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Embed-Edd: Evening Update, 1/24 Posted By: Edd_Hendee Editor's Note: KSEV morning talkshow host Edd Hendee is spending two weeks embedded with Marine units in Iraq. LoneStarTimes.com will provide immediate coverage of his journey whenever updates drop into our email box. To read earlier segments, click here. Monday Jan 24 The winter weather in Iraq is constantly changing. In 6 days I had seen sunny warm days, cold nights, hard rain, fog, wind, low clouds, and misty rain. So a sandstorm was the next step I guess. The trip from Al Asad to Haditha Dam to link up with the 1/23...

YUMA, Ariz., Jan. 19 - Under a hot desert sun this week near the Mexican border, Col. Robert Groller watched a transport truck with a prototype suspension system speed across an off-road course. Colonel Groller, one of the Army officers who oversees Humvees and larger transport trucks, was in the middle of the Army's Yuma Proving Ground, a sprawling expanse of desert larger than Rhode Island. He got right to the point. Turning to a group of civilians and officers, he asked them why this truck would be worth spending more money on. "I get bombarded by contractors all the...

Providing armor plating to the military is a highly competitive business, officials said. The lack of protection on many vehicles has been an important issue for the forces in Iraq, and became front-page news in recent months, after a soldier in Kuwait asked Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld why US troops had to look through landfills to salvage armor for Humvees heading to Baghdad. His response, that the Defense Department was adding the plating as quickly as it could be produced, was disputed by several manufacturers.

Humvee history There has been much made about the controversy regarding the HMMWV (High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle - or Humvee) and its supposed lack of armor. The HMMWV was introduced into the Army in 1985 and was designed to be a light tactical vehicle and replace several outdated Army vehicles. Among these were the quarter-ton Jeep, M718A1 ambulance and other such vehicles. There were about 11 variants to the vehicle, but none was designed to be an armored "tank." Later, soldiers used them in ways that the original design didn't take into consideration. The always adaptable soldiers then made...

With all the talk about not enough armor for the HUMVEE's and the lethality of the IED's against our vehicles, I think that maybe the DoD should examine what we currently use against what would be the best equipment for us to have. It is very easy for myself, or any of us to play armchair general and debate the merits of the vehicles used by our armed forces. The HUMVEE has become a household word for most Americans, and more and more people are learning about the Stryker, M1-A2, and Bradley Fighting Vehicle due to the coverage from Iraq....

Rightwingnews.com asks was the un-armored Humvee story a hoax?

About Those Un-Armored Humvees This press conference by Major General Stephen Speakes and several other officers, which took place on Wednesday, is worth reading in its entirety. The purpose of the press conference was to address the issue of "un-armored" vehicles that was raised by a National Guardsman in a question directed to Donald Rumsfeld a week or so ago. The overall impression I get is that the Army is responding appropriately to the risks posed by improvised explosive devices, and there is basically no story here. The facts regarding the Guardsman's own unit also appear to be quite different...

Wheeled vehicle ballistic armor protection (sec. 112) The committee recommends a provision that would add $610.0 million in Other Procurement, Army (OPA), for the procurement of up-armored high mobility multipurpose wheeled vehicles (HMMWV) in sufficient quantities to acquire such vehicles up to a rate of 450 vehicles per month and for the procurement of add-on ballisticarmor protection for medium and heavy wheeled vehicles. The $610.0 million would be in addition to the $315.0 million increase in OPA for up-armored HMMWVs (UAH) the committee recommended elsewhere in this report. The provision will provide the Secretary of the Army with the flexibility...

December 15, 2004 - The battle over armor. After the televised bitch slap of Don Rumsfeld last week over the lack of armor for Humvees, I have been thinking about what that soldier said. Lets face it, the Army, like all government agencies is a bureaucracy. This is not to say the everyone at the DoD isn't taking their job seriously, but change is not made on the fly, and the Army thoroughly studies, tests, re-tests and summarized before doing anything. We cannot expect new armor that will protect against the variety of roadside bombs to be finalized in a...

Thursday, Lieutenant General R. Steven Whitcomb,Commander, Third Army "Patton's Own," and Coalition Forces Land Component Command, answered some questions, regarding the armoring of vehicles in Iraq, including humvess. These are some of the facts the three star General shared with the press: "Congress has provided in the neighborhood of about $1.2 billion since last year strictly to armor our vehicles" "Up-armored humvees... is a vehicle that is produced in a factory back in the United States and it essentially gives you protection, both glass and on the armament on the side, front, rear, sides, top and bottom. If you'll think...

One reason for the Iraq armor shortage: The military is too thorough Source: OpinionJournal, 12/14/2004 Hunter's Gun Truck BY BRENDAN MINITER Tuesday, December 14, 2004 12:01 a.m. A few weeks ago Rep. Duncan Hunter handed me a reason that has largely escaped media attention on why our troops in Iraq don't have all the armor protection they need. It was a piece of ballistic glass, roughly the size of a small dinner plate. But as it was four sheets of glass glued together, it was also very thick and extremely heavy. But I peered through it, and it was...

