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Friday, September 30, 2005
Smilin' Norm's bad timing
Sen. Smilin' Norm Coleman (R-MN) sure can write himself up in his own press release:Department of Defense officials faced tough questioning today in a Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (PSI) hearing by Chairman Senator Norm Coleman(R-MN) over whether the highly touted Defense Travel System (DTS) projected to cut costs and red tape for the Pentagon’s travelers has been a boon or a boondoggle for U.S. taxpayers.
Smilin' Norm sure can ask tough questions. He's so tough and hard. We all want to be the man he is. It's just his damn bad luck that the committee he chairs is investigating waste in travel procurement rather than something more relevant:
Nearly a year after Congress demanded action, the Pentagon still hasn't figured out a way to reimburse U.S. troops for body armor and equipment they purchased to better protect themselves while serving in Iraq.
For Marine Sgt. Todd Bowers that extra equipment -- a high-tech rifle scope bought by his father for $600 and a $100 pair of goggles -- turned out to be a life-or-death purchase. And he has never been reimbursed.
For what it's worth, the news report doesn't fully support the "soldiers are still buying their own body armor" headlines:
"Your expectation is that when you are sent to war, that our government does everything they can do to protect the lives of our people, and anything less than that is not good enough," said a former Marine who spent nearly $1,000 two weeks ago to buy lower-body armor for his son, a Marine serving in Fallujah.
This anecdote is about lower-body armor. I don't think that's standard equipment. The article notes that "He and other soldiers and their parents are still spending hundreds and sometimes thousands of dollars for armor they say the military won't provide."
I've never been a soldier and never been in a combat zone. I don't know if lower-body armor is necessary, should be standard, or what. I know I'd want it and want my children to have it, if they were in combat. I wish I could say we could trust the Pentagon to make the right choice in this matter, but I think the opposite has proven true.
Just a caution, then, that it seems that the chest armor issue has, at long last, been rectified. The failure to provide vests from the get-go should be investigated. Congress passed a law demanding that troops who provided their own gear should be reimbursed. That's not happening, and that should investigated. Thirdly, and more in question, is whether our troops should be supplied with -- or reimbursed for -- the extra protection such as leg armor and goggles. That's worth investigating, too.
And I'm sure Smilin' Norm will start asking those tough questions just as soon as he finishes taking Cpl. Whimple to task for going over his cellular minutes.
