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Stryker mascot gets more bark and bite

Dec-28-2004 » Filed Under: 172nd SBCT

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By BETH IPSEN, Staff Writer

The 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team has shed its "Snow Hawk" mascot in favor of the "Arctic Wolves."

The change was made to reflect the new look and mission of the unit--sleek, fast and lethal.

"We just felt that the Arctic Wolves was more in line with our future of transformation," said Col. Mike Shields, commander of the 172nd since July. "They hunt as a pack, never leave a comrade, hunt and commute over extended distances--in Alaska over 1,000 miles--survive in darkness and six or seven months of extreme cold weather, and hunt and kill any prey that they run into."

The roughly 4,000-member brigade--stationed predominately at the Fort Wainwright Army Post with an infantry battalion at Fort Richardson outside Anchorage--used the Snow Hawks emblem since 1998. The 172nd was officially dubbed the Arctic Wolves by the U.S. Army Center for Military History at the beginning of December at the request of the brigade.

Fort Wainwright soldiers have seen other designations over the years that have mirrored the changing units at the post. But when the 1st Brigade, 6th Infantry Division was redesignated as the 172nd Infantry Brigade in April 1998, it once again regained the Snow Hawk designation that was picked when the unit was part of the 86th Infantry Division Black Hawks during World Wars I and II.

They were the Arctic Warrior brigade when they were part of the 6th Infantry Division from 1986 to 1994, said Linda Douglass, a spokeswoman at Fort Wainwright.

The 172nd is the third of six units to begin transformation into Stryker Brigades. The change is aimed at bridging the gap between the Army's heavier and lighter forces and past and future missions. The 172nd is on schedule to be ready for deployment this spring and will be shipping out to Iraq at the end of the summer.


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