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The name of one of the military contractors discussed below is, significantly, "International Military and Government." -- UFPPC's Mark Jensen explores what's behind a $60 million Army program to modernize U.S. military tactical vehicles that Fort Lewis soldiers are currently involved in.[1] -- The story was reported by Associated Press on Thursday,[2] and was the subject of a longer Northwest Guardian piece a week ago.[3] -- Both these accounts miss a significant development, one that's a part of the legacy of Donald Rumsfeld: the opening up of defense contracting to "Cooperative Research and Development Agreements," or CRADAs. -- As a Fulbright scholar at Johns Hopkins University’s Washington Center for the Study of American Government warned recently, with CRADAs, "only contractors know what is going on." ...
1. Commentary BEHIND FORT LEWIS 'CONCEPT VEHICLES,' ANOTHER CONCEPT IS HIDING
By Mark Jensen ** Rumsfeld is gone, but his legacy lives on ** United for Peace of Pierce County (WA)
March 29, 2007 TACOMA, Washington -- Former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld has left the Pentagon, but his legacy lives on. Rumsfeld was an invisible presence on Thursday in an Associated Press article featured in about a hundred organs of the mainstream media. The AP piece appeared on page B1 of the local paper here in Tacoma -- the McClatchy-owned News Tribune. [See #2 below.] In the article, Melanthia Mitchell touts in ludic tones four "concept trucks" that defense contractors have "given to the soldiers" at Fort Lewis "to play with," in the words of "Tim Connor, a Defense Department contractor based at Fort Lewis and overseeing the project." Melanthia Mitchell reported that the vehicles "are part of a $60 million Army program to modernize military tactical vehicles like the Humvee and the Hemmet -- the Army’s large transport truck." One week earlier, Bob Reinert of the *Northwest Guardian*, which bills itself as the "authorized newspaper of Fort Lewis, Washington," wrote an article about these vehicles (there were five then -- has one failed to survive being "played with" at Fort Lewis?). Reinert's piece gave the name of the program involved -- "Future Tactical Systems." And Reinert did a much better job of explaining what's at stake in the program. "'About every 25 years, the services have modernized their tactical vehicles,' [Col. John S. Myers, the Army's project manager for Future Tactical Systems] said," according to Reinert. "'Right now, the concentration is on replacing the Humvee,' said Myers, adding that the Humvee has lost much of its payload capacity and is now underpowered. 'We want to have a clean-sheet-of-paper approach, start all over again and have a family of joint light tactical vehicles.' Enter the JLTVs [Joint Light Tactical Vehicles] turned out by International [Military and Government] and Lockheed Martin in just nine months to address the needs of the Army and Marine Corps." The News Tribune, it so happens, is the publisher of the Northwest Guardian. As the McClatchy Newspapers web site points out, "Each week, the News Tribune publishes the Northwest Guardian, the official newspaper for Fort Lewis Army Base. It has recently received awards for overall Best in the Army as well as overall Best in the Department of Defense." It does not seem to have occurred to the News Tribune that this arrangement constitutes a substantial conflict of interest. How can the News Tribune possibly report objectively on what is going on at Fort Lewis when it publishes "the authorized newspaper of Fort Lewis"? No wonder its reporting on the case of Iraq war resister Lt. Ehren Watada has been so lamentably bad. Perhaps this ethical lapse doesn't occur to the editors of the *News Tribune* because such conflicts of interest are now part and parcel of American life. If that's so, then it's symptomatic, not ironic, that the articles on the "concept vehicles" miss one of the most important concepts involved. The trucks described by Melanthia Mitchell and Bob Reinert appear to be part of a significant but little-reported development in the military-industrial complex known as Cooperative Research and Development Agreements, or CRADAs. Jon W. Glass described how CRADAs work on November 26, 2006, in an article in the Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, VA). Under CRADAs, which were introduced by Rumsfeld in May 2005, "the government and the companies . . . share resources to improve the way U.S. military services fight wars and combat terrorist threats," Glass wrote. "There is no competitive bidding involved." "[T]he research agreements offer companies a competitive edge. They gain access to government labs and soldiers in the field, and they get a clearer understanding of what the military wants. This helps the companies target their research dollars." A Fulbright scholar at Johns Hopkins University’s Washington Center for the Study of American Government, warned that with CRADAs, "only contractors know what is going on. To gain access to needed information, as CRADA provides, one basically has to be part of the contracting system." Seen from the vantage point of the evolution of U.S. political insitutitions, CRADAs are an anti-democratic development which represents a further co-optation or "intussusception" of the political realm by corporations -- precisely the sort of development against