Hillbilly armor

Hillbilly armor, also known as "farmer armor", is a slang term used by American troops to describe improvised vehicle armor, most notably during the occupation of Iraq.

Vehicle armor has occasionally been improvised by American armed forces in other conflicts. In World War II, U.S. tank crews welded spare strips of tank track to the hulls of their Sherman, Grant, and Stuart tanks.Moran, Michael. "Frantically, the Army tries to armor Humvees: Soft-skinned workhorses turning into death traps," MSNBC, April 15 2004. In the Vietnam War, U.S. "gun trucks" were reinforced with sandbags and locally fabricated steel armor plate.Gardiner, Paul S. "Gun Trucks: Genuine Examples of American Ingenuity," Army Logistician, PB 700-03-4, Vol. 35, No. 4, July-August 2003, Army Combined Arms Support Command, Fort Lee, Virginia. ISSN 0004-2528

"Hillbilly armor" in Iraq

When American troops first took Baghdad, only the U.S. military police had fully armored vehicles."U.S. to boost armored Humvee output: Pentagon ups order after soldier's question causes stir," NBC News, December 10 2004. During the occupation that followed the 2003 invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein's regime, insurgent forces deployed roadside bombs and snipers with small arms to attack military vehicles on supply convoys and other known routes. To protect themselves from these threats, American troops began reinforcing their Humvees, LMTVs and MTVs with whatever was available, including scrap metal, kevlar blankets, compromised ballistic glass and plywood. They were also officially advised"Bush: Soldiers' equipment gripes heard: To colleagues' cheers, soldier complained about armor to Rumsfeld," MSNBC, December 9 2004. to line the floors of their Humvees with sandbags to deaden the impact of land mine explosions. In some cases they relied on Iraqis (who called this type of armor "haji" armor) to assist them in these efforts.

Some officers in Iraq were disciplined over their refusal to carry out missions in what they considered were improperly armored vehicles.Currey, Richard. "Waiting For Justice: The Saga of Army Lt. Julian Goodrum, PTSD, Hillbilly Armor, and Whistle-Blowing," The VVA Veteran, March, 2006.

Military-supplied "up-armor"

The Army began deploying 'up-armor' kits to better protect military vehicles in August 2003. Three levels of up-armor were implemented:

Level I: fully integrated armor installed during vehicle production or retrofit (including ballistic windows)
Level II: add-on armor (including ballistic windows)
Level III: locally fabricated armor (interim solution, lacking ballistic windows)

The process of up-armoring all vehicles was to be complete by mid-2005."Special Defense Department Briefing on Uparmoring HMMWV," U.S. Department of Defense, Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs), News Transcript, December 15 2004.

As recently as February 2006, the Army was welding additional armor onto the armored Humvee variant M1114 and 5-ton MTV in Iraq."Military is Functioning Well in Iraq," The San Diego Union Tribune, February 17 2006.

The U.S. Marines developed their own Marine Armor Kit (MAK) and began installing it in early 2005.Crum, R. USMC Maj. "New Marine Armor Kit to Upgrade 'Hummers'," Transformation, December 2 2004.

Rumsfeld questioning incident

The practice of U.S. troops reinforcing their vehicles with improvised armor became well known after a U.S. soldier questioned U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld about the need to salvage armor from scrap materials on December 8, 2004 at Camp Buehring, Kuwait.Burns, Robert. "Soldiers criticize lack of armor," Associated Press, December 9 2004."Rumsfeld Responds to U.S. Soldier's Grilling: Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld Tries to Quell the Firestorm Over the 'Hillbilly Armor' Issue," ABC News, December 9 2004.

