WASHINGTON-(Business Wire)-May 17, 2007 - The Soldiers For The Truth Foundation (SFTT - www.sftt.org) has exposed highly questionable Department of Defense procurement policies that have resulted in untold unnecessary deaths and greater casualties for frontline American troops. The United States military is using body armor that is inferior to what is currently available, thus putting at greater risk the lives and well-being of American soldiers stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Using information and contacts developed by SFTT and provided to NBC by SFTT President and retired Marine Lt. Colonel Roger Charles, the story broke nationally this evening on NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams.
SFTT is a nonpartisan, not-for-profit foundation created by the late Colonel David H. Hackworth, the nation's most valor-decorated soldier, as the voice and advocate for the men and women who serve America on the front lines of battle. SFTT has led the lonely fight to ensure that America's front-line troops have the best possible equipment, training and leadership available to meet their assigned missions, and give them the best chance possible to make it home alive, in one piece, in a plane seat, instead of in a body bag or on a stretcher; the Foundation has a record of uncovering endemic waste, fraud and abuse within the Department of Defense.
On December 20, 2006 the National Institute of Justice (NIJ), the organization that tests body armor for all law enforcement agencies, certified that Dragon Skin body armor passed Level III ballistic tests, validating its capability to protect from multiple rounds of standard, high-powered munitions. Dragon Skin's defeating multiple rounds definitively proves its superiority over the Army-designed and approved Interceptor Body Armor System currently employed by the U.S. Armed Forces which cannot consistently withstand multiple hits.
Not only does Dragon Skin protect troops better against the high-powered military rounds most commonly used against American forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, Dragon Skin also covers more of the wearer's body, providing protection to areas not covered by the current Interceptor body armor.
Dragon Skin body armor is an innovative system of two-inch titanium-ceramic composite discs overlaid in a fish-scale or chain-mail pattern invented specifically to defeat multiple, high-powered firearms rounds. Pinnacle Armor, a private company based in Fresno, California, is the creator of Dragon Skin and the holder of multiple, related patents.
Dragon Skin available for nearly a decade and known to the Department of Defense
"While it is not the agenda of SFTT to endorse any specific company's product, the Foundation is convinced after intensive and extensive research and consultations with industry experts, that Dragon Skin is simply the best body armor available. Shockingly, this armor system has been available to the DOD for nearly a decade," says Roger Charles. "As such, that system of armor is the one that ought to be protecting our soldiers. As it is now, even if a soldier's family buys Dragon Skin for a loved one, soldiers are prohibited by Army regulation from using it — at the risk of losing not only life or limb, but government-issued life insurance benefits as well."
Who wears Dragon Skin?
"Why shouldn't a soldier stationed in Iraq or Afghanistan be as well protected as a U.S. Senator, member of Congress or senior Cabinet official?" asks Eilhys England Hackworth, SFTT chairman and co-founder, with her late husband Col. David Hackworth, of the Foundation, who has kept SFTT alive in tribute to his memory.
Blackwater USA is a private contractor for, among other services, security consulting. When it provides security in Baghdad for visiting dignitaries it outfits U.S. Senators and members of Congress in concealable Dragon Skin. Some Special Ops forces use Dragon Skin. The security details of many of the most senior officials of the executive branch of the federal government wear Dragon Skin. But the U.S. Army and the U.S. Marine Corps refuse to provide it to regular service members and front line troops.
(Blackwater's customers have included: U.S. Department of State, U.S. Department of Defense, Halliburton's Kellogg, Brown & Root, and Bechtel Group.)
Worse, after families of the brave soldiers en route to combat zones began purchasing Dragon Skin for their relatives, in March, 2006 the U.S. Army issued a directive banning soldiers' use of privately purchased body armor and specifically singled out Dragon Skin - an unprecedented move.
SFTT is the first organization to throw a harsh spotlight on this shameful issue.
About Soldiers For The Truth
SFTT is a grass-roots educational organization founded in 1998 by the late Colonel David Hackworth, his wife Eilhys England, current SFTT President Roger Charles and a small group of concerned veterans and citizens to inform and educate the public, Congress, and the media on the unacceptable readiness levels of our armed forces. It is non-partisan, apolitical, and recognized as a non-profit educational foundation under section 501 (c) (3) of the Internal Revenue Code.
Inspired by the outspoken idealism of Colonel Hackworth and his lifelong dedication to military reform, SFTT aims to give our nation's frontline troops a clear voice and an unfiltered means to communicate with the media, Congress, the public, and the respective military services. SFTT counts former U.S. Senator Bob Kerrey, retired U.S. Lt. General Hank Emerson, and retired U.S. Army Lt. General Hal Moore on its advisory board.
