Ivana Avramovic / S&S
Shown is a Humvee without special
armor at Eagle Base, Bosnia and
Herzegovina. So-called "up armored" Humvees are
being sent from Europe to Iraq
to keep U.S. troops safer from attacks.
Posted on 11/24/2003 11:33:57 AM PST by demlosers
STUTTGART, Germany — The U.S. European Command has shifted roughly 600 specially armored Humvees to Iraq, where they will be used to fill a shortage of the urgently needed vehicles, according to a Pentagon spokesman.
Most of those vehicles, which began being moved in July, have come from the Balkans, said Army Maj. Gary Tallman, a Pentagon spokesman.
The shift is part of a plan to get nearly 3,000 of the specially outfitted Humvees to Iraq, where they can protect U.S. troops from insurgents using conventional firearms, improvised bombs and grenades that can cripple a regular Humvee.
Of the roughly 120 U.S. combat-related deaths in Iraq since May 1, about 30 were the result of attacks on vehicles either by a bomb or small-arms fire.
Earlier this month, there were about 1,500 so-called “up-armored” Humvees in Iraq, Tallman said, or one for every 85 troops.
Tallman said that an armored Humvee, which costs about $150,000, is a “specialty” vehicle that historically has not been relied upon as much as it is needed now in Iraq.
The race to get more armored Humvees into Iraq has been accelerated by a $177 million appropriation to purchase vehicles. The appropriation is part of the $87 billion supplemental funding bill for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Most of the vehicles will go to Iraq.
The $177 million will buy about 1,200 armored Humvees. But the Ohio-based company that builds and adds armor to the Humvees can produce only so many of the vehicles at once, Tallman said.
“This takes time,” he said. “The factory has to gear up.”
An armored Humvee has a 2-inch-thick windshield and windows and a metal-composite skin that can stop bullets. The underside, front and rear are also reinforced for protection against mines and grenades.
According to the company that produces the armored Humvee, American Motors General, the idea is that, although the vehicle may be destroyed, the occupants would survive the attack.
American Motors General makes the Humvee, and one of its subsidiaries installs the armor package. It takes about four days to add armor to a Humvee.
O’Gara-Hess & Eisenhardt, which installs the armor, usually produces about 30 a month. Company officials said they hope to more than double production to 80 a month beginning this month, and to produce as many as 220 a month by the spring.
Still, even at the increased production pace, U.S. Central Command, which directs operations in Iraq, may not have all the armored Humvees it wants until next fall.
The command began pleading for more of the vehicles this summer.
In May, according to Tallman, there were 235 armored Humvees in Iraq. By August, CENTCOM wanted 1,233 of the Humvees in Iraq, and by September that request had shot up to 3,000, he said.
According to the Defense Department, when CENTCOM made its initial request, there were about 3,100 of the armored Humvees in its entire inventory.
Tallman said he does not know which units will be getting the armored Humvees.
In the meantime, troops on the ground are improving their existing Humvees with sandbags and plywood boxes to give themselves extra protection.
Sandbags are placed on the floor to absorb part of a blast coming up from the road, and plywood walls are erected across the open back of a Humvee to offer some shelter from bullets and other flying objects.
“We needed those vehicles yesterday,” said Staff. Sgt. Michael Perez, military policeman who in August was stationed at Camp Bukka, a prisoner of war camp, in southern Iraq near the Kuwaiti border.
Perez said troops are “constantly” on edge because they know the Humvees they have will not stop a round from an AK-47 assault rifle and are especially vulnerable to mines and grenades.
“If we had them, we could do our jobs better. We would still worry about our security, but a slip-up may not be as deadly,” he said.
The movement of armored Humvees out of the Balkans has been an easy transition, according to officials there.
“The Army is looking at administration and staff sections [in Bosnia and Herzegovina] that really don’t have a need for these [armored] Humvees,” said Army Capt. Chuck Traxler, a spokesman for U.S. troops in Bosnia.
“The environment in Bosnia is fairly stable compared to other areas,” he said, and noted that the public affairs office has three armored Humvees that have not been used in 18 months. Those vehicles are earmarked for Iraq.
“They may as well be sent to where they’ll get used, where they’re needed,” Traxler said.
He said some armored Humvees would remain and would be used for patrols. Those that are being sent to Iraq would be replaced with conventional ones, he said.
The M1109 and M1114 HMMWVs are an Up-Armored Armament Carrier configuration of the HMMWV family. The vehicles are equipped with additional armor both on the sides and underneath to protect the crew from small arms ammunition and mines. The weapon mount, located on the roof of the vehicle, is adaptable to mount either the M60, 7.62mm machine gun; M2 .50 caliber machine gun; or the MK 19 Grenade Launcher. The weapons platform can be traversed 360 degrees. This confirguration of the HMMWV is equipped with the self-recovery winch.
The Up-Armored HMMWV is designed to conduct reconnaissance and security operations as its primary function. Up-Armored HMMWVs are organic to the scout platoons of the armored, infantry, and mechanized infantry battalions. Up-Armored HMMWV-mounted scouts enhance the capability of scout platoons to provide accurate and timely information about the enemy and the area of operations.
During reconnaissance operations, the scouts provide the commander with a mobile reconnaissance platform to perform detailed route, zone, and area reconnaissance; prevent surprise by enemy forces; and help retain the freedom to maneuver. The speed, mobility, and stealth of the Up-Armored HMMWV also allows the scout to extend the depth of his reconnaissance, providing increased security and additional time and maneuver space for the commander. Due to its small signature relative to the Cavalry Fighting Vehicle (M3), the Up-Armored HMMWV provides the stealth necessary to conduct detailed reconnaissance in areas where contact with the enemy is possible. This information is rapidly reported to higher headquarters through secure radio means or by physical delivery (particularly during periods of reduced electronic communications).
Security operations are also significantly enhanced by Up-Armored HMMWV-mounted scouts. In screen missions, scouts operating independently, or in conjunction with other reconnaissance elements, will be used to establish observation posts to the front or flank of the maneuver force, patrol between observation posts, and cover gaps between forces. In rear areas, Up-Armored HMMWV-mounted scouts enhance security by patrolling primary lines of communication, providing threat early warning to rear area units, and reconnoitering potential threat landing and drop zones.
It's about d*mn time!
IMHO, more armored Humvee's should be built and the troops issued Model 94, 30-30 Winchesters to replace the M16. (/sarcasm)
If I were Bush, I'd "ping" some general officers with the following memo:
"For those of you that have less than four stars, you can expect your additional stars to be approved in an inverse proportion to the casualties we are suffering in Iraq. Is that clear?"
Signed: C in C.
Okay! But what about those rubber tires? That's where I'd be shooting.
The information is still available, it just seems to have been buried and forgotten.
FM 55-30 Appendix O Vehicle Hardening
We had a pretty good thread going yesterday on armored Humvees after ranger hijacked it. Army Seeks Short-Term Payoff From Future Combat Systems
Sure, it will stop rocks and bullets, but will it stop a moose?
Where does this sense of entitlement come from that considers it a crime that they all don't get to ride in bullet-proof, mine-proof, air conditioned comfort?
What other army in the world can afford to take tankers out of tanks and gunbunnies out of howitzers and air assault grunts out of helicopters and mount each fire team in its own bulletproof limousine? None. Somebody has to make do or do without. Life's a bitch.
Arc welders, cutting torches, and destroyed Iraqi armored vehicles, along with a lot of sand bags, would get these troops protected a lot quicker.
The old Iraqi Army had wheeled armored vehicles. Where are they now? Why are none of our troops using them?
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