Via Carl S., comes this:

The Army said on Friday U.S. soldiers in Iraq and elsewhere can use only body armor provided by the Pentagon even though some have bought their own because they felt what the military provided was insufficient.

Maj. Gen. Jeffrey Sorenson, the Army’s deputy chief for acquisition, acknowledged during a Pentagon briefing there were shortfalls in body armor earlier in the 3-year-old Iraq war, but said U.S. soldiers currently deployed have all the military-issued armor they need.

The Army, which provides most of the U.S. ground troops fighting in Iraq, released a directive dated March 17 prohibiting the use of commercial body armor. It specifically mentioned a type called “Dragon Skin,” made by Pinnacle Armor, based in Fresno, California.

The document contained a warning that “death or serious injury to soldiers … will occur” if the prohibition is not followed.

Sorenson said soldiers who continue to use body armor not issued to them by the Army face possible disciplinary action.

If there are concerns over a specific type of armor and its safety, I have no problem with that. However, banning all use of personally obtained body armor seems dangerous and clearly doesn’t have the best interests of our troops in mind.

Posted in uncategorized on April 3rd, 2006 by SayUncle | RSS 2.0 |