Allen blasts lack of body armor for soldiers

PORTLAND – U.S. Rep. Tom Allen is investigating reports that members of Maine-based Reserve and National Guard units in Iraq are among those that are serving without the latest protective body armor.

Allen said families of service members from the Army Reserve’s 94th Military Police Company and the Maine Army National Guard’s 1136th Transportation Company told him that their sons and daughters have been deployed without the Interceptor vests.

The vests include removable ceramic plates in the front and back that can stop bullets fired by rifles common in Iraq and Afghanistan. Older-model vests can protect against shrapnel and other low-speed projectiles, but not high-velocity rifle rounds.

Allen said the military did not adequately plan for production of the armor and, as a result, many service people are not receiving the full level of protection available.

“The response [from the Pentagon] has been that not everyone is on the front lines. But all of our troops are on the front lines in Iraq,” Allen said. “That’s why this is so disturbing.”

Allen said he has heard from reservists who attribute their injuries to the shortage of armor, particularly the removable ceramic plates that are fitted into the vests.

Allen and U.S. Rep. Mike Michaud sent a letter last month to Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld that said some Maine-based reservists were issued a single plate and told to choose whether to wear it in the front or the back.