Staff Sgt. Jeremie Oliver, from Chesterville, Maine, shows off the protection that saved his life after being shot by an insurgent in the Baghdad neighborhood of Ameriya, June 17. Oliver, from Company B, 1st Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment, was in his Bradley Fighting Vehicle when he took the round to the chest. Oliver was later seen by medical personnel who cleared him for duty. “I know I am lucky to walk away from this event; however, I also know that it was not luck that my body armor worked,” he said. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Jack Androski, 1st Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment)

DoD

By Sgt. Sara Wood, USA
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, May 21, 2007 ““ U.S. troops operating in Iraq and Afghanistan have the best body armor in the world, and the Army is constantly looking for ways to improve force protection, the general in charge of the program told reporters here today.

“Force protection is the No. 1 priority of the U.S. Army. We value our soldiers very highly, and we do everything we can do to ensure that they have the finest in force protection as they go into the battle,” Army Brig. Gen. R. Mark Brown, Program Executive Officer Soldier, said at a Pentagon news conference.

In response to a May 17 NBC News report challenging the Army’s use of Interceptor body armor vs. the newer “Dragon Skin” armor developed by Pinnacle Armor Inc., Brown today released information about the testing that ruled out Dragon Skin a year ago.

The tests were conducted May 16 to 19, 2006, at H.P. White labs near Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md. The Pinnacle armor was subjected to the same tests Interceptor body armor goes through, first being X-rayed and analyzed and then undergoing a series of live-fire tests, Brown said. The live-fire tests included room-temperature tests, harsh environment tests, and durability and drop tests.

Of the eight Pinnacle vests tested, four of them failed the tests, with 13 rounds penetrating completely on the first or second shot, Brown said. After the first complete penetration, the vests technically failed the test, but the Army continued the testing to be fair, he said.

The Pinnacle vests also were subjected to extreme temperature variations, from minus 25 degrees Fahrenheit to 120 degrees Fahrenheit, which would be a realistic cycle if the equipment was loaded onto a plane and flown to the Middle East, Brown said. These temperature tests caused the adhesive holding the Dragon Skin’s protective discs together to fail, and the discs gathered at the bottom of the vest, leaving gaps in protection, he said.

Brown also noted that the Dragon Skin vests are significantly heavier and thicker than the Interceptor vests. Dragon Skin vests in size extra large are 47.5 pounds and 1.7 to 1.9 inches thick; the Interceptor vests in size large, which offer an equivalent coverage area to the extra large Dragon Skin vests, weigh 28 pounds and are 1.3 inches thick.

“Bottom line is it does not meet Army standards,” Brown said of the Pinnacle body armor.

Brown showed reporters videos of the tests, which were supervised by the chief executive officer of Pinnacle. He also displayed the actual vests that were tested, with markers showing the penetration sites.

The Army did not initially release the information about the tests because of possible security concerns, Brown said. “We are facing a very media-savvy enemy,” he said. “They’re not only media-savvy, they are Internet savvy. “¦ Everything that we put out into the public domain, we pretty much assume that they get. We don’t like to discuss our vulnerabilities and our counters to the vulnerabilities in the open public.”

However, after the NBC report, Army leaders felt they needed to counter any doubts in the minds of servicemembers and their families, Brown said. “Our soldiers and, more importantly, the families ““ the wives, the children, the parents ““ have to have confidence that our soldiers have the best equipment in the world,” he said.

Right now, the Army’s safety-of-use message mandates that all soldiers use Interceptor body armor, which has passed the same tests the Pinnacle armor failed, Brown said. The Army is interested in a more flexible armor, like the Pinnacle design, and if the company improves its product, it could be reconsidered, he said.

Brown stressed that the Army has more than one set of body armor for every soldier in the combat theater, and that he has all the money and support he needs to make improvements to force protection. Also, the Army is constantly working to develop new technologies that will deliver better protection.

