Bond: Pentagon Bureaucrats Have Much to Explain
Department of Defense Inspector General Releases MRAP Report
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December 9, 2008
WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Kit Bond today stressed that a recent report reveals the Department of Defense’s acquisition process is broken and that there is ineffective communication at the Pentagon’s highest levels. Bond made his comments after reviewing a Department of Defense Inspector General’s report.
Bond said, “The report’s most damning conclusion is that the Pentagon was aware of the threat IED’s posed to our troops prior to our intervention in Iraq and still failed to take the steps to acquire the technology needed to reduce the risk to life and limb.
“It appears that some bureaucrats at the Pentagon have much to explain to the families of American troops who were killed or maimed when a life-saving solution was within reach.”
In the war on terror one of the violent terrorists’ weapons of choice to employ against our brave men and women in the military is the Improvised Explosive Device – or IED. As of January, 2008 out of the 3,910 deaths of U.S men and women serving in Iraq that have occurred, 1,683 have been because of an IED, which remains the number one cause of death of American troops in Iraq.
To lessen the threat of IED’s, Senators Bond and Joe Biden have fought since 2007 to speed the delivery of MRAPs – life-saving vehicles that help protect soldiers from the IED’s and mine attacks – to troops in the field. The Senators also demanded an investigation into why the delivery of these life-saving vehicles was delayed and protection for the whistleblower who brought this critical problem to light.
Today, the DOD IG made public the executive summary of their report on the Pentagon’s implementation of the Urgent Universal Needs Process for Mine Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicles. Among the reports findings:
- The Department of Defense was aware of the threat posed by mines and improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in low-intensity conflicts and of the availability of mine-resistant vehicles years before insurgent actions began in Iraq in 2003.
- The Department of Defense did not develop requirements for, fund, or acquire MRAP-type vehicles for low-intensity conflicts that involved mines and IEDs.
- The Department of Defense entered into operations in Iraq without having taken available steps to acquire technology to mitigate the known mine and IED risk to soldiers and Marines.
Bond emphasized that these findings confirm his assertion that the Department of Defense’s acquisition process is broken, ineffective communication at the Pentagon’s highest levels exists, and reform is needed. Bond stressed that he wants to work with the military to reform the system so our acquisition process is flexible and fast enough to respond quickly to emerging threats.
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