GOP senator demands answers after Pentagon finds Army gave Taiwan moldy gear, ammo from 1983

FIRST ON FOX: Sen. Joni Ernst sent a letter demanding answers after a government report found the Defense Department (DOD) sent body armor covered in mildew and equipment from the 1980s to Taiwan. 

The Pentagon inspector general found the U.S. had sent “wet and moldy body armor” to Taiwan to shore up its defenses ahead of an impending invasion from China, then spent an additional $730,000 trying to remedy the mistake. 

“Delivering outdated and damaged military equipment to Taiwan is no way to treat a friend. Unfortunately, undercutting our partners and emboldening adversaries has become a staple of the Biden-Harris foreign policy doctrine,” Ernst, the fourth-ranking Republican in the Senate, said in a statement.

“Make no mistake, Beijing is laughing at, and taking full advantage of, the leadership failures of this administration. We need to bring back competency and strength in the White House to restore trust in our allies and partners while striking fear in our adversaries.”

CHINA HOLDS LIVE-FIRE DRILLS NEAR TAIWAN, IN ANOTHER SHOW OF FORCE

More than 340 out of 504 pallets of equipment sustained water damage as they sat at Travis Air Force Base in California. The U.S. Army didn’t facilitate delivery for two months after receiving the equipment.  

The base did not have proper storage facilities, according to the report, and the pallets were exposed to blowing rain, fog, humidity and heat. 

Of the 340 pallets, 120 were sent to Taiwan containing more than 3,000 mildewed body armor plates and 500 wet and moldy tactical vests. 

The inspector general’s office observed the pallets had “visible mold spores, wrapped in plastic that had trapped water, facilitating further deterioration and mold growth.”

Taiwan authorities spent weeks trying to air out the gear, according to the report. 

U.S. personnel told the inspector general’s office they spent $619,000 in labor and materials at the base to clean and dry the wet, moldy armor that had not been sent and another $113,000 to replace some of the equipment before it was sent to Taiwan. 

The DOD inspector general concluded that between November 2023 and March 2024 the Pentagon failed to follow guidelines on delivering the equipment through the presidential drawdown authority, which allows the U.S. to send equipment from current DOD stocks. 

“Had policies been followed, the Defense Department would have been able to provide Taiwan with military equipment in acceptable condition,” Inspector General Robert Storch said in a statement. “Instead, the equipment arrived in Taiwan damaged and moldy. Such performance risks eroding Taiwan’s confidence in the United States as a reliable source of assistance.”  

Ernst noted the Trump administration approved fighter jets for Taiwan in 2019 that still have not been delivered. 

“It took U.S. armed forces less time to plan, launch, and execute the liberation of Europe from the Nazis in World War II,” Ernst said. 

After a two-year delay, Taiwan in July finally received the U.S. shipment of anti-tank weapons it had been promised. But the anti-tank missile launchers arrived without the proper missiles. The missiles Taiwan was forced to use with them had a low accuracy, prompting it to rethink their combat use. 

The damaged equipment was part of a $345 million package the Biden administration announced in July 2023, the first drawdown the U.S. had committed to Taiwan.