thedrifter
10-06-07, 04:50 AM
III MEF returns $1 million to fund Marines in Iraq
By Lance Cpl. David Rogers, MCB Camp Butler
CAMP FOSTER, OKINAWA, Japan (Oct. 5, 2007) -- When III Marine Expeditionary Force ended up with an unexpected budget surplus at the end of fiscal 2007, MEF leaders quickly found a great way to spend it: invest it in the safety of Marines in Iraq.
III MEF returned $1 million in operations and maintenance funding to Headquarters Marine Corps recently to help fund transportation costs to expedite the shipment of new Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles to Iraq.
The MRAP vehicles are built with a special V-shaped hull and raised chassis to provide improved protection from mines and improvised explosive devices, according to Marine Corps Systems Command.
“Getting armored vehicles to Iraq is an urgent requirement that’s got to happen,” said Col. Kevin King, the III MEF comptroller. “This is a bill the Marine Corps must pay, and that trumps plasma screens and other less-essential items. We also had our Regional Contracting Office operating essentially at capacity with existing contract requests without dropping another million dollars on them at the 11th hour.”
III MEF received $4.6 million in late fiscal year 2007 as reimbursement for money spent on Joint Chiefs of Staff and Pacific Command-directed exercises.
“We weighed several options, but it came down to executing against an identified Global War on Terrorism bill vs. identifying new requirements and quite possibly being unable to obligate those funds, certainly not on anything as important as the MRAPs. This issue was discussed with the MEF CG and Chief of Staff and the guidance was that it made sense to give up the funds for a higher priority,” King said.
U.S. Sen. Joseph Biden, Jr., spoke about the importance of getting the MRAP vehicles to Iraq during a congressional proceeding March 28 in Washington D.C.
“That statement that these MRAPs provide four to five times more protection than up-armored Humvees is not my estimate,” Biden said. “That is the judgment of our military leaders.”
Biden added that Gen. James Conway, Commandant of the Marine Corps, wrote a message March 1 to Gen. Peter Pace, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the time, discussing his requirements to have MRAP vehicles in Iraq.
“Multi-National Forces – West estimates that the use of the MRAP could reduce the casualties in vehicles due to (improvised explosive device) attacks by as much as 80 percent,” he said.
III MEF is scheduled to receive five of the MRAP vehicles for training purposes in the near future.
Ellie
By Lance Cpl. David Rogers, MCB Camp Butler
CAMP FOSTER, OKINAWA, Japan (Oct. 5, 2007) -- When III Marine Expeditionary Force ended up with an unexpected budget surplus at the end of fiscal 2007, MEF leaders quickly found a great way to spend it: invest it in the safety of Marines in Iraq.
III MEF returned $1 million in operations and maintenance funding to Headquarters Marine Corps recently to help fund transportation costs to expedite the shipment of new Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles to Iraq.
The MRAP vehicles are built with a special V-shaped hull and raised chassis to provide improved protection from mines and improvised explosive devices, according to Marine Corps Systems Command.
“Getting armored vehicles to Iraq is an urgent requirement that’s got to happen,” said Col. Kevin King, the III MEF comptroller. “This is a bill the Marine Corps must pay, and that trumps plasma screens and other less-essential items. We also had our Regional Contracting Office operating essentially at capacity with existing contract requests without dropping another million dollars on them at the 11th hour.”
III MEF received $4.6 million in late fiscal year 2007 as reimbursement for money spent on Joint Chiefs of Staff and Pacific Command-directed exercises.
“We weighed several options, but it came down to executing against an identified Global War on Terrorism bill vs. identifying new requirements and quite possibly being unable to obligate those funds, certainly not on anything as important as the MRAPs. This issue was discussed with the MEF CG and Chief of Staff and the guidance was that it made sense to give up the funds for a higher priority,” King said.
U.S. Sen. Joseph Biden, Jr., spoke about the importance of getting the MRAP vehicles to Iraq during a congressional proceeding March 28 in Washington D.C.
“That statement that these MRAPs provide four to five times more protection than up-armored Humvees is not my estimate,” Biden said. “That is the judgment of our military leaders.”
Biden added that Gen. James Conway, Commandant of the Marine Corps, wrote a message March 1 to Gen. Peter Pace, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the time, discussing his requirements to have MRAP vehicles in Iraq.
“Multi-National Forces – West estimates that the use of the MRAP could reduce the casualties in vehicles due to (improvised explosive device) attacks by as much as 80 percent,” he said.
III MEF is scheduled to receive five of the MRAP vehicles for training purposes in the near future.
Ellie