[Donald Rumsfeld Fan]

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Issue number 3 for 2004, written prior to August 2004, addressed the issue of the armored Humvee. The article states, “As the most popular tactical vehicle today, the M998 HUMMWV (dubbed Humvee) is currently used with many armies. ….few …are operating protected Hummers…. During and after the Kosovo conflict, the US Army decided to protect a small part of its Humvee fleet. The armored version would be heavier – resulting in reduced deployment flexibility…. The US Marine Corps, requiring operational speed for its forces, opted not to protect its Humvees.”

Interesting tradeoff. Speed versus armour. Apparrently the Natl. Guard's mission placed a higher priority on armour. But for the Marines speed was paramount. I would like to see an explaination as why this is so.

[agedav]

The Marines are a highly mobile force by their nature, always have been. More than that, they have requirements not only for speed but also to minimize the weight of their vehicles so that all can be loaded and transported on available sea and land vessels. The Marines have the same problems as the Army and National Guard when they are placed in urban warfare. They need to trade off speed and agility for armor to protect the troops. The difference between the Marines and the guys griping in Kuwait the other day was this: The Marines cooperated with the Navy CBs to just get the job done.