Hooley Introduces Legislation to Reimburse Soldiers, Families Who Purchase Protective Helmet Pad

Hooley’s legislation extends the period during which members of the Armed Forces deployed in contingency operations may request and receive reimbursement for helmet pads until September 30th, 2008.

Photos courtesy: military.com

(Washington, D.C.) - Oregon Congresswoman Darlene Hooley has introduced legislation to allow for the reimbursement of soldiers or their families for the purchase of helmet pads, which are designed to better protect the wearer from bomb blasts than military issued pads. Soldiers or their family members would have one year from the purchase of the superior helmet pads to request reimbursement from the Department of Defense. The legislation became necessary after the Pentagon, earlier this year, relaxed specification requirements for military issued helmet pads and began providing soldiers with less-expensive, and also less-effective helmet pads These cheaper alternatives have failed to provide the same shock reduction that the previously required pads provided. Recently, soldiers and their families have increasingly begun to request the superior helmet pads and most have been forced to purchase the helmet pads themselves. Hooley’s legislation would reimburse such soldiers or their families for the costs they have incurred. “Unfortunately, the bureaucrats at the Pentagon made a shortsighted decision that places our soldiers in the battlefield at greater risk of head injury,” said Hooley. “If DoD is not going to issue the best protective gear available to our soldiers, the least we can do is reimburse soldiers or their families when they’re forced to go out and buy the gear themselves.”