Webb Voices Concerns Over Army Testing of Body Armor, Calls for Independent Evaluation of Results
Armor Should Not to be Fielded Until Additional Testing is Completed and Assessed
Washington, DC – Senator Jim Webb (D-VA) today wrote Secretary of Defense Robert Gates to express his concerns over the findings of a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report released Oct. 16, 2009, citing deviations in testing protocols used in the U.S. Army’s testing of body armor conducted last year under a contract solicitation issued in 2007.
Senator Webb and then-Senator Hillary Clinton, both members of the Senate Committee on Armed Services in 2007, requested the GAO investigation in May 2007 in light of their concerns about the effectiveness and reliability of body armor being issued to service members. “I greatly appreciate the audit team’s demonstrated commitment over the past two years,” wrote Senator Webb. “Our men and women in uniform deserve to have the highest degree of confidence that the body armor they are issued meets or exceeds the military’s requirements for ballistic protection.”