Marine Doubts About Humvee Successor Could Prove Deadly (From Forbes)

The High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle, better known as the humvee, has been a workhorse for the joint force since it first debuted in 1985. However, it was never intended to be a combat vehicle and despite numerous modifications to protect occupants it still is vulnerable to IEDs. So when Marine Corps Commandant James Amos told reporters last month that budget sequestration might force his service to pull out of a safer, more fuel-efficient successor effort called the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle, that raised troubling questions. Amos knows that continuing to rely on the humvee in future conflicts could increase casualties, but he doesn’t have enough money to cover all Marine needs and cutting other items could raise casualties even more. This is a good example of how sequestration of defense funds has the potential to get our warfighters killed for no good reason. I have written a commentary for Forbes here.