Posted on 07/18/2007 10:37:20 AM PDT by PsyOp
Soldiers Defend Body Armor
FORT BELVOIR, Va. - Soldiers are volunteering dramatic personal accounts of lives saved and injuries avoided thanks to the Army's body armor. Their first-hand accounts of what happens demonstrate confidence in what the Army is doing to protect them.
Interceptor Body Armor is a modular system that features an outer tactical vest with hard protective plates. Spc. Gregory T. Miller, 101st Airborne Division, told Congress at a hearing last month that this body armor saved his life while he was on patrol in Kirkuk in preparation for Iraqi elections in December 2005. He was hit in the back by a sniper with what was supposed to be an armor-piercing round. Spc. Miller, who wound up with a bruised back, said he didn't even realize he'd been hit at first.
It all seemed to happen in slow motion, he said. The water bottle he was holding flew out of his hand; he thought his team leader had hit him on the back - hard. When he realized he'd been hit, he checked himself and then turned to return fire.
When the round was pulled from his armor back plate, ballistics tests identified it as a 7.62 armor-piercing round. "I trust my gear," he told the congressional panel. When asked why, he replied matter-of-factly: "It saved my life."
Staff Sgt. Jeremie Oliver of Fort Hood, Texas, has been in Iraq since October 2006, wearing his body armor every single day. "It works very well," he has reported. The husband and father of four children was shot on Father's Day this year.
"We were on patrol securing a site ... a shot rang out and I got hit in the chest. I was in a Bradley, standing up in the hatch, plotting a grid on my GPS. At first I didn't know what had really happened, but then I felt the pain. I sat down, realized what happened, and opened my vest. The bullet had not penetrated the vest, so we continued the mission and went after the enemy."
Sgt. 1st Class Jody Penrod described his combat experience with IBA: "I took a couple of IEDs and some shrapnel, and I had a fire bomb and it didn't light on fire. So I was pretty pleased."
Because the IBA vest protected his entire chest area, Sgt. 1st Class Penrod didn't have so much as a scratch from the shrapnel in the blast. He recounted how insurgents had made Napalm-type bombs with soap so that it would stick to Soldiers while on fire. "I got some on my vest, but it just went right out. So I was kind of happy that the vest didn't go up in flames."
Spc. Jason C. Ashline, an infantryman with Fort Drum, N.Y.'s 10th Mountain Division, survived a round from an AK-47 in Afghanistan in 2002 thanks to his body armor. He stated at the recent dedication of MIT's Institute for Nanotechnologies: "If it weren't for technology I wouldn't be standing here today."
Spc. Ashline was hit twice in the chest during a 12-hour firefight with al-Qaeda insurgents in 2002. The slugs lodged in his body armor. He was stunned but unhurt, and was pulled to safety by his buddies.
Documenting personal accounts of positive body armor experiences is difficult because the Army doesn't keep count of Soldiers not killed or injured. Still, there are more stories like these and Army leaders at all levels recount apocryphal tales by the dozens.
Capt. David Beard, now stationed at Fort Myer, Va., previously served in Iraq. "I remember a guy in Najaf got shot with an AK right in the chest," Beard said, "and his IBA plate saved him!"
Capt. Daniel Leard, also at Fort Myer by way of Iraq, called his body armor "a great protective asset." He said it routinely stop rounds. "In our own unit we had, on several occasions, Soldiers pulling bullets out of their body armor or helmet. It clearly saved their lives."
Brig. Gen. R. Mark Brown, Program Executive Officer, has repeatedly asserted that the Army is providing Soldiers with the best, most protective body armor - bar none. He particularly resents the fact that Soldiers' Families have been misled by conflicting media reports that left them concerned that the Army might not be doing all it can to protect its Soldiers.
"Force protection is the number-one priority of the Army. We value our Soldiers very highly and we do everything we can do to ensure they have the finest in force protection as they go into the battle," Brig. Gen. Brown said. "I want to assure the American public, the Soldiers and their Families that they have the best equipment when and where they need it."