“This is not just a matter of debate for us; this is personal,” he said, noting that many of his staff members have relatives or friends who have served or are serving in Iraq or Afghanistan.

Navy Cross

Marine Corps News

MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. (May 3, 2004) — Marine Sgt. Marcos A. Martinez received the Navy Cross from the Secretary of the Navy, Honorable Gordon R. England, during a ceremony Monday at 5th Marine Regiment parade deck here.

“These brave Marines did good things without notice,” said England, “and without the acclaim of crowds. But they got the acclaim of their fellow Marines.”

Martinez, 22, a Las Cruces, N.M., native, received the naval service’s second highest award for extraordinary heroism while serving as first fire team leader for 2nd squad, 1st Platoon, Golf Company, 2nd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom April 12, 2003. The Medal of Honor is the highest military award.

A corporal at the time, Martinez responded to a call to reinforce 1st Platoon, which was under attack by enemy forces. Under fire, Martinez deployed his team in supporting positions for a squad assault.

He assumed control after his squad leader was wounded. While other Marines tended to the wounded squad leader, Martinez single-handedly assaulted the building and killed four enemy soldiers with a grenade and his rifle.

“All of the training is what helped me out,” said Martinez. “I relied on my training.”

USA Today

The battle for Baghdad in April 2003 ended with the collapse of the Iraqi government and military under Saddam Hussein.

It took less than three weeks, but there were many fights in around the capital before it ended.

Sgt. Joseph Perez, 26, was the lead man in a squad that was out front of a Marine force moving into the city on April 4. With the Marines under intense fire, Perez, then a lance corporal, led a charge down a trench, firing his rifle and throwing a grenade to kill enemy fighters.

At one point he destroyed a machine gun bunker with a rocket launcher, killing four Iraqis. That allowed his squad to capture that position.

According to his citation, Perez continued to advance and fire at enemy fighters. Wounded by gunfire, he still directed his squad members to where they could open fire and finish off the enemy fighters.

On April 8, Sgt. Scott Montoya, was organizing Marine defenses when a company came under attack. Five different times, Montoya, 37, a Marine reservist, ran across open ground swept by enemy fire to rescue people. When an Iraqi civilian car was caught in the crossfire, Montoya dragged a wounded passenger to safety.

He led a dazed Marine to safety, dragged another one who was unconscious out of the line of fire and rescued a third, carrying him several hundred yards.

“My legs were burning like there was battery acid pumping through them,” says Montoya, today a sheriff’s deputy in Orange County, Calif. “I knew there was no way, while I had a breath of air in my lungs that I was going to leave that Marine lying there.”

On April 12, former Marine Cpl. Marco Martinez, 25, led an assault on Iraqi positions in Tarmiya, just north of Baghdad. When his squad leader was struck down by a grenade blast, Martinez assumed command. He led his Marines first through one building filled with enemy fighters and then into a second compound where resistance was even stiffer.

After a wall was breached in that second compound, Martinez led his troops into a large courtyard where they immediately came under fire from an adobe shed transformed by Iraqi fighters into a bunker. The Marines were pinned down behind palm trees.

The fighting became furious. Martinez spotted an enemy rocket launcher on the ground and ran into the open to retrieve it. He was trying to figure out how to fire it when a Marine near him was struck by a bullet in the spine. He dropped to the ground paralyzed.

Enemy riflemen turned their attention on the fallen Marine. Reacting to this, Martinez finally managed to fire the rocket at the bunker. This stunned the Iraqis for several seconds, allowing two other Marines to rush to aid their fallen comrade.

Gunfire from the bunker quickly resumed. So Martinez charged at it, emptying his rifle and then prepping a grenade which he threw into a gunport on the shed. The explosion killed all but one fighter inside. That man aimed his rifle at Martinez but Martinez killed him first.

“Within seconds, I stopped the firefight right there with that,” he said.

Perez, Montoya and Martinez each received the Navy Cross.

