| Today, anyone who's tried to sell so much as a paper clip to the Pentagon will tell you what a time-consuming mess the system is.
|
Posted on 12/10/2004 12:12:16 AM PST by kattracks
When an Army reservist in Kuwait gave Donald Rumsfeld an earful Wednesday about inadequate armor for Iraq-bound Humvees, the Defense Secretary responded by paying the soldier the compliment of candor. "You go to war with the army you have. They're not the army you might want or wish to have," he said.That's at least an honest answer, and the Secretary's forthrightness seems to have been appreciated by the troops at the town hall meeting, who gave him a standing ovation. But back in Washington, candor has gotten more than one official in trouble. Faster than you could say "Abu Ghraib," a new issue was born for critics of the Bush Administration's Iraq policy.
Figuring it was politically safe to slipstream behind a soldier's question, Connecticut Senator Chris Dodd called Mr. Rumsfeld's comments "cavalier." House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi called for Mr. Rumsfeld to be fired--for only the 10th or 15th time. California Representative Ellen Tauscher vows to press for hearings on supply needs.
The latter might even do some good, or at least hearings might if they examine the military's (which is to say Congress's) failed acquisition system.
[snip]
When commanders first identified the need for more armored vehicles, in August 2003, production was at 30 per month; it's now up to 450 a month and the plants making armor are running at full capacity.
[snip]
Today, anyone who's tried to sell so much as a paper clip to the Pentagon will tell you what a time-consuming mess the system is. Forget to dot one "i" and your company runs the risk of ending up like Halliburton, target of lawsuits and reviled in the press as a corporate predator.
(Excerpt) Read more at opinionjournal.com ...
1. The military has been deployed too long in Iraq for Rummy to say that 'you work with what you have.' Such an answer is only acceptable for perhaps the initial stages only. They should have all they need by now.
2. Given their history of cutting military budgets, the Demos have no place criticizing the levels of materiel available to the troops.
Can someone post a link to find out how these a-holes voted on defense budgets?
I've been following this all day on Rush, G-man, Hannity, et al. While I think that reporter-dude got carried away setting up this little brouhaha beforehand, after due consideration I think his heart was actually in the right place. Remember, he was embedded, eating dust with the troops and saw for himself what the problems were. Furthermore, from the quoted email he sent to his colleagues, he repeatedly uses the phrases "my boys" and "my unit." Not a Petah Jennings balking at wearing the flag lapel pin by any means.
I hate to have to say this but I'm afraid this kick in the pants was exactly what Rummy needed to finally start taking this situation seriously. Now we're seeing action, just a few hours ago on CSPAN there was that video conference interview with the general at that depot in Kuwait. Plus all the hootin' and hollerin' on Capitol Hill. Armored Humvees leave a lot to be desired (whether it's level I, level II, or level III protection). They are 21st century jeeps, utility vehicles, not battlewagons and the transmission and suspension do not last long under half a ton of armor (Col. Dave also mentions this rendered them dangerously top-heavy; they flip over with the greatest of ease). I actually wrote a letter to the SecDef (God only knows if anyone actually looked at it) enclosing articles I had found, xeroxed and printed out pertaining to the issue. Taking out of mothballs the several thousand M113's currently sitting in warehouses, buying up used South African Casspir armored cars, using iraqi talent to round up and render shipshape Saddam's old BMP's, BTR's and BRDM's (Hack's suggestion) were some of the ideas I had come across.
God only knows how many of the dead and maimed would not be had they at least had sufficient protection to keep out bullets and resist (to varying degrees) IED blasts.
| Today, anyone who's tried to sell so much as a paper clip to the Pentagon will tell you what a time-consuming mess the system is.
|
Armor Holdings Could Boost Humvee Armor Output 22% (Update2)
Dec. 9 (Bloomberg) -- Armor Holdings Inc., the sole supplier of protective plates for the Humvee military vehicles used in Iraq, said it could increase output by as much as 22 percent per month with no investment and is awaiting an order from the Army.
U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said yesterday the Army was working as fast as it can and supply is dictated by ``a matter of physics, not a matter of money.''