which President Dwight David Eisenhower warned in his 1961 Farewell Address on the military-industrial complex. Subversive developments like these seem so natural to those in the corporate-owned media that they scarcely report on them. As we see with the *Northwest Guardian*, media companies are busy pursuing CRADA-like corporate arrangements of their own. Donald Rumsfeld, in his retirement, must be smiling. NOTE: One more thing. Armor Holdings is also the manufacturer of the "No. 9 CS -- Irritant Agent" fired on peaceful protesters at the Port of Tacoma earlier this month. As I noted in a Mar. 13 piece entitled "Hundreds at Port of Tacoma despite Police Intimidation," the company's web site states that "Armor Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: AH), listed #3 on FORTUNE Magazine's 2006 '100 Fastest-Growing Companies List' and a member of the S&P Smallcap 600 Index, is a diversified manufacturer of branded products for the military, law enforcement, and personnel safety markets." --Mark Jensen is a member of United for Peace of Pierce County, and of the faculty of Pacific Lutheran University. 2. FORT SOLDIERS PLAY WITH BIG TOYS
By Melanthia Mitchell ** ‘Concept vehicles’ designed to modernize military fleet get workout ** News Tribune (Tacoma, WA)
March 29, 2007
Page B1 http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/story/6437615p-5736337c.html [PHOTO CAPTION: Soldiers unload cargo as they test a “maneuver sustainment vehicle” Wednesday at Fort Lewis.] [PHOTO CAPTION: A “maneuver sustainment vehicle” runs through a puddle during tests Wednesday at Fort Lewis. It was built by Armor Holdings of Jacksonville, Fla.] [PHOTO CAPTION: “Utility variant vehicles” maneuver during tests Wednesday at Fort Lewis. Manufacturers are Lockheed Martin, right, and International Military and Government, left.] Taking a page from auto manufacturers like Ford and DaimlerChrysler, the Army has rolled out a few of its own concept vehicles it hopes will help spawn new ideas and technologies for the next generation. The two utility trucks and two “maneuver sustainment” vehicles are part of a $60 million Army program to modernize military tactical vehicles like the Humvee and the Hemmet -- the Army’s large transport truck. They’re to be used strictly for demonstration, and aren’t likely to go into production, Army officials said. The trucks, which arrived at Fort Lewis earlier this month, were tested Wednesday by soldiers with the 14th Battalion and the 5th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division. “We’ve given them to the soldiers to play with them and try to break ’em,” said Tim Connor, a Defense Department contractor based at Fort Lewis and overseeing the project. All four trucks are equipped with remote weapons systems, night-vision capabilities, and diesel-electric hybrid engines. They also include ballistics glass, video cameras, and touch-screen controls. It’s that technology the Army wants to explore for future use on aging vehicles like the Humvee, which, although still useful, doesn’t have enough power or the protection to carry out today’s military missions. “What we’re running with now has become antiquated,” Connor said. The quieter hybrid system would be especially useful during combat missions. “If you want to sneak up on someone, you turn on the electric . . . which also boosts the horsepower,” Connor said. Another feature is that each of the new vehicles exports its own power, he said, allowing soldiers to plug into them while in the field. The Army turned to Bethesda, Md.-based Lockheed Martin, International Military and Government of Warrenville, Ill., and Armor Holdings in Jacksonville, Fla., to build various versions of the trucks, or “joint light tactical vehicles.” The two “utility variant” vehicles are comparable to a Humvee, Connor said, but are heavily armored, have bigger wheels and -- like the other concept trucks -- are designed to sustain a blast from beneath the carriage. “The (explosives) play havoc with our unarmored vehicles” like the Humvee, he said. Meanwhile, the larger maneuver sustainment vehicles have a robotic crane capable of lifting 13 tons of cargo. In addition, they have a companion trailer with its own motor so it can be operated independently of the truck, Connor said. They’re also relatively comfortable. “As big as they are and as heavy as they are . . . when they hit dips in the road you hardly feel it,” Connor said. Soldiers on Wednesday tested the vehicles on gravel roads at Fort Lewis. They then used the vehicles to move container-sized metal platforms, utilizing the crane to lift one end of the platform, then roll it on and off the truck. The test simulates supply drops at an airfield, Army officials said. Afterward, the trucks were driven through large puddles of mucky water that would intimidate drivers of most passenger cars. The demo trucks will remain at Fort Lewis through the end of next month. The Marine Corps plans its own tests of the vehicles during the last two weeks in April, Connor said, but then they’ll be sent to the Pentagon, where they’ll be on display. 3. MILITARY CONCEPT VEHICLES TO AID FUTURE DEVELOPMENT
By Bob Reinert Northwest Guardian (Fort Lewis, WA)
March 22, 2007 http://www.nwguardian.com/news/story/6427386p-5728392c.html
