Fairbanks Daily News-Miner
Friday, December 10, 2004

Stryker vehicle performance passes muster with Army

By BETH IPSEN, Staff Writer

Army officials are pleased with the combat performance in Iraq of the Stryker vehicle Fort Wainwright troops are fielding as they work their way toward a combat deployment. 

"It's fast, it's quiet and it tracks incredibly well on the snow," said Col. Michael Shields, commander of the 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team at Fort Wainwright. "Soldiers have total confidence in the weapon system. It's incredibly accurate and lethal. It works very well in the Arctic environment." 

However, Iraq is considerably warmer and more hostile than Interior Alaska. 

The eight-wheeled infantry carrier vehicles are at the heart of the new brigades that are aimed at bridging the gap between a slower Army of the Cold War to a faster, more mobile and lethal force of the future. The eight versions in production weigh from 19 tons to 24 tons, which includes the 4,500-pound slat armor that was added to vehicles in Kuwait before they entered Iraq. 

The vehicle, which is assembled by General Dynamics in Alabama, is not only quieter than its heavier predecessors, but has digital technology that feeds soldiers simultaneous information on the locations of both friendly and enemy forces. 

"If you want to destroy everything in an urban environment, completely level it, then the M1 tank would be the perfect suited weapon or system," said Lt. Col. Karl Reed, battalion commander with the 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, which returned to Fort Lewis in October after spending a year deployed to Iraq. "This particular war is about balance. This particular war is about insurgents that mix with friendly forces and I think the precision is what's necessary in order to win this type of conflict and the Stryker gives you that." 

Reed and other commanders from the first Stryker brigade that served in Iraq talked about instances in which the vehicle and the soldiers inside them survived rocket-propelled grenade attacks, roadside bombs and car bombs while fighting insurgents in Iraq. 

Soldiers from the Department of the Army headquarters in Washington, D.C., the 3rd Brigade and Fort Wainwright's 172nd held a video conference Thursday to talk about the Stryker vehicle for media at the different sites. 

The conference was televised on a large screen set up in a heated tent that is serving as the 172nd's tactical operational center during a simulated combat exercise this week. 

Lt. Colonel Gordy Flowers, commander of the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Infantry Regiment, said more than 50 percent of his Strykers were tagged by roadside or car bombs or hit with rocket-propelled grenades. 

No soldiers in his battalion were killed in such attacks, Flowers said. 

Lt. Col. William "Buck" James, battalion commander of the 3rd Brigade's 1st Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, talked about a fight Aug. 4 with a large enemy force on the western side of Mosul, the third-largest city in Iraq. 

The Strykers not only delivered his soldiers to the edge of the battlefield, but gave them up-to-date information on the location of the enemy, giving his troops the ability to strike decisively. 

"I think, personally, in my experience in urban combat, the Stryker and the soldiers it delivered were the best force for that mission," James said. 

It's these experiences that the 172nd is learning from before they take their turn in Iraq within the next year. 

Fort Wainwright's 172nd is the third Army unit to undergo the transformation to a Stryker brigade. It is scheduled to be complete by May. The first Stryker unit, the 3rd Brigade, was recently replaced by the second Stryker Brigade, the 1st Battalion, 25th Infantry, to conduct operations out of Mosul. Both brigades are out of Fort Lewis, Wash. 

Shields said he's had daily linkups with the 1-25th in Mosul. That link couldn't be established for the video teleconference Thursday. 

The lessons passed along from the two Fort Lewis Stryker brigades combined with intensive training in Alaska and Washington and Fort Polk, La., will be used as the 172nd prepares for its turn in Iraq. 

When the Fort Lewis units swapped places, the Stryker vehicles stayed in place. 

That won't happen when the 172nd goes to Iraq, said Col. Don Sando, systems manager at the U.S. Army Infantry Center at Fort Benning, Ga., who was at Fort Wainwright this week making sure the vehicle contractors are meeting requirements. 

The vehicles have roughly 6 million miles on them, instead of the 250,000 miles they were estimated to travel per year when the program was first being developed in 1999, Sando said. 

The vehicles cost between $1.3 million and $2 million apiece and they get roughly 6.2 miles to the gallon from their diesel engines. Officials said Thursday the Stryker's operational costs are $12 per mile while in Iraq compared to the $17 per mile cost in Alaska and Fort Lewis. The vehicles were operational more than 95 percent of the time, officials said. 

However, the Stryker vehicle is not perfect, Army officials acknowledged. 

Its transportability on the Air Force's smallest airlifting aircraft has been placed in doubt because the additions to the Stryker, including the slat armor that was added later, have made it too heavy. The C-130s, which are used mainly for in-theater transport, have not been used to move the Strykers in Iraq. The Air Force has two other larger cargo planes that can be used for transport, but for now, the Army relies on shipping the brigade's equipment over water. 

The vehicles also have a tendency to get bogged down in mud. Santos said tire pressure had to be increased to handle the increased weight from the armor. 

"We have tires that are over-inflated," he said. "We're trying to lighten the system." 

There are plans to start putting other versions of armor on Strykers, including a developing a 1,000-pound system that shoots down rockets. 

The slat armor surrounds the Stryker like a grill, catching rocket-propelled grenades 18 inches from the vehicle's hull. 

Fort Wainwright soldiers will see the 4,500-pound slat armor as early as January. 

"The slat armor worked in combat," said Col. Steven Townsend, commander of the 3rd Brigade. "The Iraqis believe it to be electrified so they would stay away from the vehicles. It makes a good place for soldiers to hang their laundry." 

Reporter Beth Ipsen can be reached at bipsen@newsminer.com

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