The arrival of 5 new armored Humvees is a matter of life or death

01:35 PM EDT on Wednesday, May 11, 2005

BY JOEL RAWSON
Journal Executive Editor

SAMARRA, Iraq -- The five Humvees smell like new cars, the smell of fresh enamel. They are clean and the desert-tan paint is unblemished. A wrap of black plastic protects the cloth seats. Yesterday, soldiers in the 173rd Long Range Surveillance Detachment of the Rhode Island National Guard prepared five brand-new armored Humvees, which they drove down from Tikrit on Monday.

Journal photo / John Freidah

Specialist Sean Judge, 25, of Narragansett, yesterday rides into Camp Brassfield Mora, near Samarra, Iraq, aboard one of the new up-armoured Humvees allocated to the 173rd Long Range Surveillance Detachment of the Rhode Island National Guard.

It's like getting a new Cadillac, was one wisecrack.

Actually, it is more important than that. The quality of the Humvee you ride in can make the difference on whether you live or die.

The Humvees that arrived at the base Monday are the type of armored vehicle the Army is providing after learning the bitter, hard way that the old thin-skinned Humvees were too dangerous.

At least two members of the R.I. Guard have been killed in the older Humvees and several have been wounded.

Staff Sgt. Tim Halloran of Pawcatuck, Conn., believes the armored Humvee saved his life.

On Feb. 26, the 173rd was hit while driving on reconnaissance along a main highway. Halloran rode in the first Humvee. There was an explosion. Halloran thinks it was two 120-millimeter mortar shells set up on the right side of the road.

His armored Humvee was hit with shrapnel and the armor glass beside his head in the front passenger seat was cracked, but he was not hurt. The soldiers stopped and went into a defensive position.

Ten minutes later, Halloran related, they began to move again.

The next Humvee, driven by Specialist Randy LeBoeuf of Greenville, swerved to the left to pass the spot of the first explosion.

The terrorist had anticipated the move, and placed a larger bomb on the left side of the road. As LeBoeuf swerved left, a 155-millimeter artillery shell rigged as a mine blew up right under the driver-side door.

One piece of shrapnel tore through the place where the driver's door meets the body of the car at the height of the window. The shrapnel hit the back plate of LeBouef's personal armor and glanced off.

Both armored Humvees were riddled, the second was almost destroyed, but the six men inside were safe.

THE ARMY requires that every piece of equipment it issues have someone accountable for its ownership. Yesterday, Staff Sgt. Paul Mailloux of Portsmouth, the supply sergeant, and Sgt. Don Busching of Stamford, Conn., the assistant leader of Team 6, took inventory of the equipment included with one of the new vehicles.

A green tarp was laid on the concrete, and arranged on it were items that come with many new cars: a jack, a tool set including a Phillips head and flat head screwdrivers, pliers and a tire iron.

There were also other items that don't come on civilian vehicles: three headsets with penlight batteries, an orange cylinder labeled Water Jel Fire Blanket, and a broad nylon tow strap.

Mailloux read from a document called a hand receipt and Busching confirmed each item.

Max tool kit, combination, hand.

That would be the axe with the attachments for shovel and pick.

Busching answered, and Mailloux made a check on the receipt.

As Busching identified each item, he wrote "6-2" on it with a white marker, standing for Team 6, second vehicle.

ORIGINALLY, the 173rd's equipment consisted of nine vehicles: four soft skinned trucks to carry radios and communication equipment, one large cargo truck and four model 998 Humvees -- the type with a vinyl roof and door panels, and no armor at all.

They were light infantry, foot soldiers, and they didn't rate many vehicles.

When the 173rd first arrived in Kuwait, they were issued 11 lightly armored vehicles. The day before they moved into Iraq, they got their first up-armored vehicles, the model 1114s.

Before leaving Fort Drum in Watertown, N.Y., First Lt. John Fay of Exeter requested 16 of the latest model 1114s; Monday's five brought them to the 16 vehicles of the type Fay had asked for almost 10 months ago.

The new model Humvee has half-inch thick steel armor on the doors and gunner's position. The roof and floor are also armored and the windows and windshield are thick armored glass.

All that protection has raised the vehicle weight to more than 6 tons. Each now has a heavy duty suspension and turbocharged engine.

Each Humvee also has an air conditioner. Soldiers in the 173rd drive with the windows down in secure areas, but as soon as they hit the highways, the armor glass goes up. Without air conditioning, the heat inside a steel box would become stifling if not murderous.

YESTERDAY, Specialist 4 Brian Santos of Kearny, N.J., taped over the reflectors and directional signals on one of the new Humvees. He used olive drab duct tape -- called 100 mph tape because it was used to patch bullet holes in helicopters back in Vietnam.

Santos taped over half the lens of the taillights and headlights.

Then he placed a stretcher on the hood, and tied it down with parachute cord.

Digital Extra: Find more reports and photos from Iraq by Journal executive editor Joel Rawson and staff photographer John Freidah, plus the latest Iraq news, at:

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