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Lawmakers trying to find balance between Humvee safety, role in war

A 'Daily News' report on the effect of the extra armor on a vehicle brought the issue up for discussion and possible action.

By Jessica Wehrman

Staff Writer

WASHINGTON | Virtually every federal lawmaker interviewed this week said they supported more congressional oversight into the problem of rollovers involving up-armored Humvees.

But they also said they want to balance any changes against the need to protect troops from Improvised Explosive Devices and other explosives.

"They have taken a piece of equipment that was never designed for (its current use) and are using it, and for the most part, it's been fine," said Rep. Dave Hobson, R-Springfield. "But there are too many occasions where they have rolled over and kids have been killed. We have to figure out how to deal with what we've got."

Hobson was reacting to Sunday's Dayton Daily News article, which reported that 60 of the 85 soldiers who died in Humvee crashes in Iraq — or about 70 percent — were killed in rollovers.

Some of the same lawmakers who clamored for the up-armoring when the war began now say there needs to be more attention paid to improving the troops' ability to get out of tight situations safely. Many of the soldiers and experts quoted by the newspaper said the Humvee, which weighs about 10,000 pounds when fully up-armored, is difficult to control, particularly in the harsh conditions encountered in Iraq, which often patrols at night on unfamiliar terrain.

Rep. Mike Turner, R-Centerville, heard about the dilemma firsthand during a January 2005 trip to Iraq with other members of the House Armed Services Committee. During that visit, soldiers expressed concern about the bulkiness of the armor.

"Many of them said that they did not like the feel of the equipment with all that armor — that they were less agile, that they felt they were less stable many times," Turner said. "And they raised the issue of, 'at what point are we compromising the operations of the vehicle, and at what point are we compromising the safety of the individual?' "

Others insist that any weapon poses some risk in a war zone.

"They're not perfect," said Majority Leader John Boehner, who nonetheless calls the Humvee "an amazing vehicle. There isn't one perfect weapon in this war or any other war."

But Rep. Walter Jones, R-N.C., the leading anti-war Republican in the House and a member of the House Armed Services Committee, views the issue as one of preparedness.

"This is another example of this administration going to war without being fully ready," he said, saying that Congress should "absolutely" hold hearings on this issue. He also called for the U.S. military to stop sending in new up-armored Humvees until it corrects the rollover risk.

"Why in the world would you put a young person in a vehicle, particularly in a war zone, that you know is not safe?" he asked.

Hobson, a senior member of the Defense appropriations subcommittee, said the armor has been popular because it has saved so many lives. In the Daily News article, Scott Badenoch, a former vehicle dynamics expert for Delphi whose new company is working to design a lighter weight vehicle to replace the Humvee, said the up-armoring has "caused more deaths than it has saved" — an assertion Hobson calls "absurd."

But Hobson said the Army needs to better train soldiers to drive the bulkier vehicle and "lighten" the armor through composite materials. He expressed frustration that the Army hasn't moved faster to adopt lighter-weight hoods of composite materials for Humvees — something he calls the first step to lighter armor.

Sen. Mike DeWine, R-Ohio, like other lawmakers, said he wanted to ensure that changes in the Humvee's design do not leave soldiers vulnerable to enemy attacks. He said in May alone, Improvised Explosive Device assaults accounted for more than 2,500 incidents in Iraq.

"You see what an up-armored Humvee does to protect the troops, to protect from IED assaults on them," DeWine said.

Asked why soldiers were sent into the conflict with up-armored vehicles that proved at higher risk of rollover in Kosovo and Bosnia, DeWine got silent.

"I don't think there's a good answer to that," he said.

Both DeWine and Turner said they support additional congressional oversight of the problem, and Turner said he would "absolutely" support hearings to examine the risk of rollovers.

The M1114, the workhorse of the Humvee fleet in Iraq, is up-armored at the Armor Holdings plant in West Chester Twp.

Other members of Congress acknowledged they were still learning about the issue, but were concerned enough to support hearings or a congressional investigation.

Said Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., "Anything that affects the safety of the troops ought to be looked into." He added that the issue also was one of "accountability in expenditures."

"We don't want to be buying faulty equipment and we don't want to be putting our soldiers at unnecessary risk. ... It's worth an inquiry, which I will make."

Sen. Joe Lieberman, D-Conn., a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said the statistics were "significant."

"I think it's something our committee ought to look into," he said.

Contact this reporter at (202) 887-8328 or jwehrman@coxnews.com.