The Associated Press
NARRAGANSETT, R.I. (AP) - The Narragansett Police Department has offered to donate 35 surplus bulletproof vests to the Rhode Island National Guard for use in Iraq.
“If it saves a life ... then it’s all worth it,” said Narragansett police Chief J. David Smith.
The offer was made about a month ago, before an incident earlier this week when a soldier complained to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld that the Pentagon was sending troops to war without enough armored equipment to protect them.
“In light of the defense secretary’s comments, we should get the extra stuff over there as soon as possible,” said Narragansett police Capt. Joseph Little. “It’s not going to hurt.”
The Rhode Island National Guard is investigating whether it is allowed to accept the equipment, spokesman Lt. Col. Mike McNamara told The Providence Journal.
McNamara said, however, that Rhode Island’s nearly 300 Guard members serving in Iraq are well outfitted with protective equipment that exceeds police standards.
“That unit that Defense Secretary Rumsfeld was addressing obviously had issues, but we’re very lucky in the Rhode Island National Guard in that we have all the up-to-date-equipment,” McNamara said. “Right now, a lack of armor, be it personal body armor or armored Humvees, is not a problem.”
During a town hall-style meeting with about 2,300 soldiers at Camp Buehring in northern Kuwait on Wednesday, Spc. Thomas Wilson asked the defense secretary why soldiers have to dig through local landfills for pieces of scrap metal up-armor their vehicles.
Rumsfeld hesitated, asked Wilson to repeat his question and then said, “You go to war with the Army you have ... not the Army you might want or wish to have.”
The 35 vests the Narragansett police want to donate were replaced by the department several months ago after eclipsing their manufacturer’s warranty.