Arkansas National Guard Gets New Body Armor

Members of the Iraq-bound 39th Infantry Brigade of the Arkansas National Guard will get new body armor vests that can stop rifle rounds. That word comes from Senator Blanche Lincoln, who says she spoke with Pentagon officials. On Tuesday, The Associated Press in Washington reported that nearly one-quarter of the 130-thousand American troops in Iraq still have not been issued the newest body armor, which has ceramic plates to stop rifle rounds. Delays in funding, production and shipping mean the last of the needed 30-thousand sets of body armor won`t be delivered to Iraq until December -- more than eight months after the war began. The 39th Brigade, with three-thousand soldiers, is Arkansas` largest National Guard unit. The brigade`s mobilization will more than double the number of Arkansas troops on federal orders, bringing the total to more than five-thousand.