Armored Humvees Deadly, To Soliders Inside

The Dayton (OH) Daily News, in a report six months in the making, analyzed Army data and "found that 60 of the 85 soldiers who died in Humvee accidents in Iraq — or 70 percent — were killed when the vehicle rolled. Of the 337 injuries, 149 occurred in rollovers." (tip)

The paper reports that many of its statistical analyses were confirmed by the Army Combat Readiness Center in Alabama. Over the course of two months, it sought information from other branches of the Army, without success. However, material faxed by the Army to the paper included this:

"Speed, road conditions, tire damage and sudden evasive actions are the routine causes," the documents say. "Several accidents have also occurred when the vehicle weight has collapsed the roadside, and the vehicle landed in water."

The analysis shows that the Army has listed at least three deaths -- two civilian, one solider -- as "combat" (not accident) although they resulted from Humvee rollover in non-combat situations. The soldier received the Bronze star, which is granted for heroic or meritorious achievement.

According to Gary Caille, a Georgia Tech military vehicle reseacher, "[The Humvee] was not designed to be a combat vehicle. It was designed to carry people as a utility vehicle and not necessarily be in a battle situation."

Humvee History
High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicles (Humvees) were introduced in 1985, during expansive defense spending under President Ronald Reagan, and replaced the quarter-ton jeep, M718A1 ambulance, half-ton Mule, 1.25-ton Gamma Goat, and M792 ambulance, according to an Army fact sheet. They first saw combat in the first Gulf war.

That same fact sheet says that they weigh 5,200 pounds and "are designed for use over all types of roads, in all weather conditions and are extremely effective in the most difficult terrain." However, it was not designed to be an armored personnel carrier (APC) -- and that is the role it is playing in Iraq.

Consequently, the Humvees deployed in Iraq weigh far more than 5,200 pounds. Some are retrofitted; others are heavily armored M1114s straight off the assembly line from AM General, the manufacturer. From the Daily News report:

Even before adding hundreds of pounds of weight from soldiers and their equipment, the M1114 weighs 9,800 pounds, or about 4,000 pounds more than the standard Army M1097 Humvee and about 2,000 pounds more than Humvees retrofitted with armor. By comparison, the 2006 Hummer H1, one of the heaviest SUVs on the road, has a curb weight of 7,847 pounds.

Humvees In Iraq
The armor is in place to protect against IEDs, improvised explosive devices, and rocket propelled grenades. But it changes the center of gravity and makes the vehicle hard to handle, especially on narrow, "primitive" roads like those in Iraq. Rollovers are often deadly.

The push to armor the vehicles came after a 2004 event where Defense Secretary responded to a solider's question about armor plating with this infamous quip: "As you know, you have to go to war with the Army you have, not the Army you want."

In May 2004, the Senate approved $618 million to produce 300 M1114s per month from May through October and 450 per month from October 2004 till March 2006.

The fiscal 2006 Defense budget (pdf) allocated just under a billion dollars for armored vehicles. Congress gave the Army $170 million for up-armored Humvees and $463.5 million for a Humvee "Recap" modernization program. The Army also received $40.8 million for Armored Security Vehicles. The Marines received $178.6 million for up-armored Humvees.

See How Much Is A Billion?

Technorati Profile
Technorati tags: Bush, Iraq, Politics
gada.be tags: Bush, Iraq, Politics

^{Category: Iraq}