Road side bombs are responsible for seventy percent of American deaths and casualties in Iraq.

But a vehicle called the "MRAP" -- which stands for "Mine Resistant Ambush Protected" -- offers 4 to 5 times the protection of the most heavily armored Humvee. These MRAPs, with their V-shaped hulls, can cut casualties by two-thirds.

Last month, Sen. Biden started a legislative campaign to get MRAPs over there sooner rather than later. He introduced an amendment to spend an additional $1.5 billion on Mine Resistant vehicles right away, instead of next year. It passed the Senate 98-0 and it will be part of the Supplemental bill they will be sending to the President this week.

As a result, we should be able to get 2,500 Mine Resistant vehicles to Iraq six months sooner than the administration originally planned. All 7,774 MRAPs the military has on order will be in the field by February of next year.

Promising, yes, but NOT the whole story.

Originally, we were told that Marine Corps commanders in Iraq requested their first Mine Resistant vehicles on May 21, 2006 -- 185 of them.

But according to a Marine Corps document leaked yesterday, commanders in the field in Iraq first asked for MRAPs in February, 2005 -- more than a year earlier. That request -- for 1,169 vehicles -- was labeled "priority 1 urgent." Here's what the request said:

"There is an immediate need for an MRAP vehicle capability to increase survivability and mobility of Marines operating in a hazardous fire area against known threats...

The expanded use of improvised explosive devices requires a more robust family of vehicles capable of surviving... MRAP-designed vehicles represent a significant increase in their survivability baseline over existing motor vehicle equipment and will mitigate casualties... Without MRAPs, personnel loss rates are likely to continue at their current rates. MRAP vehicles will protect Marines, reduce casualties, increase mobility and enhance mission success."
How is it possible that it took more than a year for the military leadership to act on this urgent plea?

How is it possible that, when it did act, it ordered only 185 vehicles, not the 1,169 requested?

How is it possible that with the country at war, with more than 130,000 Americans in danger, with roadside bombs taking more and more lives and limbs, this administration did not make these Mine Resistant vehicles a national priority?

How is it possible?

A few weeks ago, Defense Secretary Gates acknowledged that he learned about the importance of Mine Resistant vehicles from a newspaper article. The Secretary rightly looked into it and concluded that MRAPs are "the highest priority acquisition program... Any and all options to accelerate the production and fielding of this capability... should be identified, assessed and applied..."

Now, the military is considering replacing most of our Humvees in Iraq with MRAPs. That would require 15,500 more MRAPs than the administration now has on order.

As far as I know, there is no plan to produce Mine Resistant vehicles in those numbers.

Eight plants across the country build these vehicles, but it's not clear they have the capacity, right now, to turn around that many. Nor is it clear that we have the resources at hand - the military grade steel, the rubber for the tires - to build that many that fast.

But the US Govt needs to start figuring out HOW to get MRAPS to our troops.

How is it possible that something that could reduce (reportedly) casualties by 2/3 has not been created and sent to Iraq ALREADY?? I am stealing a quote from Biden: the quote is from Abraham Lincoln, when referring to the troops during the Mexican-American War, which he didn't support:"I cannot vote to leave my forces in a
place I didn't want them to be in the first place but without the
protection they need to take care of themselves."

Regardless of whether we should be there or not, or should have invaded or not, we still have to protect our troops. And given the sacrifices that our troops AND their families are making, you would think the LEAST they could do it provide the UTMOST protection for them!

They'll be available in about 20 years. When we're fighting in the ocean and they are obsolete.

Kinda like how we JUST got ACU's as opposed to the forest BDU's.

Where did you find that story?

Army to request 17,000 MRAPs

By Gina Cavallaro - Staff writer
Posted : Saturday May 12, 2007 8:18:27 EDT

Acting Army Secretary Pete Geren confirmed today that the Army is set to substantially increase the number of Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles it had planned to buy, replacing within two years the 17,700 Humvees now in Iraq.