S.2401 Department of Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2005 SEC. 112. UP-ARMORED HIGH MOBILITY MULTI-PURPOSE WHEELED VEHICLES OR WHEELED VEHICLE BALLISTIC ADD-ON ARMOR PROTECTION. (a) AMOUNT- Of the amount authorized to be appropriated for the Army for fiscal year 2005 for other procurement under section 101(5), $610,000,000 shall be available for both of the purposes described in subsection (b) and may be used for either or both of such purposes. (b) PURPOSES- The purposes referred to in subsection (a) are as follows: (1) The procurement of up-armored high mobility multi-purpose wheeled vehicles at a rate up to 450 such...

See the following articles: http://www.worldtribune.com/worldtribune/breaking_10.html http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/203200_armor10.html http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/land/m998.htm From those articles and webpages, here's some facts: 19,400 Humvees in Iraq 5,900 were shipped from factory with armor 9,000 upgraded with kits in theater TODAY 77% of Humvees in Iraq are armored Unarmored Humvees aren't supposeed to go off base. Unarmored Humvees travel between bases on a flatbed truck. Of 9,386 armor kits shipped to Iraq, 9,143 have been installed. That's 97% installed, only 3% to go. There are at least 16 varients of the Humvee: M998 cargo/troop carrier without winch M1038 cargo/troop carrier with winch M966 TOW missile carrier, basic armor,...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                           CONTACT: Randy Harris 08 December 2004                                                    615.313.0662 (office) 04-61                                                                     615.517.0984 (CELL)     Maj. Gen. Gus L. Hargett, Adjutant General of Tennessee Statement on questions by 278th Soldier to Secretary Rumsfeld   SPC Wilson’s question is a legitimate concern.   Additional armor for vehicles in Iraq has been an issue since the beginning of the war for both active and reserve component soldiers.   The up-armored vehicles are being supplied to the troops in Iraq as soon as they are available from the manufacturer.   I have been assured that no 278th soldier will go forward in...

More armored vehicles could readily be built, two companies say By GEORGE EDMONSON COX NEWS SERVICE WASHINGTON -- The manufacturer of Humvees for the U.S. military and the company that adds armor to the utility vehicles are not running near production capacity and are making all that the Pentagon has requested, spokesmen for both companies said. "If they call and say, 'You know, we really want more,' we'll get it done," said Lee Woodward, a spokesman for AM General, the Indiana company that makes Humvees and the civilian Hummer versions. At O'Gara-Hess & Eisenhardt, the Ohio firm that turns specially...

Another controversy about Iraq and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has developed. A soldier asked Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, in the Iraqi theater why the troops do not have armored M98HUMMVVV’s (Humvees). He told Rumsfeld that troops have to scavenge metal and improvise armor for the vehicles. The soldier, a Tennessee National Guardsman, is currently in Kuwait scheduled to go to Iraq. He asked this during one of Rumsfeld’s question and answer sessions with troops stationed in the Iraqi theater. Implicit in this question was that Rumsfeld and his Defense Department is either incompetent or corrupt or both. Its purpose...

Let there be no mistake - I am a strong supporter of GW Bush and Donald Rumsfeld. I am an even bigger supporter of our soldiers in Iraq. After reading stories of our troops and even their commanders pleading for adequately armored vehicles, I did an Internet search for modern armored vehicles designed for heavy armor. Upgrading Humvees with armor isn't a good solution since they aren't designed for the weight and the upgrades are moving too slowly, so I specifically searched for available vehicles worldwide designed for heavy armor. After only a few links, I found this interesting site:...

Report: Raytheon 'heat beam' weapon ready for Iraq Boston Business Journal Government defense giant Raytheon Co. has developed the first nonlethal weapon that fires a heat beam to repel enemies and reduces the chance of innocent civilians being shot, a Pentagon official said. Raytheon, the world's largest missile maker, delivered a prototype to the U.S. military last month. The product is expected to be evaluated from February through June to determine whether to equip U.S. forces with it, Colonel David Karcher, director of the Joint Non-Lethal Weapons Directorate, told Bloomberg Business News. With U.S. casualties in Iraq rising, expectations are...

<p>"Raymond's gun was the only one that was still working. He fought them to a bitter end," Henry White said.</p>

Up-Armored Vehicle Effort Progressing Full Steam Ahead By Donna MilesAmerican Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, Oct. 29, 2004 — The assembly lines are moving 24/7 to keep up with the demand for up-armored vehicles in Iraq and for conversion kits to add extra protection to vehicles already there. Gary Motsek, director of support operations for the U.S. Army Materiel Command, said the effort to provide increased vehicle protection against grenades, improvised explosive devices and small-arms fire is progressing fast and furiously as demand continues to increase. Nearly 5,100 up-armored Humvees have been delivered to Army and Marine Corps units in...