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First Stryker brigade proving its worth

Apr- 6-2004 » Filed Under: 3/2 SBCT

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By Joe Burlas

WASHINGTON (Army News Service, April 6, 2004) -- A year after conducting its Initial Operational Capabilities testing, the Army’s first Stryker Brigade Combat Team is fairing well in Iraq, according to senior Army procurement officials.

Members of the Pentagon press corps got an update April 5 on successes of the Army’s first fielded SBCT -- 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, based in Fort Lewis, Wash. -- and the Army’s fielding plan for the remaining planned Stryker brigades.

“The 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division is performing extremely effectively in combat in Iraq,” said Col. Nick Justice, acting assistant deputy for Acquisition and Systems Management for the assistant secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics and Technology. “The SBCT has effectively used speed and situational understanding to kill and capture dozens of enemy fighters.”

That speed and quietness of the wheeled Strykers, compared to armored track vehicles, has earned the 3-2nd a nickname among many Iraqis, Justice said. Iraqi citizens around Samarra gave the brigade Soldiers the nickname “Ghost Riders” as the Stryker vehicles arrive and deploy their infantrymen with little noise or warning.

Citing that no Soldiers have been killed due to rocket-propelled grenade or improvised explosive devise attacks while riding in a Stryker vehicle since the 3-2nd arrived in Iraq last fall, Justice said that Army leaders are very pleased with its survivability in combat. The most serious injury due to an RPG attack against a Stryker vehicle to date has been a broken ankle.

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