WASHINGTON (AP) -- A top U.S. Army general said Thursday he knows of no case in which the military's body armor has failed to do its job in protecting troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Responding to a recent internal audit that found improper testing of body armor's bullet-blocking plates, Lt. Gen. William Phillips insisted that the Army provides soldiers with the "best body armor that exists in the world" and protection that also is the most tested.
"And I'll go on to say that I am not aware -- if anyone is, please come forward -- but I'm not aware of any incident downrange where the body armor failed to protect against a round (of ammunition) that it was designed to defeat," Phillips said.
The senior military official held a Pentagon news conference to respond to any concerns that the protective gear could be defective or unsafe. A Defense Department investigative report earlier this month said the Army didn't fully test the bullet-blocking plates in some body armor in early years of the wars.
The report focused on seven Army contracts for the plates, known as ballistic inserts, awarded between 2004 and 2006 and totaling $2.5 billion. The inspector general's audit found the tests were incomplete, conducted with the wrong size plates or relied on ballistic test rounds that were inconsistent.
The report said the investigator's office did not conduct its own tests and so could not say whether the plates were defective. But it also said the army couldn't be sure, either, that the plates met its standards for protection.
Some news reports on the audit described the plates as flawed, which the inspector general did not say, officials complained privately earlier this week.
"We want to make sure that your readers have complete and total confidence in the Army's ability to field protective (gear) to look after its soldiers while they're deployed in combat zones and that, internally, the soldier and their family knows that as well," Phillips said.
He said the Army began implementing all recommendations in the inspector general report two years ago, which is the time it took the investigator to conduct the audit. All recommendations have been implemented and many were done a year ago, he said.
The Aug. 1 investigative report was the fourth in a series in response to a request from Rep. Louise Slaughter. Since January 2006, the New York Democrat has pressed the military about the effectiveness of body armor.
The body armor used by most U.S. troops comprises a ballistic vest with two large, hard ceramic plates that protect the upper body from bullets and shrapnel. During testing, the plates are attached to a clay block that substitutes for a soldier's body. A projectile is shot at the plates at a certain velocity to determine whether it can provide protection.