SFTT's webzine, Defense Watch, is a primary tool in this effort, providing a platform for our country's warriors by employing the mass communications opportunities afforded by the Internet. In so doing, Defense Watch attempts to generate public outrage and political debate at a level that hopefully can no longer be ignored by the highest officials of the Executive and Legislative Branches of our government—from where any corrective actions must originate. -0- *T To learn more about Soldiers For The Truth, visit: http://www.sftt.org. To arrange interviews with Lieutenant Colonel Roger Charles, president SFTT or Eilhys England, chair and CEO SFTT contact: Barbara Pflughaupt P&F Communications Barbara@pfcomm.com or 212-861-2100 For additional information about Pinnacle Armor contact: Xavier Hermosillio Xavier Hermosillo & Associates 310-832-2999 Additional fact sheets and information available on: SFTT Fact Sheet SFTT Mission Statement Body Armor Timeline Colonel David H. Hackworth bio Eilhys England bio Lieutenant Colonel Roger Charles bio Advisory Board biographies: Catherine Crier, Bob Kerrey, Phil Matthews, Hal Moore, Shelly Tretter Lynch *T
saw
ReplyDeleteSaw this demo'd ..it is fantastic
ReplyDeleteI too saw it demo'd..A-OK
ReplyDeleteMake that three of me saw it demo'd
ReplyDeleteNothing is to good for our habus.
ReplyDeleteThe fix is in. And it's called money.
ReplyDeleteDR...
ReplyDeleteI like the crawling rat as the Washington Insider
Now for the second half of Apocalypse Now ....go Kurtz
Just look and see where the "Interceptor Body Armor System" is manufactured. My bet is you'll find it is in a Congressional district of an influental Congressperson.
ReplyDeleteJobs, in that district, being more important than soldiers lives in combat.
Only the "best" for our "boys".
Like many a dysfunctional Federal program, the Army keeps on keepin' on. Unable to accomplish the mission, but respected by everyone, regardless.
Their failures to secure Baghdad, the fault of the media coverage of the debacle.
Allen,
ReplyDeleteAfter viewing your cluster bomb video I forwarded it to an ole USMC A-4 driver I know..he sent this reply which I thought was interesting
Cluster Bombs were a mission of our squadron in 1964-65… 2 planes were to use Shrike (radar homing) missiles to take out a Cuban SAM site’s radar and then a 4 ship with CBUs (Cluster Bomb Units) would fly across the site with 100 foot lateral separation wiping out all electronics vans with about a zillion quarter inch cubes of steel from the “bomblets”. Then all 6 planes would strafe with their 20mms until out of ammo. We were the first USMC Shrike trained and qualified unit and were to lead the 1,000 ship (USAF, USMC and USN) strike on Cuba. Few know how close we came to getting to do it one time when Cuba tried to shoot down a couple of U-2s. We actually got to demo our capability on a replica SAM site on one of the ranges at Eglin AFB a couple of times. Our worst effort was FAR better than the USAF’s best. In some cases, they did not even find the target after a low level over water navigation leg followed by an over land low level ingress leg simulating our 450 knot and 50 foot altitude trip across the island to our target.
The flight I was in was supposed to depart Key West, hit the target and head back to Key West. Unfortunately, we would not have enough gas to run the attack on the Isle of Pines site and had been instructed to try to eject near each other over the Florida Straits to be picked up by the Navy. Little did the fearless USAF planners realize that if we really had to do it, we were going to hit the target and keep going South to Montego Bay, Jamaica!!! (If you’re going to be interred in a neutral nation for the duration of hostilities, we figured one with nice beaches would be the way to go! We had plenty of gas to make Montego Bay and didn’t have to throw away six good planes).
Biggest immigration bill in 20years and one of THE hottest topics in politics and Hillary, a US Senator and "leader" says she hasn't read the bill so she can't comment on it.
ReplyDeleteDock her pay.
So close, habu, that forty years later, Cuba is still Castro's.
ReplyDeleteDidn't even make it out of the gate.
Hell, we didn't even get them loaded into it. Then guarenteed Cuba to the communists, even after the Soviets departed the scene.
Now they've expanded their footprint, to include Venezuela and regaining Nico-land. Most all under the Bush Administration mis-management of foreign affairs.
Though Buddy L, jwillie, and rufus must all be celebrating the soon to come expansion of the US citizenship by 30 million folks.
Rewarding lawbreaking in the "new" Amerika. The socialists have moved US another step closer to paradise.
Just think of all the military recruits now available to do "jobs that US born Americans won't"
End the "stop loss" amd involunteery recalls, with Mexican wannabe US citizens.
