Today the USA Today released a story that summarized the fielding of the military's upgrade to the HMMWV (Hummer). The Mine Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicle (MRAP) is the latest innovation in troop transport and its invention is a direct response to the ineffectiveness of the HMMWV in protecting soldiers from mines and IEDs. The new Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates, was quoted as saying:
Armored Humvees were "the best we had," Gates said. "Now we have something better, and we're going to get that to the field as best we can."The article then goes on to state that the Army has 18,000 HMMWVs in Iraq and only 1,100 MRAPs. This small number of MRAPs doesn't really make sense when you read the memo sent out by Gates last week that stated:
Getting the MRAPs is "the highest priority Department of Defense acquisition program," Gates said in a memo last week to the secretaries of the Army and Navy.
If that is really the highest priority, then how come the Army has only 1,100 MRAPs in Iraq right now?
What does this have to do with World War 2? Well, during WW2 President Franklin Roosevelt banned the production of civilian automobiles so that the car manufacturing plants could dedicate 100% of their effort to churning out as many tanks as possible to support the soldiers overseas (another reason was to save on rubber). Take a look at the picture below:
This is a picture of women building tanks at the Richmond Ford Motor Plant. I'm not saying we need to ban the production of all civilian cars; but, please ask yourself if our government is doing everything they possibly can to protect our soldiers by getting them the best possible equipment as soon as possible. Then, when you realize that they aren't, please hold them accountable. 
1 comment:
Dude, good to see that you're doing something productive with your life. Just got word about this from Icabod. This should keep me occupied for my last 2 weeks in the 'Stan.
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