As far as personal protective equipment goes, we are well equipped and probably better outfitted than just about any other force (other than those special units that have their own budgets). The IBA with inserts works as advertised, which you have seen. It is a bit cumbersome, but you get used to it. Our helmets have been redesigned for comfort and protection, we have been issued knee pads and elbow pads, gloves and ballistic eyewear. Oh yeah, and the new combat boots that we have are the best boots I have ever worn. We almost look like knights of old riding to battle...and it feels that way after you have been wearing it all day. With that though, the real angst seems to arise when the vehicles are mentioned.

Historically, armies do not anticipate their logistic tails being vulnerable. With the cost of fielding a modern army, something has to get left out. I mean, what would you pick; a new hi-tech slick, big gunned M1 Abrams or a cargo truck? The idea being that the big guns will take care of the enemy so that the supply guys will be safe. Well, you are aware that the present environment is not conducive to that way of fighting. There is no forward edge of the battle area. The whole country is a battle area, potentially.

The Army has been running a hardening program for those vehicles that are proving vulnerable...you know the logistics guys (like me!). They have pre-made packages for just about every type vehicle that we have in our Brigade. The up-armor kits are rated to 7.62X51mm (Winchester .308) and include air conditioning, since we have to keep the vehicles buttoned-up for maximum protection. We came in-country with a fair amount of the hillbilly armored vehicles. That is being rectified as we speak. The HMMVWs, M923s [ed. - 5-ton cargo truck], HEMTTs, PLSs, etc are being hardened daily. My LMTV and the other cargo trucks had no more than a piece of iron in place of the sided windows. But, even with that we still went out and performed the missions. Not that big of a deal really, because guys tend to think that they're invulnerable anyway. So, unlike with the other vehicles, our Brigade is not at the top of the list for LMTV up-armor. I, along with my immediate chain of command, initiated a face to face mission down in Kuwait. We found the people running that project and were able to secure a new Level 1 cab for my LMTV [ed. - See photos below]. My trip last week was to secure another one for our maintenance contact truck.

Now, our Brigade may have a plan for getting these done, but I was not patient enough to wait (as our company has the only 2 in the Brigade). A note about the install; the guys working on the FMTV up-armor project are ship builders from Norfolk. These guys are used to building carriers and subs but have volunteered to go to Kuwait and help the Army get these kits fielded. I would like for each of them to know how much their efforts are appreciated. And, being local, well local to Richmond anyway, I want any Stewart & Stevenson representatives out there to be proud of the work that they have been doing on the design, production and fielding of the LSACs.

This is a bit more than my usual update, but I am really happy with the new cab. Besides looking tough it has proven to be tough in the field. It has allowed me to fulfill my personal goal of being part of the offense and not just another target that needed to be protected. I am now equipped to handle anything the enemy has to throw at me.