The News Tribune February 18, 2009
Stryker unit will be tested in Afghanistan
By Scott Fontaine and Matt Misterek
Fort Lewis will send one of its famed Stryker brigades to Afghanistan for the first time as part of troop reinforcements ordered Tuesday by President Barack Obama.
About 4,000 soldiers with the 5th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division had been scheduled to deploy to Iraq in midsummer, but instead will move out to Afghanistan in the same time frame, Fort Lewis officials said.
The 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division – the Army’s original Stryker unit with two Iraq tours under its belt – is still set to return to that familiar war zone in 2009. Those soldiers will follow Fort Lewis’ commanding general and the rest of I Corps, which is headed to Iraq this spring to run day-to-day operations in the country.
“Like they have time and again, Fort Lewis’ Stryker brigades will answer the president’s call to serve with courage and distinction,” said U.S. Sen. Patty Murray D-Wash., in a statement. “We are fortunate to have such well-trained and professional soldiers call our state home.”
The president’s order Tuesday would add about 17,000 American troops to the 38,000 currently serving in Afghanistan.
Known for their blend of high mobility and medium-weight toughness, Stryker infantry brigades have deployed from Fort Lewis to Iraq four times since 2003. But they have not previously gone to Afghanistan, where rugged mountains and other terrain vary dramatically from the deserts of Iraq.
Maj. Mike Garcia, a spokesman for I Corps, said Tuesday that he could not confirm where in Afghanistan 5th Brigade will be based.
“With any unit, terrain will always play into where they go, but that’s for the ground forces commander to figure out,” Garcia said. “We at Fort Lewis have no idea, and they won’t be working for us.”
McClatchy Newspapers reported that the soldiers and about 8,000 Marines would deploy to the south. There, U.S. and NATO forces are fighting the poppy trade that fuels opium production and funds Taliban operations.
BRIGADES PREPARED FOR TERRAIN
The 5th Brigade, which is the Army’s newest Stryker unit, was notified in September that it would go to Iraq and had been preparing accordingly. But Garcia said the soldiers will be ready for the new mission.
“I can’t tell you about the individual soldier down to the unit level,” he said. “But the brigade itself knew about it in enough time to reshape their training scenario as they saw fit.”
The soldiers and their equipment are now in California’s Mojave Desert for their major mission rehearsal exercise, which runs through the end of February.
Rumors that Strykers would go to Afghanistan have run rampant around Fort Lewis for months, and soldiers in both the 5th and the 3rd brigades trained for the possibility of deploying to either country, several soldiers told The News Tribune in January.
“We’ve kind of been training half the time for Iraq and half the time for Afghanistan,” said one staff sergeant in 3rd Brigade, who is preparing for his third combat deployment.
The sergeant – who requested anonymity because he’s not authorized to talk about training with the media – said his unit went hiking in the mountains near Snoqualmie Pass late last year in preparation for the possibility of operating in steep terrain.
While this will be the first time a Stryker brigade has deployed to Afghanistan, it won’t be the first time the vehicles have been used there. The Fort Lewis-based 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment has used the eight-wheeled, 21-ton vehicles, though the Special Operations light infantry unit has remained tight-lipped.
The Canadian military has used the Stryker vehicle’s predecessor, the Light Armoured Vehicle III, in southern Afghanistan since 2003.
Cpl. Dave Hayward, a 19-year Canadian veteran, raved about the vehicle’s performance during a 2007 interview with the Edmonton (Alberta) Sun. Hayward said his unit brought the LAVs on mountain slopes with a 30 percent grade – and “it can do more.”
PRAISE FOR THE VEHICLE
The Army boasts seven Stryker brigades that have combined to deploy to Iraq nine times. That past performance is an encouraging sign for active-duty and retired military experts as they look toward operations in South Asia.
Beau Bergeron, a retired Army colonel who has helped stand up six of the Army’s seven Stryker brigades, said the vehicles are already “being used well beyond their original concept.”
“There is absolutely no doubt in my professional estimation that a Stryker brigade, given what it’s done in Iraq, can handle the job,” said Bergeron, a Steilacoom resident who went with 3rd Brigade as a private contractor in 2003-04.
John E. Pike, director of GlobalSecurity.org, a think tank on defense and security issues, said the Stryker achieves a balance of mobility and protection.
“They provide more protection than a Humvee,” Pike said. “They’re more mobile than heavier vehicles. What’s not to like?”
Afghanistan, however, poses challenges ranging from deserts in the south to plains in the north and mountains in the east. The country’s few paved roads are crumbling in many places.
Col. James Helis returned from Afghanistan in December after working in the headquarters of the International Security Assistance Force, the NATO-led coalition overseeing security and reconstruction in Afghanistan. He believes Stryker vehicles would be best used in the flatter regions of the country.
Strykers provide a reliable way of quickly deploying infantrymen across the country, he said.
“The vehicle also provides excellent protection from improvised explosive device attacks, so it’s a good way to maneuver the troops around with good protection over extended ranges,” said Helis, now chairman of the Department of National Security and Strategy at the U.S. Army War College in Pennsylvania.
DEMAND ON THE SUPPLY SYSTEM
An increased troop presence in Afghanistan will increase the need for more resources – everything from fuel to food – and that has been a problem in the past.
About 75 percent of NATO supplies are shipped through Pakistan, often through the mountainous Khyber Pass, but guerrilla attacks on the Pakistan side of the border have forced sporadic shutdowns of the trade route in recent months.
“My primary concern – and I hate to use the word concern – is the flow of supplies,” Begeron said. “Strykers will put more of a demand on the supply system.”
He added that the Soviet Union was defeated during its invasion of Afghanistan in large part because mujahadeen attacked supply lines, effectively paralyzing armored units.
Pike agreed that distributing resources inside Afghanistan isn’t easy.
“Logistics is an issue in Afghanistan not just when getting things into the country, but once you’re inside,” he said.
“They just don’t have that much in the way of roads,” he added.
SUCCESS IN IRAQ CAN BE DUPLICATED
The Stryker vehicle, unit commanders say, is simply a machine that transports infantrymen. The Stryker brigade is much more than that.
“We look at the vehicle just as a means to get us someplace,” said Col. Fred Johnson, the deputy commanding officer during 3rd Brigade’s 2006-07 deployment. “What a Stryker brigade offers far surpasses the vehicle.”
Johnson, now studying at the War College in Carlisle, Pa., believes the structure of the Stryker brigade – it has an additional infantry battalion compared to a heavy or infantry brigade – led to success in Iraq and can be duplicated in Afghanistan.
“One of the reasons why we were so successful in Iraq is because we could put more infantry on the ground,” he said.
The vehicles’ ability to transport soldiers quickly across long distances could aid in the type of warfare the United States faces in Afghanistan, said Stephen Biddle, the senior fellow for defense relations at the Council on Foreign Relations.
While the Afghan government and the coalition forces control Afghanistan’s cities, a growing portion of the countryside is being reclaimed by the Taliban. Capturing the loyalty of villagers means soldiers will have to spend extended time away from cities and larger bases.
The Army and Marine Corps Counterinsurgency Field Manual stresses the ability to learn and adapt. Johnson said the Stryker brigade’s history suits it well for that role.
“We were an experimental, interim brigade,” he said. “We had to figure out things. It’s bred into the culture on how we deal with problems – to be adaptable and flexible.”
© Copyright 2009, Tacoma News, Inc
