Mideast Stars and Stripes
March 11, 2008 By Jeff Schogol, Stars and Stripes
ARLINGTON, Va. - After indicating the Army might need fewer Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles than originally planned, service officials now want more.
Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell on Monday said the Army has asked for 12,000 Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles, 2,000 more than the service has been allocated so far.
So far, the Defense Department has delivered 3,432 MRAPs to the U.S. Central Command theater, of which 2,611 are in use, Morell said. Defense Secretary Robert Gates has not yet decided on the Army's latest request for the vehicles, but the issue is expected to come up at a meeting of the Defense Department's MRAP task force on Wednesday.
Not long ago, it looked like the military was falling out of love with the MRAP.
In November, the Marine Corps lowered its request for the vehicles from 3,700 to 2,300, citing improved security in western Iraq and limitations with where MRAP vehicles can operate. Shortly afterwards, Lt. Gen. Raymond Odierno, then head of Multi-National Corps-Iraq, said the Army would need fewer MRAP vehicles in Iraq after the troop buildup known as the "surge" drew down.
But military officials confirmed that last month the Joint Requirements Council validated the Army's request for between 10,433 and 15,884 MRAP vehicles, with a near-term need of 11,953 vehicles.
Asked why the Army had requested more MRAP vehicles, not fewer, Morrell said the Army has taken "more time than most given its size and given the burdens it is now dealing with" to determine its immediate and long-term needs for the vehicles.
"They still have not pegged the exact number, but as it is, they have revised it upwards and we are shooting for 12,000 as the Army number, that could still change based on what the commanders are telling us," Morrell said.
The Army initially wanted only 2,500 MRAP vehicles, but in 2007 MNC-I requested 17,700 of the vehicles to replace all of the Army's up-armored Humvees.
In September, Morrell announced that the Army had been allocated 10,000 MRAP vehicles after the Joint Chiefs of Staff conducted a "closer evaluation" of each service's MRAP needs.
