(no subject)

[razorjak]

Isn't this nifty?

Soldiers are being threatened with disciplinary action AND the loss of their death benefits if they don't leave their superior, privately purchased body armour behind when deploying overseas.

Last I heard, a fair number of soldiers weren't even being ISSUED body armour. Now Big Brass is threatening them if they try to use gear they (or their families) have purchased themselves.

Discuss.

Comments

[siani-hedgehog.livejournal.com]

Somehow, I doubt it, because I think the soldiers would know if they were issued body armor or not and act accordingly.

one of the quotes in the article says "He didn't want to use that other stuff, he told me that if anything happened to him I am supposed to raise hell."
so i'd say that it's pretty clear that at least some are choosing it out of preference rather than neccessity.

[rat-bastard.livejournal.com]

Well, then the solution is simple. Just have armor issued to soldiers take priority over privately purchased armor. If a soldier is actually issued armor, then he should be required to use the issued armor. If he is not issued armor, then he should be allowed to use his privately purchased armor, assuming that it won't interfere with mobility in the field, as I don't think that the armor's use would increase the chances of being killed in any case.

[jruske.livejournal.com]

I would lean a different way. If a soldier has personal body armor that meets a certain specification (whicht eh Dragon skin certainly does) then reissue his OTV body armor to someone who doesn't have any.

The key here will be what they set the bar for the specification to. Historically the gov't has set the specification at something only met by gov't issue gear. Suppliers have wised up tot hat and will literally dumb down products to hit the gov't spec deadnuts within a month now. It used to take re-engineering a product and production cycles up to a few years in the past.

But you have to have some specification bar. Or some nut will show up with twenty wooden crosses strapped to his chest and back and forearms and thighs and call that "holy body armor." Not exactly the most effective against small arms fire and IEDs...

[siani-hedgehog.livejournal.com]

yep, seems fair. allowing people to choose what armour they wear seems fraught with difficulty, though... and i worry about the soldiers not issued with armour, but unable to afford any themselves. not really fair, that.