Rumsfeld, armor, and reactions: Part 4 (Who needs armor?)

As noted in Rumsfeld, armor, and reactions: Part 1, Rumskull said this is response to Spc. Wilson's question: "And if you think about it, you can have all the armor in the world on a tank and a tank can be blown up. And you can have an up-armored humvee and it can be blown up." So, does armor on a Humvee make any difference?

Here is a sample of opinions from various sources.

Wall Street Journal

Iraq, however, has shown that even a marginal technological advance can save lives. While the armored Humvee may not deflect a blast from a rocket-propelled grenade or roadside bomb, the solders in the vehicle are far more likely to emerge from the attack with their lives.

Newsweek

[I]n October, members of one unarmored unit, the 343rd Quartermaster Company, refused to carry out a convoy mission because their vehicles were not adequately protected. Several members were later disciplined and demoted, though the Army declined to court-martial them. In a recent letter to the Army Times, Sgt. Scott Montgomery, who was part of a different unit that eventually did carry out the mission, said his convey was hit by an IED and that he was wounded by shrapnel. "Had we not had armor on our vehicle, my entire crew would have been killed," he said.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

At the Fairfield plant, O'Gara-Hess adds armor plating to the bottom and sides of a chassis provided by AM General, manufacturer of the Humvee. The armor protects against small arms up to 7.62 mm, and "mitigates" the effects of mines, rocket-propelled grenades, and the so-called IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices) that have become notorious in Iraq, (Pentagon spokesman Maj. Gary) Tallman said.

*******

The up-armored Humvees "are real life savers," said Robert Alt of Ashland University, who is embedded with a unit of the 1st Infantry Division.

"In the Adamiyah region of Baghdad, an up-armored Humvee was hit with a 155 mm mortar round configured as an IED," Alt said. "The Humvee was wrecked, seven Iraqis traveling on the street were killed, but every soldier in the Humvee walked away. Sgt. Yeb, who was in the Humvee at the time of the IED, told me that if the makers of the up-armored Humvee need a spokesman, he's their man."

ABC News

Hendler and his welding partner, Joe Parrot, are customizing the standard equipped personnel trucks with new steel doors, higher sides and deflecting roofs -- all fashioned from steel plates intended for road repairs in Iraq.

"We cover up the doors and put on some three-inch plate to protect the passenger and driver's side from IED [improvised explosive device] attacks, sniper fire and any other small-arms fire," Hendler said.

This makeshift armor ended up saving the life of a crew whose vehicle took a direct hit from a rocket-propelled grenade.

Yo, Don...why don't you go over to Iraq and tell the troops again how it won't matter if they have armored vehicles?