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http://www.army.mil/-news/2007/03/23/2385-military-concept-vehicles-to-aid-future-development/ [PHOTO CAPTION: FTTS Utility Vehicle Demonstrator from Lockheed Martin.] [PHOTO CAPTION: FTTS Utility Vehicle Demonstrator International.] [PHOTO CAPTION: Soldiers from the 14th Eng. Bn. drive the Maneuver Sustainment Vehicle demonstrator from Armor Holdings.] FORT LEWIS, Wash. -- Maybe it wasn't quite the Detroit Auto Show, but the military concept vehicles on hand last week at the Strategic Deployment Center on post turned a few heads, nonetheless. The five demonstration trucks -- three utility vehicles and two maneuver sustainment vehicles -- were built by three different manufacturers to help the Army in its quest for the next generation of tactical vehicles. None will ever go into production, but ideas and technologies could be gleaned from all of them. The vehicles, part of a $60 million Army program, had been brought to Fort Lewis to undergo their military utility assessment. "This is an opportunity to actually put them in the hands of users and get the feedback based on the operational scenarios we're going to run," said Col. John S. Myers, the Army's project manager for Future Tactical Systems. "That's all valuable information to feed into the requirements." The vehicles had just come from Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md., where a safety assessment was done. After Fort Lewis, they will be transported to Washington, D.C. "The plan is to have them in the center courtyard of the Pentagon," Myers said. "We really wanted senior leaders to see these vehicles." Before that happens, Soldiers from the 5th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, and the 14th Engineer Battalion will put them through their paces at Fort Lewis through mid April. The 5th Bde., 2nd Inf. Div., Soldiers will drive the Joint Light Tactical Vehicles built by International Military and Government and Lockheed Martin, while those from the 14th Eng. Bn. will evaluate the Maneuver Sustainment Vehicles produced by Armor Holdings. [NOTE: The Northwest Guardian capitalizes the word "soldier" throughout this text.] All of the vehicles are loaded with such bells and whistles as diesel-electric hybrid engines, companion trailers, cranes to load cargo and pull their own engines, FLIR and video cameras, improved ergonomics, fire-suppression systems, and exportable power. "About every 25 years, the services have modernized their tactical vehicles," Myers said. "Right now, the concentration is on replacing the Humvee." "It's still a great vehicle, but it's sub-optimized for the mission," said Myers, adding that the Humvee has lost much of its payload capacity and is now underpowered. "We want to have a clean-sheet-of-paper approach, start all over again and have a family of joint light tactical vehicles." Enter the JLTVs turned out by International and Lockheed Martin in just nine months to address the needs of the Army and Marine Corps. "They look different," Myers observed. "Why? Two variations on the theme." The 18,500-pound International vehicle is the smaller of the two. "We have just different solutions," said International's Gordon Wolverton. "My objective as chief engineer was to keep the vehicle small. It's easy to make things big. It's hard to make them small and still provide capability. "It's not excessively roomy, but you've got enough room. And we've had some Soldiers in here with their weapons, and they can assume the warfighting position," he said. International placed its hybrid engine in the rear to give Soldiers more room in the cab and added four-wheel steer that allows it to drive sideways. The vehicle also has a remote weapons system. "We designed it as an off-road truck with a lot of capability and gave it really good on-road, road-handling manners," Wolverton said. "One thing that we've really tried to do is make it very simple to drive." The Lockheed Martin vehicle is larger -- 25,000 pounds -- and has a top speed of 75 mph. The vehicle has adjustable ride height, a tilt system in the truck and trailer for rough terrain, and a V-hull designed to deflect IED blasts. "Even the seat is designed to absorb some of the shock of the force coming up underneath," said Steven Walker, a Lockheed Martin vice president. The seats can accommodate Soldiers wearing hydration systems and other bulky equipment, Walker noted. "The cab's pretty roomy," Walker said. "This truck actually has a very smooth ride." The maneuver sustainment vehicle by Armor Holdings has a fully robotic crane that can lift 13 tons of material off the ground. "No other vehicle in the Army's inventory has anything like that," Myers said. "There's only three of these cranes in the world. Two of them are on the trucks out there. Another one is at the manufacturer's site in Sweden." The MSV also has a remote weapons system, and the vehicle produces 30 kilowatts of exportable power. "You can power up half this facility with this truck," said Pat Pockrandt, Armor Holdings electrical technician. As impressive as the UVs and MSVs are, none will ever be mass-produced. "It's really about the capabilities and technologies in the vehicles, not the vehicles themselves," Myers said. "It's an advanced concept technology demonstration." (Bob Reinert writes for the Fort Lewis Northwest Guardian.)
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![PHOTO CAPTION: FTTS Utility Vehicle Demonstrator from Lockheed Martin.]](http://www.nwguardian.com/ips_rich_content/616-wFTTS1_260.jpg){kind=link}