PEO Soldier designs, produces and fields virtually everything the American Soldier wears or carries. The organization's Soldier-as-a-System approach ensures that equipment works in an integrated manner, thus preparing troops for peak performance.
Wow.
Nothing as powerfull as an Ak round though.
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Not sure I follow.
Are you saying that the vests won’t stop anything more powerful than an AK round?
Surely you aren’t saying there isn’t anything more powerful than an AK round, are you?
I wonder are these some of Ron Paul supporters.
The "expert" they had on worked on the fabric carrier, not the plates. The plates used were not from an approved Govt contractor and the tests did not replicate the Govt tests.
All the NBC story was missing was an exploding pick up truck from the Dateline archives.
The Army put out a rebuttal which included a video. Usually General Officers are restrained, but this guy was laughing at the BS they exposed at NBC.
I believe I've seen the episode you saw a while back. It looks good, but I believe DragonSkin's manufacturer has had other problems other than the Army tests.
Something tells me that "cool" is not the correct adjective to describe heavy BA in 130 degree temps.
But if it saves a life then I'm sure the guys will gladly deal with the heat. Now if they could build in an efficient, light weight, non constricting cooling system into the BA system...
I simply meant that my brother was shot with a smaller caliber, lower velocity round. And at the time he was wearing a second generation (i think), "Second Chance" brand vest, not the new Interceptor vest our troops are issued.
An AK round would have punched right through the Second Chance vest. That is what I meant. Sorry if I was not clear.
some of them are I'm sure. After all, they believe the govt was behind 9/11.
Let me guess... the "expert" was a disgruntled former employee? Perhaps fired for downloading dirty pictures on a company computer?
All I know is they shot the hell out of the one on Future Weapons and it stopped everything.
People also forget that the military has to consider cost of purchase and later maintenance when it fields any type of gear. The Dragon Skin may be superior, but is it sufficiently superior to justify the additional cost?
The same nutters that complain about our folks lack of "proper" body armor are the same ones that screech over every nickle in the defense budget.
I don't think so. I believe he padded his resume to get the NBC gig and made sure the Army vest come in second on NBC News.
All I know is they shot the hell out of the one on Future Weapons and it stopped everything.
I saw that too, but that's a show and not a controlled independent evlauation.
I think DS has company problems, temperature problems and off angle problems.
People also forget that the military has to consider cost of purchase and later maintenance when it fields any type of gear. The Dragon Skin may be superior, but is it sufficiently superior to justify the additional cost?
The libs will give you the, "...but if it saves one life it's worth it" crap, as if there were infinite money so that anything that mitigates every threat can be provided. If I get a chance I'll look for that Army rebuttal. The same nutters that complain about our folks lack of "proper" body armor are the same ones that screech over every nickle in the defense budget.
Also search FR for "emotional terrorism" as I believe that Hot Air story was discussed here too.
I hadn't thought of that, but it makes sense now that I think of it. I can see how a round could slip in between the plates if fired at an oblique angle.
But at $5,000 a pop, I bet cost was a big factor. I don't know what the cost of an Interceptor vest is, but I bet it is a lot less than that. And since the interceptor will also stop an AK round, cost has to be a consideration. You always reach a point of diminishing returns in cost/benefit calculus.
The Army is pretty good at testing equipment before fileding it and they weigh lots of factors that most would never think of. Lots of problems don't show up right away, even with all the testing they do.
People forget that active duty soldiers do the testing. These are people that might one day have to use this stuff themselves and don't want to be left with their asses hanging in the wind.
I just found and watched the Hot Air Video. There are a lot of facts about Dragon Skin that never made it into the Future Weapons show.
NBC seems bound and determined to stay stuck in the Dan Rather rut of journalistic mud-slinging.
In the video the General in charge said that they had provided NBC with over 20 hours of video and reams of other test data, all of which was ignored.
NBC must have assumed it was all doctored and rigged since it was provided by the military (and you just know you can’t trust those generals and military types to tell the truth).
I’m surprised that NBC didn’t test DragonSkin’s effectiveness against exploding Dateline pick up trucks...
I'm sure it was discusssed.
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