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Feb. 14, 2006 – The Defense Department announced today the revision of a memorandum on the policy and procedures for the reimbursement of privately purchased protective equipment for Operations Noble Eagle, Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom.

The new memo, which was signed Feb. 10 by David S.C. Chu, undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness, incorporates the original guidance published on Oct. 4, 2005, expands the list of reimbursable equipment, and extends the eligible purchase period for reimbursement.

The full reimbursable equipment list now includes:

* Complete ballistic vests;
* Most component parts of ballistic vests, including side-plate body armor;
* Helmets;
* Ballistic eye protection;
* Hydration systems;
* Gloves;
* Knee pads;
* Elbow pads;
* Bed insect netting;
* Insect repellant; and
* Reflective vests.

The eligible purchase period is now Sept. 11, 2001, through April 1, 2006, as required by the fiscal 2006 National Defense Authorization Act. The previous memo only covered purchases from Sept. 11, 2001, to July 31, 2004.

To be reimbursed for equipment, servicemembers must complete DD Form 2902, “Claim for Reimbursement for Privately Purchased Protective, Safety or Health Equipment used in Combat.” This form must be submitted to the servicemember’s chain of command or, for former members, to an authorizing official designated by their former service at an address on the form. All claims must be submitted by Oct. 3, 2006.

The original memo states that the military will reimburse servicemembers for the cost, including shipping, of any protective, safety or health equipment that was purchased by the member or by another person on behalf of the member for the member’s personal use during deployment.

To be eligible for reimbursement, the equipment must be on the approved list of shortage equipment, and the member must not have been issued equivalent government-provided equipment before they engaged in imminent danger or hostile fire operations, the original memo states.

Reimbursement for any one item is limited to $1,100, and any equipment that servicemembers are reimbursed for becomes the property of the U.S. government and must be turned in to the unit logistics officer.

U.S. Army Sgt. Shawn Snyder displays the helmet that saved his life from a sniper in downtown Tikrit, Iraq. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Mark Wojciechowski

By U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Mark Wojciechowski, 133rd Mobile Public Affairs Detachment

FORWARD OPERATING BASE REMAGEN, TIKRIT, IRAQ, Jan. 6, 2006 — For many soldiers, the new Army combat helmet is a necessary evil. It can be cumbersome when in the dining facility trying to handle a tray of food and it causes headaches and tension in the neck when worn on lengthy missions.

However, Sgt. Shawn Snyder of 3rd Infantry Division’s 2/7 Scout Platoon is one soldier who will never complain about wearing his helmet again. With good reason — it saved his life.

Snyder’s mission was to serve as a routine escort of the explosive ordnance disposal detail to the forensics building in downtown Tikrit, so that they could retrieve explosives that Iraqi people found.

“Usually what we do is block off each end of the street so that they [explosive ordnance disposal personnel] can go in and pick the stuff up,” Snyder said.

Snyder was standing up in the turret scanning his sector and had been waving off traffic for about 15 minutes. He recalls hearing a shot and feeling “a little jerk.”

Snyder quickly called out to his driver and team commander to ask who was firing. Then, he said, he saw the Kevlar particles flying around so he jumped down in the vehicle and wondered if he was dying. Snyder removed his helmet and felt around on his head; there was no blood. The round, most likely a 7.62 mm from a sniper rifle, ricocheted off the upper left side of the helmet, shredding the outside and slightly cracking the inside.

“I didn’t get a concussion… didn’t even get a headache,” Snyder said in a matter-of-fact tone.

Snyder is married with a 13-month-old boy. When the 25-year-old Snyder told his wife what had happened, “she took it as best as a wife could, knowing a round almost killed her husband a month before he got home,” he said.

Snyder still wears the same helmet, but he has since replaced the desert camouflage cover which was badly torn. He will get to keep the helmet when he returns to Fort Stewart, Ga., as a memento of an event that he’ll never forget.