Editorial: What were they thinking?

[unhappycamper]

Editorial: What were they thinking?

The Army fielded a new mobile gun system in Iraq without an air conditioning system for the crew. It got so dangerously hot in the vehicles last summer — 147 degrees in some cases — that some soldiers conducted their patrols while hooked up to intravenous fluids.

Eventually, the three-man crews were outfitted with cooling vests, which are cumbersome, but do the job.

The Army’s budget includes $1.2 billion for 119 Stryker combat vehicles, including 79 of the MGS variants. But, aware of its problems, legislators put a hold on that money until 30 days after Army Secretary Pete Geren certifies the vehicle as “operationally effective, suitable and survivable for its anticipated deployment missions.”

The hot and dirty business of soldiering in tanks and other combat vehicles is the stuff of legend. But in the modern era of advanced technology, it should go without saying that forcing crew members to endure 140-degree temperatures is an unnecessary burden. How the Army could field combat vehicles without adequate crew-cooling systems — after nearly five years at war in the scorching desert of Iraq — boggles the mind.

A spokesman for General Dynamics Land Systems, which makes the MGS, said that in addition to the cooling vests, steps are being taken to provide greater comfort, such as increasing air flow from existing fans and installing condensers and exterior reflective material to keep heat from reaching the crew. The upgrades are to be ready by this summer, he said, starting with fielded vehicles and then those in production.


Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/community/opinion/army_editorial_mobilegunsystem_030308/

[liberal N proud]

1. Like the polyester t-shirts they purchased for Marines...

Marines Ban Polyester Clothing In Iraq

Under direction of Marine Corps commanders in Iraq, wearing synthetic athletic clothing containing polyester and nylon has been prohibited while conducting operations off of forward operating bases and camps.
The ban on popular clothing from companies like Under Armour, CoolMax and Nike comes in the wake of concerns that a substantial burn risk is associated with wearing clothing made with these synthetic materials.

When exposed to extreme heat and flames, clothing containing some synthetic materials like polyester will melt and can fuse to the skin. This essentially creates a second skin and can lead to horrific, disfiguring burns, said Navy Capt. Lynn E. Welling, the 1st Marine Logistics Group head surgeon.

Whether on foot patrol or conducting a supply convoy while riding in an armored truck, everyone is at risk to such injuries while outside the wire.

"Burns can kill you and they're horribly disfiguring. If you're throwing (a melted synthetic material) on top of a burn, basically you have a bad burn with a bunch of plastic melting into your skin and that's not how you want to go home to your family," said Welling.


http://op-for.com/2006/04/marines_ban_polyester_clothing.html


PBS, Bill Moyers covered this in a recent segment:
In 2005, David Wu was among a group of Northwest legislators sponsoring a two million dollar earmark for t-shirts to be worn by Marines as undergarments in combat.

NARRATOR: That same year, on a trip to Iraq, the Oregon Congressman was promoting the shirts, handing them out for free to Marines.

NARRATOR: The earmark specified that the shirts be purchased from a Portland area company called InSport. Executives of InSport and its parent company would become Wu campaign contributors.

DAVID HEATH: And as you can see, they gave substantial campaign contributions to David Wu in early 2006...

NARRATOR: The t-shirts were made of polyester.

NARRATOR: But polyester shirts have a potentially dangerous flaw, demonstrated to Heath and EXPOSÉ by one of InSport's competitors.

DOUGH HOSCHEK: I'll light the polyester with a simple lighter flame, here, which will ignite the fabric. . .

DOUGH HOSCHEK: The problems with these fibers is these are made from chemicals, and the chemicals are based in oil, and as soon as there's heat to them, flame, which of course everybody's experiencing in the war, now in Iraq and Afghanistan, with explosions, the polyester will literally melt into plastic and stick to your skin.

DOUGH HOSCHEK: It's basically hard. And, and that brittleness right there, that hardness is what would be on your skin - stuck to your skin.

NARRATOR: The Military has known the danger for over 20 years. And a Marine in Iraq was severely burned when his polyester t-shirt melted following an explosion.

NARRATOR: The reporters couldn't confirm who manufactured the shirt. As a result of the incident, in April 2006, the Marines banned the use of all polyester t-shirts in combat.

NARRATOR: Yet three months later, because of the earmark, the Marines bought 87,000 of them from InSport, along with 11,000 t-shirts with fire resistant sleeves.

NARRATOR: But even these they wouldn't trust in battle.

HAL BERNTON: The Marines were telling me that this product still wasn't certified for use outside the wire. It wasn't something that could be used on combat missions.

NARRATOR: Two months after that, Wu and his colleagues inserted another $1 million earmark for more InSport shirts.

HAL BERNTON: So I was trying to figure out, "Why were they giving them another million dollars if they still didn't have a product that could work?"

http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/02222008/transcript1.html