Year in Review: Armored protection improves
By Eric Cramer
December 30, 2004
WASHINGTON (Army News Service), Dec. 29, 2004 - Protection of Soldiers, including up-armored vehicles, Interceptor Body Armor, and questions of whether the Army has sufficient numbers of them in support of troops in the field, were ongoing issues throughout 2004.
In March, Acting Secretary of the Army Les Brownlee and Army Chief of Staff Gen. Peter Schoomaker appeared before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Appropriations - Defense. They testified March 10 on the 2004 Army Posture Statement, the Army's blueprint of what it wanted to accomplish in the coming year with appropriated funds.
Brownlee told the committee the Army had called for industry to
increase production of Interceptor Body Armor. As of January, the Army had met the OIF in-theater requirement for IBA. Production continued at 25,000 a month to field 840,000 against a total Army requirement.
"There are now sufficient stocks of IBA to equip every Soldier and (Department of Defense) civilian in Iraq and Afghanistan," Brownlee said. "All Soldiers now rotating into theater will be issued a set of IBA either before they deploy to Iraq or immediately after arrival in Afghanistan."
In June, the Army introduced the new Army Combat Uniform , which will ultimately replace the Battle Dress Uniform. Among its benefits are pockets better positioned for access while wearing IBA. The new uniform also includes 18 modifications to the BDU, including a digitized camouflage pattern, Velcro patches and the removal of the color black.
Also in June, the Program Executive Office Soldier, announced that deployed troops would receive side protection for their IBA.
The IBA Deltoid Extension was one of dozens of pieces of equipment PEO Soldier officials showed off to the Pentagon press corps during a media briefing June 14.
Later the same month, the Army's Rapid Fielding initiative augmented Soldiers equipment with 14 new items, including the Advanced Combat Helmet or ACH. The ACH is 3.5 pounds lighter then the old model and is cushioned on the inside, which sits more comfortably on a Soldier's head. It also has a different suspension system inside which allows a Soldier to fight more effectively when wearing body armor.
Beginning in February, the Army ramped up production of up-armored Humvees from 24 to 30 daily at the AM General factory in Mishawaka, Ind., to meet demand in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Brownlee visited the plant Feb. 13, located about 10 miles east of South Bend, Ind. He thanked workers for their service to the nation, and reinforced their resolve to get the best Humvees to the troops as fast as possible.
President George W. Bush's proposed 2005 defense budget earmarked millions of dollars for up-armored Humvees. Hundreds had already been approved for production for fiscal year 2004.
When the new Humvees leave the plant in Mishawaka, some of them go to O'Gara-Hess & Eisenhardt, a leading vehicle armoring firm near Cincinnati, where the vehicles become up-armored Humvees, known as the M1114 version Humvee.
The M1114 weighs about 2,000 pounds more than the standard Humvee and includes 200-pound steel-plated doors, steel plating under the cab and several layers of bonded, ballistic-resistant glass to replace zip-up plastic windows.
Before the increased production began, Maj. Gen. N. Ross Thompson III, commanding general for the Army's Tank-Automotive and Armaments Command, said the Army was meeting the Combined Forces Land Component Command's requirements for up-armored Humvees for operations in Iraq and doing it in a timely manner.
Thompson said the two types of up-armored Humvees, those manufactured in the United States, and those provided with an Armor Survivability Kit to be installed in the field, are provided based on combatant commanders' requests.
The ASK increases a Humvee's weight by roughly 1,000 pounds, and provides increased protection against attack by rocket-propelled grenades and improvised explosive devices. Separate ASK packages support either two-door or four-door Humvees.
Despite increased production of both vehicles and ASK equipment, questions about armored vehicles continued.
Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld was asked about extra armor by Spc. Thomas Wilson of the Tennessee National Guard Dec. 8 during a town hall meeting with Soldiers in Camp Buehring, Kuwait.
In a Dec. 9 press briefing, Lt. Gen. R. Steven Whitcomb, 3rd Army and Coalition Forces Land Component commander, told reporters there are about 6,000 vehicles in Iraq with factory installed armor, and an additional 10,000 with armor installed in the field.
"And so we understand that none of us wants to send a young man or woman into harm's way without the adequate protection. And so our job in Kuwait, with our command and our soldiers -- you can see some of them behind me in the forward repair activity that are strapping on some of these add-on armor plates to Humvees that we've got going. We work it 24 hours a day, and we've got the right folks working on it," Whitcomb said.
In December, Secretary of the Army Francis J. Harvey said an additional 100 up-armored Humvees a month could soon be enroute to forces in the field.
He said there could be modifications to the Army's contract with Armor Holdings, Inc. of Jacksonville, Fla., which currently produces 450 per month of the specialty vehicles. Robert Mecredy, president of Aerospace and Defense Group for Armor Holdings, told Harvey the company may be able to put out as many as 100 more a month, officials said.
"Once I was informed of the additional production capacity, I wanted to ensure those additional vehicles were going directly to our forces in Iraq," Harvey said.
Also in December, the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regimentbecame the first unit in the Army to up-armor its vehicles before deploying to the Middle East. Maintenance shops on Fort Carson, Colo., are adding armor to the 3rd ACR vehicles in preparation for the unit's deployment.
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