From The Associated Press, 7/12/04:

http://www.detnews.com/2004/project/0407/12/a06-209336.htm

Associated Press

Because of a lack of armor, standard Humvees can't stop bullets or shrapnel.

Ill-equipped Humvees

Desperate soldiers attach homemade armor

Nonmilitary kits spark Army to rush own modifications

By Lisa Zagaroli / Detroit News Washington Bureau

The standard Humvee was designed to be able to traverse 40-degree slopes, be dropped out of a helicopter and submerged in 5 feet of salt water.

But it can't stop bullets or shrapnel from explosives.

The problems with the Humvee are well illustrated in Iraq, where U.S. soldiers have been killed and maimed by roadside explosives.

Because the Army didn't buy enough armored vehicles needed in a war like the one in Iraq, that very lack of combat survivability put soldiers in jeopardy in another way.

Troops began adding homemade armor, sandbags and other ballistic protection that could degrade the performance of vehicles never built to carry that kind of weight, rendering them more prone to accidents.

About 15,000 Humvees are in Iraq, carrying troops, emergency equipment, shelter and cargo.

The Army has spent the last few months rushing an "up-armored" version of the Humvee into the war zone, but some soldiers felt they had to take matters into their own hands.

The U.S. Army Reserves, 428th Transportation Company out of Jefferson City, Mo., for example, got contributions from local businesses to buy 13,000 pounds of 1/4-inch steel that it took with the troops to Iraq earlier this year to pad their canvas Humvees and 5-ton trucks.

"Our armor has helped to protect against shrapnel," Maj. Keith Porter of the 428th said from Iraq in an e-mail exchange with The Detroit News.

"All of the armor was installed. In fact, we installed additional armor on some vehicles."

Spc. Garett L. Reppenhagen, of Grand Junction, Colo., 29, a reconnaissance scout stationed in Iraq with the 2nd Battalion of the 63rd Armor Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 1st Infantry Division, was worried about riding in vehicles without armor.

"I was scared to death when they told us we would have to bring our old Humvees from the rear to war," Reppenhagen said in an e-mail to The Detroit News from Ba'Qubah.

"It took two months just to get the armor add-ons. We started with the sandbags. Now we have Kevlar blankets in most of our rides. We have some with just sandbags still."