Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
USA Today
May 12, 2008
Pg. 1
USA TODAY interview
Trucks reduce troop deaths, injuries in Iraq
By Tom Vanden Brook, USA Today
WASHINGTON — Few troops have been killed or wounded by roadside bomb attacks in Iraq while riding in new armored vehicles, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said, evidence of the value of the vehicles he made the military's top priority.
In about 150 attacks, 6% of U.S. troops have been injured or killed while in Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles, including six deaths, Gates said. Humvees, the military's main vehicle, have had a 22% casualty rate. Even attacks on Abrams tanks are more than twice as likely to produce casualties than attacks on MRAPs, he said.
"The reaction of the troops in the field has been extraordinary," Gates said. "They are considered the vehicle of choice. I had a wounded warrior who was here for a lunch a couple of weeks ago who was going around telling anybody who looked like they were in a position of authority that an MRAP had saved his life."
Gates said he learned of the MRAP safety record after reading an April 2007 article in USA TODAY. The newspaper found that the Pentagon, before Gates' arrival, had balked at fielding large numbers of MRAPs despite urgent appeals from officers in the field.
Gates spoke Friday, exactly a year after he announced that he was making MRAPs his top priority. Since then, more than 14,000 vehicles have been ordered. There are 4,200 in Iraq, and 1,200 more in Kuwait waiting to be delivered. Troops in Afghanistan have 320 MRAPs. The Pentagon may order a few thousand more of the trucks, which cost about $1 million each, he said.
Gates credited Congress for giving the Pentagon $22 billion for the MRAP program. He also praised the manufacturers for delivering thousands of the vehicles to Iraq in less than a year. The truck's raised chassis and V-shaped hull deflect the force of bombs buried in roads, the top killer of U.S. troops in Iraq.
Dakota Wood, who co-authored a report on MRAPs for the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, said troops "can become enamored of the armored cocoon" and be less apt to interact with Iraqis. That can limit U.S. forces' ability to gather intelligence.
Such criticism is a misunderstanding of how the vehicles are used, Gates said. "The soldiers and the Marines are still out in the villages, they are still out patrolling on foot," he said. "The MRAPs get them to where they begin their mission more safely."
May 12, 2008
Pg. 1
USA TODAY interview
Trucks reduce troop deaths, injuries in Iraq
By Tom Vanden Brook, USA Today
WASHINGTON — Few troops have been killed or wounded by roadside bomb attacks in Iraq while riding in new armored vehicles, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said, evidence of the value of the vehicles he made the military's top priority.
In about 150 attacks, 6% of U.S. troops have been injured or killed while in Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles, including six deaths, Gates said. Humvees, the military's main vehicle, have had a 22% casualty rate. Even attacks on Abrams tanks are more than twice as likely to produce casualties than attacks on MRAPs, he said.
"The reaction of the troops in the field has been extraordinary," Gates said. "They are considered the vehicle of choice. I had a wounded warrior who was here for a lunch a couple of weeks ago who was going around telling anybody who looked like they were in a position of authority that an MRAP had saved his life."
Gates said he learned of the MRAP safety record after reading an April 2007 article in USA TODAY. The newspaper found that the Pentagon, before Gates' arrival, had balked at fielding large numbers of MRAPs despite urgent appeals from officers in the field.
Gates spoke Friday, exactly a year after he announced that he was making MRAPs his top priority. Since then, more than 14,000 vehicles have been ordered. There are 4,200 in Iraq, and 1,200 more in Kuwait waiting to be delivered. Troops in Afghanistan have 320 MRAPs. The Pentagon may order a few thousand more of the trucks, which cost about $1 million each, he said.
Gates credited Congress for giving the Pentagon $22 billion for the MRAP program. He also praised the manufacturers for delivering thousands of the vehicles to Iraq in less than a year. The truck's raised chassis and V-shaped hull deflect the force of bombs buried in roads, the top killer of U.S. troops in Iraq.
Dakota Wood, who co-authored a report on MRAPs for the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, said troops "can become enamored of the armored cocoon" and be less apt to interact with Iraqis. That can limit U.S. forces' ability to gather intelligence.
Such criticism is a misunderstanding of how the vehicles are used, Gates said. "The soldiers and the Marines are still out in the villages, they are still out patrolling on foot," he said. "The MRAPs get them to where they begin their mission more safely."