Defense Secretary Robert Gates is promising fixes to mechanical problems faced by Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles just as the Defense Department undertakes a second effort to rapidly acquire another variant of the blast-proof trucks. At a Dec. 14 town hall meeting at Balad Air Base in Iraq, Gates told troops that the Defense Department anticipated problems with the MRAPs. The vehicles were fielded under a DX rating -- meaning they were considered of the "highest national defense urgency" --...