Army defends body armor after report

[alp227]

Source: The Washington Post

The U.S. Army pushed back Thursday against a recent inspector general’s report that criticized the testing of body armor used by many soldiers in Afghanistan, praising the quality of the armor and playing down concerns.

At a Pentagon news conference, Lt. Gen. William Phillips, principal military deputy to the assistant secretary of the Army for acquisition, logistics and technology, told reporters that the ceramic plates used in soldiers’ body armor resulted in “the best body armor that exists in the world today, and the best-tested.”

The inspector general’s report, dated Aug. 1, took issue with the testing of various lots of ceramic inserts for body armor and questioned whether the right bullets were fired at the correct velocity at the samples. The report also said testing did not deal with humidity and temperature requirements, as well as weather and altitude factors.

The report said that “because we did not conduct any additional testing, we could not conclude that ballistic performance was adversely affected by inadequate testing and quality assurance.”

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/army-defends-body-armor-after-report/2011/08/18/gIQAXLjZOJ_story.html

[rasputin1952]

1. Justification of poor purchasing practices...

it's inherent in the military.

Best way to avoid casualties is to use war as a last resort...but humanity has not learned that lesson.

[Yon_Yonson]

2. Sounds like another military CLUSTERFUCK, SNAFU, FUBAR

I am forced to beleive that they are their own worst enemy!

[fascisthunter]

3. this is indefensible

sorry for the pun, but there is no defending this action. If you CARE about your own troops, you provide them with the best!

[earcandle]

4. Bring our kids home. Enough war already. Genocide.

Lullaby for Hamza