Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington - Department of Defense

Hypothetical? The Department of Defense thinks it's "hypothetical" that substandard helmets could endanger U.S. soldiers

crew — Tue, 20 May 2008 16:31:38 -0500

From CREW's vantage point, a very disturbing pattern is emerging regarding the safety and care of U.S. soldiers and veterans.

Last week, CREW and VoteVets released an e-mail obtained from a Veterans Affairs (VA) employee directing VA staff to refrain from diagnosing soldiers and veterans with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

For the past couple months, we've been trying to get to the bottom of the scandal involving the manufacture of substandard helmets for U.S. soldiers.

This week, CREW received a response to its Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request filed on March 5, 2008 with the Department of Defense (DoD) seeking information regarding a $74 million contract awarded to Sioux Manufacturing. DoD's response can be found here.

DoD denied CREW's request for expedited processing and deferred a decision on a waiver of all processing fees under the FOIA. We were told "Expedited processing cannot be granted based on a hypothetical situation."

The "hypothetical situation" relates to the manufacture of substandard helmets for U.S. soldiers. The records sought by CREW are likely to shed light on how and why Sioux Manufacturing has been awarded multiple contracts by the Department of Defense for the manufacture of Kevlar, including a $74 million dollar contract just 12 days before the company settled a lawsuit alleging that Sioux had supplied substandard Kevlar for use in up to 2.2 million helmets for the military.

Anne Weismann, CREW’s chief counsel put it pretty clearly:

It is hard to imagine that the Department of Defense is actually arguing it is merely “hypothetical” that substandard helmets might endanger our soldiers' lives.

VoteVets.Org supports CREW's demand for investigation of contract to maker of faulty helmets

crew — Thu, 7 Feb 2008 11:48:03 -0600

Yesterday, CREW demanded for an investigation of a $74 million contract awarded to Sioux Manufacturing -- after the company was fined for providing faulty helmets to U.S. soldiers. Our letter to the Chairs and Ranking members of the House and Senate Armed Services Committees can be found here. Melanie Sloan also expressed our outrage.

Outrage is the only reasoned response to learning that the Department of Defense is its responsibility to do its best to protect our troops. This is a situation that cries out for Congressional oversight and we hope we can count on you to immediate investigate this appalling turn of events.

That outrage is shared by veterans. Today, Jon Soltz of VoteVets.Org announced his support for CREW's demand for an investigation of the contract:

Thankfully, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) has taken up the case and written to Congress to investigate this matter. We at VoteVets.org fully support their call for an investigation, and we'll be doing more in the coming days to support their efforts.

There have been many, many things wrong with how the wars have been waged. I don't think I need to go through a litany of them. But, to me, there is no issue more tragic than how Donald "The Army You Have" Rumsfeld, and this administration have been absolutely and totally irresponsible - indeed wreckless - in how they go about protecting our troops at the most basic levels, from body armor, to Humvee armor, and now, to helmets.

CREW demands investigation of $74 million contract given to company fined for providing faulty helmets to US troops

crew — Wed, 6 Feb 2008 16:03:11 -0600

Today, CREW sent a letter to the House and Senate Armed Services Committees requesting an investigation into a Department of Defense $74 million contract awarded to Sioux Manufacturing. The letter can be found here.

The New York Times reported that Sioux Manufacturing, which makes Kevlar helmets, has agreed to pay $2 million to settle a lawsuit alleging that the company had shortchanged the armor in up to 2.2 million helmets for the military, including helmets used by American troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Yet, the Department of Defense, aware of both the problem with Sioux's helmets and the company's efforts to cover it up, awarded another contract to Sioux -- a mere 12 days before the lawsuit was settled.

Our letter to the Chairs and Ranking Members of the House and Senate Armed Services Committee concludes:

Outrage is the only reasoned response to learning that the Department of Defense is its responsibility to do its best to protect our troops. This is a situation that cries out for Congressional oversight and we hope we can count on you to immediate investigate this appalling turn of events.

This is an outrage.