WikiLeaks: ESAPIs Work

Found this interesting tidbit in the WikiLeaks docs that will be music to any deployer's ear. Everyone in the zone worries, even when walking around the FOB or COP to the chow hall, that this kind of thing could happen. It's good to know that these things work.

TIMELINE: AT 041145JUNE08 A US SOLDIER TOWER GUARD FROM THE NY NATIONAL GUARD WAS SHOT IN THE CHEST AT CAMP CLARK; BULLET DID NOT GO THROUGH THE VEST; SM IS OK.

FRIENDLY FOLLOW UP:
CAMP CLARK SECURITY POSTURE IS CURRENTLY "BLACK" (FULL COMBAT GEAR) UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE.

It's about as stark and matter of fact as you can get; and it doesn't say anything about the caliber of the round, how far away the shot came from or whether it was AP. But the base at Camp Clark is just a few miles south and west of the big Army base at Salerno in Khost and is close to well supplied insurgent lines coming in from Pakistan just a few miles to the east.

While it only took one penetration of an earlier armor plate by an AP round in Iraq to prompt the Pentagon to adopt the Enhanced Small Arms Protective Plate several years ago -- which can stop the most prolific armor-piercing rounds, it's unclear whether the threat from AP rounds justified the billions spent on re-armoring everyone.

Until you read something like this....

We always hear from the services that "our body armor saves lives" but rarely hear specific examples of it. Thanks to WikiLeaks, we know of at least one New York Guardsman who owes his life to Kevlar, Spectra and Boron Carbide.

Story Continues