Strykers make first overseas deployment
Army News Service
Release Date: 8/04/2003
By Joe Barrentine
FORT LEWIS, Wa. (Army News Service, Aug. 4, 2003) -- After "grinding" through two years of training, a unit from the Army's first Stryker Brigade Combat Team flew to Korea for it's first international training mission July 30.
Sixty soldiers and six Stryker vehicles, from the Fort Lewis-based 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division's, Company C, 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, flew from McChord Air Force Base, Wash., on two C-17 Globemasters and then moved to a live-fire training exercise shortly after arriving.
"It's the first time we really get the chance to do a long-haul movement with the Strykers," said Staff Sgt. Matthew Goodine, the noncommissioned officer in charge of the battalion's force modernization office.
The training exercise affords the soldiers the opportunity to conduct realistic training and familiarize themselves with the terrain and conditions on the Korean peninsula.
The unit wasn't allowed to deploy outside the U.S. during its training period because of its congressional mandate, Goodine said. The Army also wasn't allowed to form more than three Stryker brigades until the first brigade's rotations at the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, Calif., or the Joint Readiness Training Center at Fort Polk, La., were reviewed, Goodine added.
After "grinding" through the last two years, Goodine said it was exciting to see the payoff.
"There's pain involved in standing up a unit, so being at the culmination of that, we're ready to go out and start doing stuff and being operational," Goodine said. "It's just a good feeling. When you put that much work into something, it's always good to see it through to completion."
In addition to being a great training opportunity for the infantry soldiers, the week long trip to Korea also gives other U.S. forces an opportunity to check out the newest member of the Army's team, Goodine said.
"I think a lot of the guys are excited because we're part of the 2nd ID (Infantry Division), and the 2nd ID doesn't know what we do." Goodine said. "So, we're getting a chance to go over there and show the folks with the 8th Army and the 2nd ID a new capability that those who are in the Army can do."
The 2nd ID, part of the U.S. VIII Army, is headquartered at Camp Red Cloud, South Korea. Most of the division's units are there but the 3rd BCT is at Fort Lewis. They were chosen to be the Army's first Stryker BCT in 2000 and were recently certified for overseas deployments after a rotation at JRTC.
Cpl. Matthew Sagabaen, a gun team leader, said all the training reminded him a little of school sports.
"It's like in high school football when you have two-a-days (practices) all summer you're just waiting for the games to start," he said.
In addition to the extended-travel training and the practice at loading and unloading, the trip also offers the unit the chance to practice setting up communications from scratch and much more.
"When we go into country, no one is going to support us digitally," Goodine said. "So, we're going to have to set up our own digital network so that we can practice command and control aspects as well. At a whole bunch of different levels we're getting a chance to test stuff we haven't done."
Sagabaen said the training also provides the unit's newer soldiers an opportunity to get up to speed as well.
"We've got a lot of new guys right now, so my priority is making sure that they get trained well," he said.
The essence of the exercise from start to finish is speed and agility, said Staff Sgt. Michael A. Fulmer, with transformation's Plans and Operations office.
"We can roll the Strykers off of Fort Lewis, load them on C-17s here at McChord Air Force Base and have them on the ground ready to fight in Korea in only 12 hours," he said.
(Editor's note: Joe Barrentine is a journalist with the Northwest Guardian at Fort Lewis, Wash.)
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
