Strykers conduct first overseas live-fire
Army News Service
Release Date: 8/05/2003
By Sgt. Lisa Jendry
YONGSAN, Republic of Korea (Army News Service, Aug. 5, 2003) -- A platoon from the Army's first Stryker Brigade traveled to Korea this week for training and to demonstrate its capabilities to the international community.
The platoon conducted a capabilities demonstration Aug. 4 for the Korean and international news media and a live-fire exercise Aug. 5 for U.S. and Republic of Korea senior military at the Rodriguez Range Complex in North Kyungki Province.
The training was part of the first overseas movement of a Stryker unit. A total of six Stryker vehicles were involved in the exercise conducted by members of 3rd platoon, Company C, 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division (Stryker Brigade Combat Team) from Fort Lewis, Wash. The exercise demonstrated an infantry platoon's assault onto a simulated enemy command site.
"It's a great honor for the Army to be bringing an element of the Stryker Brigade Combat Team to Korea," said Lt. Col. Joseph J. Piek, the I Corps and Fort Lewis Transformation and Stryker Public Affairs officer.
Three years ago, the U.S. Army identified a capabilities gap between its heavy and its light forces. So, the Army built the Stryker Brigade Combat Team, which is centered on the Stryker vehicles. The entire Stryker Brigade has about 300 Stryker vehicles and about 1,200 total vehicles.
"The Stryker vehicle is designed to be a very fast, very agile, and adaptive infantry carrier vehicle," said Piek. "It is not a tank and is not designed to be a tank -- it is an infantry vehicle for moving infantry soldiers."
Capt. Eric Beaty, Co. C commander, said the training objectives during their visit to the Republic of Korea include movement training via airplane from the United States to the ROK, training in the restrictive terrain that the ROK offers, as well as demonstrating the Stryker Brigade's capabilities to ROK officials and 8th U.S. Army.
The Army plans to field six SBCT's. Currently, one Stryker brigade has been completely fielded and it completed its certification training last month.
Ten different variations of the Stryker vehicle will be constructed, eight of which have already been built.
Brig. Gen. Jack Gardner, I Corps and Fort Lewis' deputy commanding general for Transformation, said that the primary reasons for the trip were to practice strategic movement, and to give the platoon the opportunity to see a different type of training.
"We've trained in the desert at the National Training Center in Fort Irwin, Calif., and we've trained inside an urban area at the Joint Readiness Training Center in Louisiana," said Gardner. "This gives us the chance to take the platoon into a different kind of terrain."
In addition to the SBCT's training in Korea, it was announced that the first Stryker Brigade will be a part of the Army's rotation plan going to Iraq and will deploy sometime this fall.
Sgt. 1st Class Scott Davis, platoon sergeant for 3rd platoon, said that he is proud of his Stryker soldiers: "They've worked hard and this is the culmination of all their training and what the concept is all about."
Davis also lauded the Stryker vehicles: "They're an awesome vehicle. We can be anywhere in the world by air, if need be, and that's something that you just can't do with a heavy force."
Staff Sgt. Aron Alexander, squad leader, said Korea provides a great opportunity to train in restrictive terrain.
"It's a little more humidity than we're used to, but things look pretty good," he said. "We're just focused on training right now but we're ready for whatever the Army wants to hand to us."
Pvt. Robert Curtis, M-249 squad automatic weapon gunner, became a part of the Stryker Brigade Combat Team right out of basic training.
"It just feels awesome to be a part of all this new technology," Curtis said. "It's excellent training and the Strykers definitely got a future."
Staff Sgt. Daniel Allemani, a squad leader, refered to the Strykers as a "different part of a different force."
"We're not mechanized, yet. We're not light infantry," he said. "We're more like light infantry with a cool vehicle."
Allemani said he's been in units where you had to march 25 miles before taking out an objective.
"With the Stryker, you get taken to the closest terrain feature at a thousand meters and you move a thousand meters into it, so you've got fresh soldiers that are ready to rock right when they get off the vehicle."
(Editor's note: Sgt. Lisa Jendry is a member of 8th U.S. Army Public Affairs)
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