approaching from their rear. I wish I had my camera handy, because the suprise of us passing them at 70mph was priceless.
Anyway, these were our highly unarmored but also highly modified rides, and I'd be happy to roll with them again.