Marines Urge Caution on MRAP Fielding

[unhappycamper]

Marines Urge Caution on MRAP Fielding
Military.com | By Christian Lowe | October 19, 2007


Marine commanders in Iraq are asking the Pentagon to slow down deployment of IED-resistant vehicles in order to give them more time to figure out how best to employ the heavily-armored trucks, a top Corps official Wednesday.

Congress and the Pentagon have devoted billions to a crash program to field so-called Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles that are said to protect troops from deadly roadside bombs more effectively than up-armored Humvees. But the vehicles are more than four times heavier than an armored Humvee and may require different tactics for their use.

"I would say 'relax,' we don't know how we're going to use them, nobody does," said Brig. Gen. select Larry Nicholson, deputy commander of the Marine Corps Combat Development Command based in Quantico, Va. "And anyone who says ... 'this is exactly how many we need and this is exactly how we're going to use them' is not being truthful."

Commanders in Iraq are asking military officials in the U.S. to send "a few more" MRAPs, "then let us figure it out," Nicholson said during a panel discussion on the future of the MRAP, sponsored by the non-partisan Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, a defense think tank with close Pentagon ties.

The push-back from the field stands in sharp contrast to Pentagon moves to field more than 15,000 MRAPs over the next two years, including 1,500 by the end of 2007. The Marine Corps has an estimated 380 MRAPs in service with II Marine Expeditionary Force in al Anbar province so far, and the service is forecasted to receive a total of 3,700 MRAPs.

Nicholson strongly advocated the deployment of MRAPs for Marine operations in Iraq; despite his caution on the rate they'd be fielded.


Rest of article at: http://www.military.com/NewsContent/0,13319,153219,00.html

[Eagle_Eye]

1. There is too much money involved at this point

The Army has let contracts to Navistar International, BAE Systems, and Force Protection to buy 2400 MRAPs to the tune of $5.4 Billion. This will be followed in December with another $8 Billion for 6500 more.

When the contractors are riding a 13 Billion dollar gravy train, the Army will get the MRAPs weather they want them or not.

[demommom]

2. He diid not say he did not want them.

There are MRAPS being used NOW in Iraq. He just said slow them down a bit until they decided where they were going to use them. I believe my senator traveled in one when he was in Iraq on his 8th trip.

Again ,what price do YOU put on the lives of our people?