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Strykers Earn Praise Despite Critics

Apr- 5-2010 » Filed Under: 5/2 SBCT , Stryker Vehicle

(I think we missed this one when it was originally published last week.)

Strykers fight enemies abroad, skeptics at home - The News Tribune

The 31/2-week Marjah campaign, launched in early February and billed as the largest offensive of the eight-year-old Afghanistan war thus far, was a key test for the Strykers – the 21-ton infantry carriers that were born at Fort Lewis, came of age in Iraq and only since last summer have seen heavy fighting in Afghanistan.

“It would have been difficult to impossible to do the mission we did in Marjah without the Strykers,” said Lt. Col. Burton Shields.

He commands the brigade’s 4th Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment and led about 400 soldiers during the operation. They secured the area and restricted enemy movement so thousands of Marines could lay siege to Taliban strongholds.

Shields praised the vehicles’ network capabilities and the way they move his men across long distances on short notice. He also noted the versatility of the Stryker’s multiple designs; nine of the 10 variants were used at Marjah.


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