The question was met with cheers from fellow troops, and Rumsfield's response:

Rumsfield was paying a visit to approximately 2,300 troops on the eve of their deployment across the border to Iraq. Specialist Thomas Wilson of the 278th Regimental Combat Team (Tennessee Army National Guard) asked the question, but it was later revealed that Lee Pitts, an embedded reporter for the Chattanooga Times Free Press, had askedIt was widely reported that Wilson was "asked" to make the inquiry by Pitts or somehow "pressured" by him. Tom Griscom, executive editor of the Times Free Press, wrote the following in a December 10 2004 editor's note: "Questions have been raised as to whether Mr. Pitts used the soldier or put words in his mouth. While Mr. Pitts states that he discussed the armor question with the soldiers, Spc. Wilson chose to ask the question." Wilson to make the inquiry."Reporter planted GI's question for Rumsfeld: Says issue of unarmored vehicles wasn't being covered," CNN, December 10 2004. "I have been trying to get this story out for weeks — as soon as I found out I would be on an unarmored truck," said an email from Pitts to Times Free Press colleagues that was posted by Jim Romenesko on the Poynter Institute website. "It felt good to hand it off to the national press. I believe lives are at stake with so many soldiers going across the border riding with scrap metal as protection."Pitts, Lee. Email from Pitts to colleagues, December 8 2004, posted on Poynter Institue website by Jim Romenesko, December 9 2004.

Several related questions were asked of Rumsfeld by other troops. Some of Wilson's fellow soldiers and commanders supported his inquiry in later interviews. Col. John Zimmerman, Staff Judge Advocate of Wilson's unit said that 95 percent of the unit's 300 vehicles lacked appropriate armor, and suggested that it was the result of a double standard used to equip the National Guard as compared with active-duty forces."Soldiers Must Rely on 'Hillbilly Armor' for Protection: Troops Scavenge Scrap Metal to Protect Combat Vehicles," ABC News, December 8 2004.Schmitt, Eric. "U.S. defense chief taken aback by pointed questions," New York Times, December 9 2004.

On December 9 2004, President George W. Bush responded to the incident:

On December 10 2004, it was reported that following the incident, Armor Holdings, the company producing armored Humvees for the Army, was asked to increase production from 450 to 550 per month – its maximum capacity. Also on December 10, Congressman Marty Meehan (D-MA, House Armed Services Committee) issued a news release harshly critical of the Bush administration and The Pentagon:

Meehan described the shortage of armored vehicles as "a dangerously exposed center of gravity" of America's military presence in Iraq, and the lack of preparedness for insurgent tactics such as deploying IEDs (improvised explosive devices) as "symptomatic of a headlong rush to war.""Meehan Calls for Ramped Up Armoring of Vehicles," Congressman Martin T. Meehan (MA05), news release, December 10 2004.

On December 15 2004, The Department of Defense held a special briefing on the issue of up-armoring. Officials stated that the process of up-armoring SPC Wilson's unit was nearly complete on December 8 and was completed within 24 hours of the incident. Brig. Gen. Jeff Sorenson, Deputy for Acquisition Systems Management, stated during the briefing:

Aftermath

The way the incident was portrayed by some media outlets — particularly that Rumsfeld's answer to Wilson may have been quoted without sufficient context — and the revelation that an embedded reporter may have "planted" the question received critical reaction in the following days.

The incident sparked criticism of Rumsfeld,Kristol, William. "The Defense Secretary We Have," Washington Post, December 15 2004. and led some to question the nation's commitment to its troops.Costello, Tom. "Lack of armor sign of the times in Iraq," MSNBC, December 9 2004.

Criticism

The vulnerability of widely deployed, light wheeled vehicles to insurgent attacks is considered by some military critics to be a shortcoming of the U.S. Army's change in priority toward mobilizing "lighter, faster" forces while scrapping older heavier and tracked vehicles. The Humvee, in particular, has long been considered by some to be completely unsuitable as a combat vehicle.Hirsh, Michael; Barry, John and Dehghanpisheh, Babak. "'Hillbilly Armor': Defense sees it's fallen short in securing the troops. The grunts already knew," Newsweek, December 20 2004. Analysts and critics had raised concerns about Humvees with improvised armor at least several months prior to the Rumsfeld questioning incident. Hillbilly armor has been criticized for adding excess weight to vehicles that are not engineered to support it, limiting their range and compromising their performance.

Notes and references

External links

US Soldiers show off Hillbilly Armor – Video clip from the film Gunner Palace (2005)
Hillbilly Armor – Discussion thread at Glock Tock Forums

Military slang and jargon | Armor | Military vehicles | Military equipment of the United States | Iraq War military equipment

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