“The earlier plan was 2,500, and that’s not enough. I can’t tell you the exact number at this point, but it’s going to grow considerably,” Geren said, indicating that the Army is working to adjust its budget and to determine industry’s capacity to produce more MRAPs.

The plan to buy more MRAPs, he said, will not mean an end to the development, production and fielding of the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle, which the Army was considering as a replacement for the Humvee, using the MRAP as an interim replacement.

Now, according to a Pentagon source, the plan has changed and more than 9,000 MRAPs will be procured for fiscal year 2008 and 8,700 more for fiscal 2009.

“By September 2009, every single Humvee in theater will be replaced with the MRAP,” said the source, who spoke to Army Times on condition of anonymity.

The Marine Corps already has more than 100 MRAPs on the ground in Iraq, and the Army will field the first of its 2,500 MRAPs in Iraq beginning in August, 700 of which are already in hand, Geren said.

The MRAP program has moved quickly and is a joint procurement effort between the Army and Marine Corps.

There are eight manufacturers who could deliver variations of the vehicle, which has a v-shaped hull to disperse blasts that occur under the roadways and are expected to be more resistant to side-blasts.

“This is the next evolution of vehicles that is responding to the underbelly attacks that sometimes take place. A natural progression of lighter, more effective, more resistant armor both personal and vehicle,” Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said yesterday.

The request for the newer vehicles was made by commanding general of Multi-National Corps-Iraq, Lt. Gen. Raymond Odierno, the source said.

“Odierno has asked to replace every Humvee in Iraq with the MRAP,” the source said.

A spokeswoman for Odierno in Iraq said she was unaware of the commander’s request.

The Humvee has been on the ground in Iraq since the beginning of operations in 2003 and has undergone several armor upgrades. But the extra armor weighed down the vehicle beyond its capabilities and has failed to effectively shield soldiers from the force of roadside bombs.

In a May 2 internal letter to top Pentagon officials, Defense Secretary Robert Gates called upon service leaders to make acquisition of the MRAP their “highest priority.”

“The MRAP should be considered the highest priority Department of Defense acquisition program,” the letter said, calling for the immediate application of “any and all options to accelerate the production and fielding of this capability.”

“I would like to know what funding, material, program, legal or other limits currently constrains the program and options available to overcome them,” Gates wrote.

Members of Congress have grilled Army leaders on why more MRAPs were not being ordered sooner. In the House of Representatives air-land subcommittee’s 2008 budget markup, $4.1 billion was allocated for MRAPs.

Gates’ letter also ponders why the Army and Marine Corps seem to have different plans for the MRAP.

“I am also concerned with the wide variance in approach on the use of this capability between the Marine Corps and the Army,” Gates wrote.

And then the Association for Iraq and Aghanistan Vets had a peice (Blog) on the Senate's recent action to hurry the process up via the emergency supplemental budget. Then I went to Biden's site (he was said to have been the supplement's advocate) to see what he said about it. This all happened, supposedly, in the past week or so (trying to get funding to start getting more to Iraq RIGHT NOW as opposed to waiting until 2009).

They'll be available in about 20 years. When we're fighting in the ocean and they are obsolete.

Kinda like how we JUST got ACU's as opposed to the forest BDU's.

When my oldest brother was in the firat gulf war, they all had BDUs.. he said that when they wanted to hide, they would all stand together and pretend to be an oasis..

When my oldest brother was in the firat gulf war, they all had BDUs.. he said that when they wanted to hide, they would all stand together and pretend to be an oasis..
OMG that is too funny!

I saw the funniest tshirt at Benning and I have always regretted getting it. It was camoflage and it said: "You don't know it, but I am standing right in front of you." LOL.

OMG that is too funny!

I saw the funniest tshirt at Benning and I have always regretted getting it. It was camoflage and it said: "You don't know it, but I am standing right in front of you." LOL.

I want that SHIRT!!!!!!