This is nothing more than a case of someone very high up with a vested financial interest in seeing this body armor be fully integrated in the military for now and the future.
The soldiers were ordered to leave their privately purchased body armor at home or face the possibility of both losing their life insurance benefit and facing disciplinary action.
…a secret Marine Corps report that determined that 80% of the 401 Marines killed in Iraq between April 2004 and June 2005 might have been saved if the Interceptor OTV body armor they were wearing was more effective. The Army has declined to comment on the report because doing so could aid the enemy, an Army spokesman has repeatedly said.
I see the army started taking clues from the administration over how to avoid confronting legitimate concerns about the war. Utterly f*cking rediculous.
It gets better:
"…Currently nine U.S. generals stationed in Afghanistan are reportedly wearing Pinnacle Dragon Skin body armor, according to company spokesman Paul Chopra. Chopra, a retired Army chief warrant officer and 20+-year pilot in the famed 160th "Nightstalkers" Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne), said his company was merely told the generals wanted to "evaluate" the body armor in a combat environment. Chopra said he did not know the names of the general officers wearing the Dragon Skin. "
Hypocritical bastards. Who’s running this thing, anyway?
"The commander reportedly told his subordinates that he "had no choice because the orders came from very high up" and had to be enforced…"