The 21st-century jeep: The military's holy grail

Tom Vanden Brook | USA TODAY

The Pentagon's decade-long quest for a truck that can slog through desert sand, traverse mountain passes and — this is the kicker — keep troops safe from roadside bombs takes a step closer to reality this month.

Three defense contractors are vying for the prize: production of the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV), the successor to the Humvee. The stakes: tens of billions of dollars in orders from the Army and Marine Corps.

Defense heavyweights Lockheed Martin, Oshkosh Defense and AM General have until Aug. 22 to deliver 22 prototype trucks to the government for testing. They'll be driven and blasted and tested for reliability and safety. The first contract is to be signed in 2015. The first Army unit will be equipped with them in 2018. By 2035, the JLTV will replace one-third of its combat trucks.

It wasn't supposed to be this way.

I remember being lectured by a room of one- and two-star generals and high-ranking military civilians about the virtues JLTV in the spring of 2007. They broke it down as simply as they could for me: Payload, protection and performance. JLTV had it. In spades.

Or would. By 2012.

The problem, of course, in 2007 was Iraq. Soldiers and Marines died there on a daily basis when improvised explosive devices (IEDs) tore through the unarmored bellies of their Humvees.

Some military bureaucrats could wait until 2012 to realize the dream of JLTV. Marines and soldiers couldn't. Neither could then-Defense secretary Robert Gates. He made the purchase of Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) trucks the Pentagon's top priority.

Gates had to push hard. MRAPs, with V-shaped hulls and raised chassis, were heavy, bulky and not very sexy. The South Africans had used them for decades. The Marines knew about them, even had an urgent plea for them in 2005, seeking 1,169 vehicles.

I recalled that request, and our reporting at the time. Our series of stories helped convince Gates about MRAPs.

Here's a key excerpt from our July 2007 story about the Marines' urgent request, and the deadly delay in fielding MRAPs. A key factor: waiting for JLTV.

Roy McGriff III, then a major, drafted the request signed by Brig. Gen. Hejlik. "MRAP vehicles will protect Marines, reduce casualties, increase mobility and enhance mission success," the request read. "Without MRAP, personnel loss rates are likely to continue at their current rate." In spring 2005, he would have a chance to argue his case before top generals.

They convened March 29-30, 2005, at the Marine Corps Air Station in Miramar, Calif. The occasion: a safety board meeting, a regular gathering to address safety issues across the Corps. In attendance: five three-star generals, four two-stars, seven one-stars and McGriff.



Lt. Gen. Wallace Gregson, commander of Marine Corps Forces in the Pacific, and Lt. Gen. James Mattis, leader of the Marine Combat Development Command, listened and then conferred for a moment.



The room grew quiet. "Then they said, 'OK, what do you want to do?' " McGriff remembers.

He recited the very plan that the Pentagon, under a new Defense secretary, would embrace in 2007: "A phased transition. Continue to armor Humvees. At the same time, as quickly and as expeditiously as possible, purchase as many MRAPs as possible. Phase out Humvees."

According to McGriff, the room again grew silent. Then, Mattis finally spoke: "That's exactly what we're going to do." Mattis' words failed to translate into action.

The urgent-need request McGriff drafted went unfulfilled at Marine headquarters in Quantico. A June 10, 2005, status report on the request indicated the Marine Corps was holding out for a "future vehicle," presumably the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle — more mobile than the MRAP, more protective than the Humvee, and due in 2012. In practical terms, that meant no MRAPs immediately.

A Marine Corps report estimated that 700 troops died because of the 19-month delay in getting MRAPs to Iraq.

If and when the military begins buying JLTV in large numbers, the expected sticker price of $250,000 will reflect a very, very small part of its cost.

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