Let's Get It Done
Posted by Slobokan @ 15:32 · 292 words · print
Disgrunted U.S. soldiers complained to Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld on Wednesday about the lack of armor for their vehicles and long deployments, drawing a blunt retort from the Pentagon chief.
"You go to war with the Army you have," he said in a rare public airing of rank-and-file concerns among the troops.
You go to war with what you have? Excuse me? It's not like we were attacked and forced to respond with "what we had", like on December 7th, 1941. If the issues our troops are concerned about are not going to be addressed how can Rumsfeld (or anyone else) expect them to get anything done?
"Why do we soldiers have to dig through local landfills for pieces of scrap metal and compromised ballistic glass to uparmor our vehicles?" Wilson asked. A big cheer arose from the approximately 2,300 soldiers in the cavernous hangar who assembled to see and hear the secretary of defense.
Rumsfeld hesitated and asked Wilson to repeat his question.
"We do not have proper armored vehicles to carry with us north," Wilson said after asking again.
Rumsfeld replied that troops should make the best of the conditions they face and said the Army was pushing manufacturers of vehicle armor to produce it as fast as humanly possible.
Well, that's obviously NOT fast enough. Maybe it's time the government started looking at these contracts and made the appropriate changes needed to supply our troops with the items they say they need to get the job done.
Don't get me wrong, I still support the war in Iraq. I still support President Bush and his administration. I just think the men and women in the field know the conditions better than anyone else, and their concerns should be addressed immediately.
Posted In: News Worthy
Posted by Vinny
December 3, 2006 @ 02:05
If the DoD is working quickly
Therein lies my exact problem with this whole mess. This is a seriously old problem and we're still hearing about it. At some point we have to stop asking for explanations and start asking for results.
Posted by Slobokan
December 3, 2006 @ 02:05
Thank you for your response K Thank you for your response Kevin. Based on your response I knew there was more to the other side of the story.
I did not assume that up until Rumsfeld's comment nothing had been done. in fact, because of chatting with you in the past, I knew the process was moving forward.
The point I was making was that the issues that are important to those in the line of duty must be addressed and not easily dismissed (as Rumsfeld seemed to do yesterday with his comment). I watched the speech and as an avid Bush (and Rumsfeld) supporter, I was appalled at the comment he made. In context, hearing the full response, I could not believe Rummy, the great speaker that he is, responded the way he did. It sent red flags up all over the place.
I know people are working hard to resolve the problems that face our soldiers. I know there are factory workers working double time to try and guarantee our troops a safer environment, and I also know you can only be "so safe" when you are at war. I also know there are people WAY SMARTER than you or me (and no offense was taken) who have to make these decisions every day. I think maybe some of those decisions need to be re-thought is all.
If the DoD is working quickly to resolve the problem, yet more than a year later the troops are obviously still very concerned about it, maybe someone does need to review the way in which things are being done to address the concerns of the troops. Their safety and their morale are key to winning this thing and if they think there is a brick missing in the wall, it's our job, as citizens, to supply more bricks and mortar to fill the gap.
Is there a quick solution, I am sure there is not.
Should we pull out of Iraq because of it? No way.
So, what is the answer?
It's time to fix the problem the best we can, admit any mistakes made along the way, and learn from them.
No one, being the government, the troops, or the general public, is perfect. We must all learn from our mistakes and make ourselves better because of them.
Thanks again for your response.
Posted by Kevin
December 3, 2006 @ 02:05
I work for a Company that sup I work for a Company that supplies components for the Humvee.
I've watched them being armored. I've seen the revisions requested from the various armed forces since before and after Mogadishu and up till a few weeks ago.
Before talking to the military and civilian engineers, I thought you could just weld some plate on the thing and make it safer too.
Turns out it's a lot more involved. Seems that if you just add plate, you can actually do more harm than good, as hard as that is to believe. Think about how race cars are designed to break apart to deflect force.
People should go see the Humvee parked at the doorway to the plant were they are armored. It's folded in half. The armor in the front section surrounding the engine compartment is gone along with the driverside wheel. All the glass (this glass is amazing stuff) is broken but still in place.
First time I saw it I asked if anyone survived. In another time I was a police officer and worked more than a few major accidents. So I was very shocked to hear that everyone survived, the single injury requiring treatment was caused by the guys Head gear. Not only that they drove this piece of junk another 4 miles to safty.
The letter writen by the crew of this vehicle and signed by them describing the incident and thanking the company for the work they do on the vehicles is in the meeting room.
More letters from other crews are posted on the walls in the break rooms.
Video's shot from inside other vehicles while under attack are shown to the people working on these vehicles.
Every where these people who work on these vehicles turn there are reminders of what it is they are really doing. They are not building trucks, they are trying to save sons, daughters, husbands and wives from distruction.
Anyway what you see and what you hear in the press and on line are not the full story.
Does the guy who stands up and asks the Sec. of War why is it that everyone's vehicle isn't retro fitted to the latest and greatest deserve an answer, you bet he does. But to assume that up untill that media event happened, nothing had been done to protect our sons and daughters is foolish. Just as foolish as publicly tell everyone what is being done to inhance these vehicles.
You know one of the side effects of living in an open society is that sometimes because of that openness, you have a choice to make. Do you fire back with the facts, or do you just bite your tongue, withhold the facts and protect lives?
I'm just gonna say that people alot smarter than you and me (no offence intended) are working and have been working on just these issues for years.
Posted by Slobokan
December 3, 2006 @ 02:05
Wait. \r\n\r\nDon't you work on Wait.
Don't you work on humvees or something like that?
Do tell. I wanna hear what's happening from someone who IS on the other side of the story…
Posted by Slobokan
December 3, 2006 @ 02:05
Please enlighten me as to the Please enlighten me as to the other side of the story so I can cover it. :smile:
Posted by Kevin
December 3, 2006 @ 02:05
Slo, you got one side of the Slo, you got one side of the story covered, how about the other side and the back ground leading up to it?