For several years, the debate over equipping U.S. troops with potentially life-saving [tag]body armor[/tag] has been one of the more contentious elements of the war. A report in January exasperated the problem when we learned that 80% of the marines who have been killed in Iraq from upper-body wounds could have survived if they had had extra body armor — which the [tag]Pentagon[/tag] had been slow to provide.
Left with limited options, many troops and their families have taken to buying their own body armor with money out of their own pocket. That option is no longer available for Army troops, not because soldiers will now get the protection they need, but because privately-purchased armor has been banned.
Soldiers will no longer be allowed to wear body armor other than the protective gear issued by the military, Army officials said Thursday, the latest twist in a running battle over the equipment the Pentagon gives its troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Army officials told The Associated Press that the order was prompted by concerns that soldiers or their families were buying inadequate or untested commercial armor from private companies — including the popular Dragon Skin gear made by California-based Pinnacle Armor.
“We’re very concerned that people are spending their hard-earned money on something that doesn’t provide the level of protection that the Army requires people to wear. So they’re, frankly, wasting their money on substandard stuff,” said Col. Thomas Spoehr, director of materiel for the Army.
It’s worth noting that this is a pretty sweeping reversal. Last October, facing political pressure, the Pentagon said it would reimburse soldiers who bought their own protective equipment. Now, the Army won’t even let troops use non-military protection.
At a certain level, this isn’t an unreasonable response. Maybe the commercial armor isn’t adequate for Iraq and doesn’t meet the Pentagon’s standards. Perhaps troops and their families shouldn’t waste money on substandard protection that might give soldiers a false sense of security.
But in context, the order banning commercial armor seems ridiculous. The military hasn’t provided the necessary armor, so troops and their families don’t feel like they have much of a choice. The Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA) said it understood why the Army “has to ensure some level of quality,” but added that because of Pentagon failures in this area, “This is the monster they made.”
As Slate’s Justin Peters put it, “You go to war with the equipment you’re assigned, not the equipment you order off the Internet.”