Shades of the Rumsfeld era

[revwardoc]

http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?s...&article=70050

Army can’t account for recalled helmets

The Army has recalled 44,000 helmets because they failed ballistic tests, but it doesn’t know where the helmets are, officials said Monday.

“They could be on some soldier’s head in Iraq or Afghanistan. They could also be anywhere else in the world,” said Brig. Gen. Peter Fuller, head of Program Executive Office Soldier, the Army’s center for advanced equipment.

Only 20,000 of the helmets have been fielded by soldiers. Another 24,000 were issued to the the Navy and Air Force via the Defense Supply Center in Philadelphia. Officials from the other services could not immediately say how many of the helmets they had distributed.

The recall was prompted by a Justice Department investigation into the company ArmorSource, Fuller said.

Some soldiers in Afghanistan have already exchanged their helmets, said Mike Brown of the Army Staff. And PEO Soldier is working to get replacement helmets to more remote bases in Afghanistan, said Col. William Cole, project manager for soldier protection and individual equipment.

Fuller said the helmet is not vulnerable to lethal penetration but rather a potentially dangerous fracturing under a worst-case scenario.

The Army has no reports of injuries involving the helmets, he said.

A Justice Department spokeswoman declined to comment Monday, citing the ongoing investigation.

ArmorSource posted a message on its website saying it not been officially notified about the recall and only found out about it from an Army news release issued late Friday.

“ArmorSource is, and has always been, committed to providing products that meet or exceed the government’s specifications. We intend to request additional information and to cooperate in whatever inquiries the government might have,” the statement says.