Soldiers often buy their own gear, report says
| • | Army strives to get better equipment, faster |
| • | Illustration (opens in new window): Soldiers found some equipment faulty |
By John Diamond
USA Today
WASHINGTON — The U.S. soldiers who invaded Iraq went into battle with the most modern and lethal equipment ever carried by an armed force. In some cases, they paid for it themselves.
Combat soldiers interviewed by an Army investigative team after the capture of Baghdad reported that they dipped into their own pockets to buy such accessories as pistol holsters, rucksacks, rifle sights and field radios, rather than use Army-issue versions.
"Soldiers still spend too much of their own money to purchase the quality packs, pouches, belts, underwear, socks and gloves they believe they need for mission success and comfort," says the report, which was drafted by Program Executive Office Soldier, the unit in charge of developing equipment for Army combat soldiers. A copy of the draft was obtained by USA Today.
The Army investigative team heard complaints of socks that were too hot, a pistol magazine that sometimes failed to push a bullet up to the chamber and field radios too weak to reach a friendly unit a few city blocks away.
While the Pentagon continues to equip the military using regulation-bound procedures, soldiers buy equipment based on a word-of-mouth network as they share tips on what works best in the field.
"You do better going to L.L. Bean," says retired Army Col. Kenneth Allard, who headed a team that urged more off-the-shelf purchases back in 1994. "It has been a scandal for so long because it takes so long to get Gore-Tex, it takes so long to get everything the typical mountain climbing expedition has as a matter of course."
The draft report found that some government-issued gear performed well. Body armor saved lives; the basic M-4 automatic rifle outperformed the enemy's AK-47s; and tools such as battle axes, bolt cutters and shotguns proved highly useful in urban combat. But the report, written by Army Lt. Col. Jim Smith, cites many examples of soldiers using their own money to buy gear that they believed performed better than items the government provided at taxpayer expense.
