Posted on 09/12/2009 3:43:02 PM PDT by Jet Jaguar
ARLINGTON, Va. — Soldiers in Afghanistan are going to get lighter body armor later than expected.
In May, the Army tested 24-pound body armor, hoping to begin fielding the new armor late last month, said Brig. Gen. Peter N. Fuller, head of Program Executive Office Soldier.
Having missed that deadline, the Army now expects to begin fielding the body armor with 45 days, Fuller said.
“The challenge was the Army was having a hard time figuring out what was their requirement: How many did they need; how many did they want, and that took actually a little longer than anybody anticipated,” Fuller said.
It can’t come soon enough. The weight of this damned body armor the Army makes us wear these days is absurd. I miss the good old days when all we had to wear was an LBE. Sure, wearing a flak vest with 4 steel plates, all wearing upwards of 40 lbs, certainly protects you. However, you are essentially useless when it comes to shoot, move, communicate.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.