Local Marines who have been there say they fought not just insurgents in Iraq. They battled old equipment and almost unserviceable Humvees - they even found they had to buy their own goggles and knives.
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A marine looks from atop a hummer |
"The Hummers are just junk," Brandon Nordhoff, an IU student and Marine corporal, said recently. For example, he said, while his convoy was in the middle of the desert in Southern Iraq last year, a big part of the engine on one of the Humvees simply fell off.
The Humvees are not armored enough, Nordhoff said. "We have to put sandbags to protect ourselves from bullets or shells," he added.
"This is a poor way of looking out for us," said Aaron Middleton, a lance corporal and IU student. "If anything that carries a significant amount of weight and power hits us, we are done for.
"Had the Iraqis been a little more organized, sufficiently led, it could have been a lot worse (for us)," he added.
Nordhoff was in Iraq from April through mid-July last year. Middleton was there from mid-February to mid-June last year.
"Had the Iraqis been a little more organized, sufficiently led, it could have been a lot worse (for us)." - Lance Cpl. Aaron Middleton
Both say their weapons and other gear left much to be desired.
Speaking for the military, Col. Jenny Holbert, public affairs director of the 1st Marine expeditionary force at Camp Pendleton, said there have been problems and they are aware of soldiers using sandbags on the Humvees and other ways to protect themselves.
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Troops reporting problems with mail |
Christmas mail reaches at spring
When Marine Cpl. John Perzo was in Iraq last year, the one thing he really looked forward to was a "piece of home." His mail.
While in the field, he said, letters took a month to a month and a half while packages took two or three months, and "some of them did not even reach me."
One of the other soldiers Perzo knew was supposed to get a DVD player, but he only got the package. The DVD player was gone.
Neither the U S Postal Service nor the Personal and Family Readiness Division Headquarters of the Marine Corps had any idea of how much mail gets lost.
"We wouldn't know if it was lost because obviously we lost it," said Bryan Driver, the headquarters spokesman.
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"Our work to improve protective measures began last fall," she said. "We are continuously checking and enhancing protective measures," she added.
And Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., has recently spoken out about Humvee safety questions.
"There have been 27 soldiers from Indiana who died since combat in Iraq began, and at least 10 of them died in a Humvee related incident," said Bethan Roberts, spokeswoman for Bayh.
Middleton said he was sitting in his Humvee in Nazaria along the Tigris river, surrounded by sandbags, driving through and toward the fire. He ducked a few times to avoid flying bullets, and soon a shell flew in close.
He jumped off the Humvee and took shelter beside a pile of sandbags on the vehicle. He took aim. Shot. Took aim again. This time his M-16 locked up.
Middleton, who will leave for Iraq again this month, said M-16s are accurate but difficult to use. "If there is one thing I would have changed, it would be the choice of having a fully automatic weapon."
Nordhoff said the M-16s are too big. "They are from right after the Vietnam war. They are so huge, and it is difficult to clear a building using them." 
Military equipment 'just junk,' some say
He explained that to shoot an M-16 a soldier has to hold the weapon against his face. That puts the trigger at arm's length. It is inconvenient to use. "Especially when we have to look around corners, run and shoot."
Both Marines said the weapons needed cleaning a lot because of sand from sandstorms or even from just being put down on desert floor. They lock up or simply will not work, Nordhoff said. "We had to clean them a few times a day."
For the military, Major Nathaniel Fahy, media officer at the headquarters of the Marine Corps in the Pentagon, disagreed that there are problems with the M-16s.
"The M-16 service rifle is a highly effective and accurate weapon that's been in the Marine Corps inventory since Vietnam, and it has proven itself time and again on the battlefield," Fahy said.
He added that the M-16 will jam if not cleaned regularly.
Beyond the Humvee and M-16 troubles, the two Marines reported troubles with their smaller gear.
Only two out of nearly 20 people in Nordhoff's convoy had access to flak jackets with small arms protective insert plates, while the others had flak jackets from Vietnam or the first Gulf War.
SAPI plates are metal plates that slide into the new vests to stop 7.62mm bullets from Iraqi AK47s, Nordhoff said. Middleton said everyone in his unit had SAPI plates because they were in Baghdad.
Nordhoff spent $200 of his own money to buy goggles and knives.
"It would be difficult to stay even for a day in Iraq without goggles because of the numerous sandstorms. They did not give us goggles," he said.
Middleton too spent $300 on goggles, knives and a few other things.
For the military, Amy Malugani, a first lieutenant and media officer at Camp Pendleton, said sometimes Marines will need to buy their own gear.
"It is possible that the first time we went into Iraq, some of the Marines did not have goggles and a few of them may not have had SAPI plates," Malugani said. Marines have to purchase their own knives, she added.
Military equipment 'just junk,' some say
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