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Taking Stryker for a test drive

Jul-23-2006 » Filed Under: 2/25 SBCT

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By Gregg K. Kakesako

THERE IS a lot of activity behind the fence line at Schofield Barracks' East Range just a few miles from homes in Wahiawa, and all the action centers around the Army's newest Stryker combat vehicles.

But because these 19-ton, eight-wheeled, diesel vehicles are so quiet, it's nearly impossible to detect them running up and down the 14.5 miles of dirt roads in East Range. And because the Army plans a series of connecting military training roads from Schofield Barracks to Dillingham Air Field and the Kahuku Training Area, the public may never see them.

Col. Chris Miller, director of the Stryker Fielding and Army Transformation Team for Hawaii, said the 25th Infantry Division's 2nd Brigade eventually will get 328 of these combat vehicles that can be outfitted in 10 different ways, with everything from a 105 mm cannon for a mobile gun system to a wireless command center.

There are already 59 here, with an additional 39 being prepared for shipment to Hawaii at Fort Lewis in Washington. Each Stryker costs about $1.5 million.

One of the jobs of Miller's headquarters in Warren, Mich., is to coordinate the purchase and the placement of these combat vehicles from its manufacturer, General Dynamics. Each of the Army's new brigades cost close to $1.5 billion, and the Army wants to build seven of them.

"The first Stryker brigade was located at Fort Lewis, so it made sense to keep everything going there," Miller said.

The Strykers are assembled in London, Ontario, and Anniston, Ala., and transported to Fort Lewis. "It's a constant flow," Miller said.

Ron Borne, director of transformation for the 25th Division, said Stryker crews spend the first few weeks at East Range learning how to drive the vehicle.

Once the crews learn to operate the Stryker under all conditions, including with night-vision glasses, the next step is learning to fire its weapons.

The last step is training as a company. That may happen late next year at the National Training Center in the Mojave Desert near Death Valley, Borne said. The 2nd Brigade would deploy to the desert, taking with it all of its vehicles.[...]


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