Sometimes More Isn't Better, It's Just More

Found by way of Michelle Malkin.

NY Times article by Andrew Exum.

Beirut. This week Senator Hillary Clinton, citing a secret Pentagon report that suggested some marines killed in Iraq might have survived had they been wearing more body armor, became the latest in a long line of politicians to castigate the Pentagon for a supposed failure to adequately protect our fighting men and women. Well-intentioned as the senator might be, the body-armor issue, like so many in war, is just not that simple.

From 2000 until 2004, I was an infantry officer in the Army. I deployed with a light-infantry platoon to Afghanistan in 2002, then with a platoon of Army Rangers to Iraq in 2003 and back to Afghanistan in 2004. While I can testify that soldiers usually appreciate the protection body armor gives them, the load shouldered by the average infantryman often hinders his ability to fight - especially at high altitude as in Afghanistan.

But in Iraq, as well, the "soldier's load" is often unbearable. Most studies recommend that a soldier should not be burdened with more than one-third of his body weight. But if you take a 160-pound soldier and put 40 pounds of Kevlar and body armor on him and then he picks up an automatic weapon, ammunition, water and first aid equipment, it's not long before he is carrying half his body weight - and he is then expected to run, jump and fight insurgents, themselves carrying little more than a 10-pound AK-47. All of this, of course, often takes place in 120-degree heat in the cities of Iraq.

Lost among the politicians' cries for more extensive armor for the troops is the fact that most soldiers, in my experience and based on discussions with many, feel they have enough armor already - and many feel they are increasingly being burdened with too much equipment. And the new supplementary body armor unveiled this week in Washington doubles the weight of the equipment - worn over the torso and, now, the upper arms - to 32 pounds from 16 pounds (for a medium-sized soldier).

While an Army spokesman said yesterday that the new equipment was developed based on feedback from units in the field - and certainly, he assured me, not from any political pressure - the statements from soldiers in Iraq tell a different story.

An article last week from The Associated Press noted that "soldiers in the field were not all supportive of a Pentagon study that found improved body armor saves lives" and that some argued "that more armor would hinder combat effectiveness."

As an Army captain told The A.P.: "You've got to sacrifice some protection for mobility. If you cover your entire body in ceramic plates, you're just not going to be able to move."

More at the link.

War story follows.

Back in 1986, while I was in Germany, I was transferred from the unit I had been stationed at for about 3 1/2 years to a smaller unit. The larger unit did not issue body armour (flak vests) because there were over 200 people in the unit and in addition to the cost being prohibitive there was no place to store them. When I got to the smaller unit (a flight, a Forward Air Control Post, or FACP) because there were only 70-80 people assigned, they did wear flak vests. I was asked upon my arrival if I wanted an old one or a new one. This was when the kevlar vests were first being issued. The older vests were extremely bulky and heavy, but they had pockets. The guy asking the question recommended the older version, so I opted for that.

The first deployment after that was a practice bugs-and-gas exercise. At some point I had a need to visit the porta-potties, so I loaded up with all my stuff (chem gear, flak vest, helmet, web gear with attachments, M-16 and ammo -- blanks, for the exercise) and trundled off towards the latrine area. I had just barely cleared the camouflage netting from the 280 shelter where my work area was located when a series of ground burst simulators went off and the PA announced a ground attack in progress, take cover. So I did what I was supposed to do -- I hit the dirt.

And there I was. I weighed probably 40 to 50 pounds more than usual, I sprained the crap out of my wrists when I hit the grass, and then I couldn't move. The weight was more than I could drag anywhere. I laid there, pondering my dilemma. I thought about trying to stand, but that didn't go so well either. And that's the position the Exercise Evaluation Team guys found me in moments later, face down on the grass and immobile. And humiliated. And furious. They were very nice about it, really, no need to pick on the new operations officer right away, so they helped me up and I was able to stagger to an area with camouflage netting around it and take cover.

And when we got back to garrison, one of the first things I did was trade in the old flak vest for a new one.

More armour isn't better if it impedes your mobility. Sometimes your first mission in life is to get yourself in a protected position, and if you're wearing too much crap to do that, you're screwed.

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