02-17-2010 06:30 PM
After three years of buying 16 kinds of Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles, the Marine Corps is trying to figure out how best to distribute them through the force.

The Army is facing a similar problem.

“What do you do with the MRAPs?” asked Don Tison, assistant deputy chief of staff for Army programs, during a conference Wednesday in Washington.

The Army is looking at creating task-organized sets, Tison said. About 3,600 vehicles will be available in deploying units, with some remaining at bases for home-station training and others going to the war reserves, he said.

At the same conference, Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Duane Thiessen, deputy commandant for programs and resources, echoed the Army official and described the vehicles as “very simple” and “very heavy.” Both service officials said sustaining existing vehicles and aircraft is becoming increasingly important as budget constraints limit the numbers of new ones the services can buy.

Earlier this month, while traveling in Turkey, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said the United States would share surplus MRAPs with allies in an effort to reduce casualties in Afghanistan. He said the vehicles were available because of the drawdown of forces in Iraq.



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