Why we could get upeards of 40 to 50% of our military manpower needs, from Mexicans. Just like in construction industry or meatpacking.
Pay 'em less, no need for financial bonuses, just wave a blue passport under their nose.
ReplyDeleteThen those new soldiers would not be the "mercenaries" that some are all so afraid of, but patriots.
I demoted this to continue the conversation above on the immigration bill.
ReplyDeleteCutler linked to this townhall.com article by Terence Jeffrey yesterday. (And, yes, the old gal really did oppose the Iraq War.)
ReplyDelete[...]
When I later read Kirkpatrick's famous 1979 Commentary essay, "Dictatorships and Double Standards," I realized there was a similarity between Kennan's and Kirkpatrick's thought.
"Dictatorships and Double Standards" dissected the moralistic mindset that inspired President Jimmy Carter to turn his back on pro-United States -- yet authoritarian -- leaders in Iran and Nicaragua, when they were challenged, respectively, by Islamic and Marxist revolutions. Kirkpatrick perceived the root of Carter's failed policy to be a mistaken faith in the idea that all nations are fated to undergo a liberalizing modernization.
Within this framework, revolutions against right-wing authoritarians were not only historically inevitable but also morally desirable because they paved the way to the more democratic future that awaits us all. Left-wing authoritarians, by contrast, the Carterites believed, were on the right side of history, pushing for egalitarian modernization, and thus need not be resisted.
Kirkpatrick understood why this moralistic view was uniquely seductive to Americans, who after all, cherished their own democratic tradition. She nonetheless believed it was wrong.
"Although most governments in the world are, as they always have been, autocracies of one kind or another, no idea holds greater sway in the mind of educated Americans than the belief that it is possible to democratize governments, anytime, anywhere, under any circumstances," she wrote. "This notion is belied by an enormous body of evidence based on the experience of dozens of countries which have attempted with more or less (usually less) success to move from autocratic to democratic governments. Many of the wisest political scientists of this and previous centuries agree that democratic institutions are especially difficult to establish and maintain -- because they make heavy demands on all portions of a population and because they depend on complex social, cultural and economic conditions."
Richard Allen, top foreign policy advisor to then-candidate Reagan, gave Reagan this article. Reagan loved it, got to know Kirkpatrick and made her a key member of his foreign policy team.
Now, Kirkpatrick's final book, "Making War to Keep the Peace," has been published posthumously. It demonstrates her thinking remained consistent in the decades since "Dictatorships and Double Standards." Most importantly, it draws a line between the morally enlightened realism of President Reagan and the unrealistic moralism of President George W. Bush.
It is unrealistic to expect the U.S. military to build nations -- let alone democracies -- in cultures we know little about and where the preconditions for representative government don't exist, Kirkpatrick argues.
This is one reason she opposed the invasion of Iraq. "Iraq lacked practically all the requirements for a democratic government: rule of law, an elite with a shared commitment to democratic procedures, a sense of citizenship, and habits of trust and cooperation," she writes. "The administration's failure involved several issues, but the core concern is that they did not seem to have methodically completed the due diligence required for reasoned policy-making because they failed to address the aftermath of the invasion. This, of course, is reflected by the violence, sectarian unrest, ethnic vengeance and bloodshed we see today in Iraq."
In the final analysis, however, Kirkpatrick was not a hard-edged Kennan-style realist. She was a Ronald Reagan realist. Like Reagan, she believed U.S. foreign policy must always be guided by a thoroughgoing analysis aimed at determining what practical course would best advance the national interest. Promoting democracy, in her view, was a good thing -- when done in the right place at the right time by the right means. It could be an instrument for promoting U.S. interests, but was never a duty of U.S. policy.
[...]
When these wars started there was not even a plan to field Body Armor to every Soldier in the United States Army over any kind of reasonable timeline; now, Body Armor has been issued and continues to be issued to Soldiers, long with modifications like side armor as well.
ReplyDeleteMaybe it is not optimal, but it is progress.
There are dozens of types and manufacturers of body armor out there, some better than others.
There is about one article on Dragon Skin and who is and who is not wearing it almost every few months.
I am sure that the manufacturers of Dragon Skin love the publicity they get with all this media attention; no doubt it leads distinguished visitors to combat zones to purchase the stuff!
Desert Rat, still no Mercenaries in US Army uniforms over here as far as I can tell!!!
Exactly, bob w.
ReplyDeleteAnd it seems the US does not want to employee mercenaries, in uniform.
The remedy is to enlarge the labor pool. Our new immigrant cousins will do just that, give them legal work status, then they can enlist, Regular Army.
bob w,
ReplyDeleteKeep your head down, your feet dry, and give the bastards a taste of cold steel.
Semper Fi!