Body armor maker being investigated [Dragon Skin in Trouble]

Kansas City Star ^ | Jun. 06, 2007 | MICHAEL DOYLE

[Sleeping Beauty]

WASHINGTON | A manufacturer of body armor is under criminal investigation for possibly making false claims, Pentagon officials said Wednesday.

Lawmakers are pressing for an independent test to determine whether the company’s vests are better than the ones U.S. troops in Iraq are wearing.

Air Force investigators said they had been investigating Pinnacle Armor of Fresno, Calif., for a year, looking into allegations the company lied about having its vests certified as safe. Pinnacle made the claim nine months before it received the federal certification, officials said.

Lawmakers from both parties accused Pinnacle’s president, Murray Neal, of hyping his product, exploiting the fears of soldiers’ families, misleading Congress and impugning the Army’s integrity.

Neal said his company’s Dragon Skin body armor was superior to the Interceptor brand the Pentagon was buying now. The Army and Marine Corps need 178,000 body armor systems for service members in Iraq and Afghanistan. Some soldiers and Marines have been paying upward of $5,000 to equip themselves with Dragon Skin.

Unlike the solid Interceptor vests, Dragon Skin uses overlapping silver dollar-sized discs. The flexible system is popular with police SWAT teams, Secret Service agents, and others.

Neal contended there was “a pattern of anti-Dragon Skin misinformation coming from the armed forces.” He said a side-by-side test of the two systems, conducted by an independent evaluator, should decide which was more effective.

“I think we can do that in short order,” agreed Rep. Duncan Hunter of California, the senior Republican member of the House Armed Services Committee.

Two members of the Senate Armed Services Committee want the Government Accountability Office to oversee body armor tests.

The Pentagon has tested equipment against certain standards, but not side by side.

[Sacajaweau]

I think Hillary got the funding to reimburse the soldiers who bought their own armor...which was the Dragon stuff.

[Plains Drifter]

Good post, money gone and going down the toilet.
Take care of the troops!!!!!

[philman_36]

I was commenting on your words.
And what in my words convinced you that they, or I, were "bull scat" as you so elegantly phrased it?
My greeting at the beginning of each post is an affectation.
I'm sure you wish it to be taken as such.
It shows that I’m essentially a courteous person...
I'm sure you wish it to be considered as such. IMO it just makes you look ignorant and puerile, not courteous.
...and it has the added benefit of irritating thin skinned people.
So in other words you put it there deliberately trying to intentionally irritate people with whom you disagree to attempt to digress from the subject at hand. Got it. (you do know that doing such things is troll behavior, don't you?)
I'm neither irritated nor thin skinned, but you are trolling, by your own admission.

If it bothers you, go elsewhere when you see my name.
Nah, with your last couple of replies I'll stoop to your level and start openly ridiculing you. Unlike you though I'm not going to be hiding behind pretense.

[philman_36]

Do you ever reply to the articles posted or just the replies of others?
I've looked at several pages of your replies and that stuck out to me.

[Sleeping Beauty]

Well we would soon know who is lying if they test side by side. I think the military will be found guilty if they don’t do the test!!

I absolutely agree.

Plus the weight issue is a non-starter. If you hacked off enough dragon skin to give it the same LIMITED coverage provided by Interceptor -- DS weighs less. Read the specs. Do the math.

I'm not on the side of DS, but I am sick unto death of government nonsense -- especially in the military.

I'll tell you this -- if the military does not agree to a PUBLIC 3rd party test -- our soldier's lives, confidence, and morale are worth nothing to this government.

[brazzaville]

Good morning.
I’m neither irritated nor thin skinned...”

LOL.

Seriously though, we will see how this shakes out when the testing is done and more actual users comment.

I believe that your problem with me started with you poopooing my contention that DS doesn’t live up to it’s claims, as told to me by a couple of guys in the know.

It’s been fun, but I’m going to do what I suggested to you and add you to my list of FReepers to ignore unless I feel like responding. It’s sort of a reverse ping list. I’m sure I’m on a few.

Michael Frazier

[philman_36]

I believe that your problem with me started with you poopooing my contention that DS doesn’t live up to it’s claims, as told to me by a couple of guys in the know.
I merely stated, since you seem to have forgotten...It's a shame such comments were never documented. Or are they?
Now, how you construe that to be me having a problem with you is beyond me. You may though believe as you wish.
I'll show you where my problem with you began so there is no doubt in your mind!
“I’m trying to stay above board and give equal footing to both sides.”
Bull scat.
I am trying to stay above board. If you would've bothered to look at the other thread I linked to you would see that I've been giving both sides of the argument. Like many others I want the military to have the best and I'm glad more testing is being done. Yes, I'm wary that the testing was biased. Fault me if you will, but fault me for erring in the best interests of our soldiers.
It’s been fun, but I’m going to do what I suggested to you and add you to my list of FReepers to ignore unless I feel like responding. It’s sort of a reverse ping list. I’m sure I’m on a few.
I can understand why!

P.S. Your greeting on every reply does make you look ignorant and puerile, not courteous.
That is meant to help, but you probably won't believe that either!

[philman_36]

BTW...Ok. I should know better than to use anecdotal evidence. If it’s important enough to you, you can search away.
That tells me that you can't back up what you claim. While I was looking over your replies I notice that you don't ever give external links.
I have looked for the comments you spoke about and I can't find any. You made the claim and you're supposed to support them, not tell someone else to find them!
There’s plenty of discussion out there.
You're right, there's discussion aplenty but no testimonials from soldiers that I can find and that you can't/won't provide.