Last year, the Pentagon's Inspector General revealed that the Army and Marine Corps had procured billions of dollars in body armor without full testing. Now the Army is withdrawing as many as 16,000 sets of ceramic plates over those same concerns.
The Washington Times has the scoop. An unnamed defense official confirmed to the paper that the Army was recalling the plates -- although the official also tried to play down the Inspector General's concerns that the armor could be unsafe.
Since the beginning of the war in Iraq, both services have had to fend off criticism over how they buy body armor. First, critics charged, the military did not buy enough modern body armor with rifle plates for combat troops deploying to Iraq (one George Washington University Law Professor called it the "bring your own bulletproof" war). Then, troops and their supporters began to raise questions about whether their Interceptor vests were indeed top-of-the-line. The Marines, in fact, recalled some sets of Interceptor body armor back in 2005. The military rushed to field new armor add-ons such as enhanced plates and side plates to protect against new threats in Iraq.
The controversy didn't end there. Pinnacle Armor Inc., makers of an alternative body armor design called Dragon Skin, accused
Army officials of unfairly favoring Point Blank, which supplies that
Inerceptor armor to the military. Congressional hearings followed after
NBC News alleged that the Army's tests were rigged in favor of the incumbent. But it was Pinnacle that wound up in the hot seat, facing possible punitive action from the armed services.
The Inspector General's latest findings on body armor have not yet been released. But the Washington Times article says a new report would be released within the next few days.
[PHOTO: Militaryphotos.net]
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