An Iraq success story: SAPI plates By Lisa Burgess, Stars and Stripes European edition, Saturday, January 31, 2004 ARLINGTON, Va. — The military’s new Interceptor body armor has proved to be one of the major success stories of the campaign in Iraq, with everyone from combat medics to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld singing its praises. Most soldiers know that the key to the armor’s bulletproof qualities are the so-called “SAPI” plates, for Small Arms Protective Inserts. The two four-pound plates, which fit into pockets sewn into the front and back of the outer vest, can each stop shrapnel from mortar...