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U.S. Army’s Stryker brigade makes new home in Germany

Sep-15-2006 » Filed Under: 2nd SCR

By Associated Press

VILSECK, Germany - The U.S. Army welcomed the 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment to its new home in southern Germany on Friday as the military moved ahead with plans to shed its heavy Cold War divisions in favor of a lighter, more mobile force.

The brigade has been moving into the Vilseck area over the last three months, bringing an agile, flexible force in to Germany to replace the 1st Infantry Division and 1st Armored Divisions.

Unlike heavy divisions that take a long time to deploy, Stryker brigades are designed to be airlifted quickly to hotspots, fitting aboard the smaller Hercules C-130 aircraft. The vehicles provide far more protection than a Humvee, but have less firepower and armor than tanks or Bradleys.

Still, soldiers who have been in them in combat say they have held up to tough tests - like rocket-propelled grenades and roadside bombs.

“There’s no vehicle I’d rather be in in Iraq than the Stryker,” said Sgt. James Williams, who served with a Stryker mortar unit in Iraq between 2004 and 2005.

He said the terrain in Iraq is primarily hills and desert, and that the diverse topography of southern Germany would give his soldiers a good training opportunity.

“This will make them think outside the box a little bit,” the 31-year-old from Bolivar, Tenn., said before the ceremony officially marking the unit’s arrival.


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