Jacksonville, Florida-based Armor Holdings last month told the Army it could add armor to as many as 550 of the trucks a month, up from 450 vehicles now, Robert Mecredy, president of the company's aerospace and defense group said in a telephone interview today.
``We're prepared to build 50 to 100 vehicles more per month,'' Mecredy said in the interview. ``I've told the customer that and I stand ready to do that.''
Insurgent attacks on the vehicles with homemade bombs and rocket-propelled grenades are accounting for as much as half of the more than 1,000 U.S. deaths and 9,000 U.S. wounded in Iraq, according to Congressional estimates.
President George W. Bush said concerns raised by soldiers in questions to Rumsfeld yesterday in Kuwait are being addressed,'' Bush said in response to a reporter's question. ``We expect our troops to have the best possible equipment. 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'' equipment, he said. ``They deserve the best.''
`Hillbilly Armor'
U.S. troops preparing for deployment to Iraq told Rumsfeld yesterday they are salvaging armor from landfills to install ``hillbilly armor'' on their Humvees. Rumsfeld replied that ``you have to go to war with the Army you have.''
Armor Holdings has already boosted output from 60 vehicles a month a year ago, said Mecredy, 58. As a result of the increased output, Armor Holdings has cut the price for the armor its supplies for the trucks to $58,000 per vehicle, from $72,000 per vehicle a year ago, Mecredy said.
Shares of Armor Holdings rose 66 cents, or 1.6 percent in New York Stock Exchange composite trading at 11:34 a.m.
When he was asked about current production yesterday, Rumsfeld wasn't sure of the exact figure saying ``it's something like 400 a month are being done.''
``It's a matter of production and capability of doing it,'' Rumsfeld, 72, said.
Tesia William, a spokeswoman for the Army Materiel Command, which handles the armored Humvee program, had no immediate comment on the status of orders.
Production of the armor needs to be coordinated with output of the actual trucks by AM General LLC of South Bend, Indiana, Mecredy said. AM General spokesman Lee Woodward also said that truck output could also be increased.
``If they ordered more trucks, we'd build more trucks,'' Woodward said. ``We're not close to capacity. It might take some time to ramp up but we can do it.''
Woodward declined to provide exact details on production capacity.
The main reason there isn't enough armor is because the military has underestimated its own needs, said Meghan Keck, spokeswoman for Senator Evan Bayh, an Indiana Democrat. Bayh wrote a letter to Rumsfeld in October calling for a more accurate estimate of Humvee needs.
``If the Army would be up front about the number of Humvees needed, the companies would be able to set their production accordingly to meet the need,'' Keck said in a phone interview.
To contact the reporter on this story: Edmond Lococo in Boston at elococo@bloomberg.net. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Rob Urban at robprag@bloomberg.net. Last Updated: December 9, 2004 11:41 EST
How could this possibly be? I thought Algore "streamlined" the military procurement process when he Reinvented Government??
The best way to streamline the government would be to fire all of the folks in the "streamline the government" bureaucracy. Then fire 2/3's of the staff of the IGs whose job it is to make sure that the government is never streamlined. Then fire half the regulatory attornies, and most of the oversight and complience folks. For every person in government procurement trying to do a job there are 20 making sure that he can't do it.
you need to spend a tour in the military and then make the same comment. wanting and getting something are two different things.
As a member of the national guard for over 30 years, I can tell you one thing, the national guard normally gets equipment the regular army no longer uses. Many times it is not in the best of shape, and must be repaired. Very seldom do we get NEW equipment. We have NEVER had armored trucks. Tanks and other tracked vehicles are armored, but not other vehicles.
Given their history of cutting military budgets, the Demos have no place criticizing the levels of materiel available to the troops.
There are also some dims who would rather reduce the military to a force who would report to the UN, not our Commander In Chief. Does J F'ing skerry ring a bell?
fix the military's failed acquisition system
Good luck, bring a lunch.
hate to have to say this but I'm afraid this kick in the pants was exactly what Rummy needed to finally start taking this situation seriously.
What makes you think he hasn't?
no flame intended
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Today? Today? I called on the Pentagon back in my peddler days — 25 years ago — and it was frigging mess then.