Free Republic

Stryker base here is found illegal Plaintiffs claim the Army must halt related work while preparing a supplemental study » A look at the Stryker situation By Gregg K. Kakesako gkakesako@starbulletin.com A federal appellate court found yesterday that the Army had violated environmental laws by not considering all alternatives in establishing a Stryker Combat Brigade in Hawaii. The 2-1 vote by a three-judge panel assigned to the San Francisco 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals was seen as a victory for the nonprofit environmental group Earthjustice. Earthjustice attorney David Henkin said the federal appeals court ruling meant "the Army must...

When the Stryker entered service in Iraq with it’s slat armor “cage” (to protect against RPGs), there was some criticism, and some crude humor, directed at that particular rig. But the slat armor did the job, and now Russia is offering it’s similar BTR-80 vehicle, equipped with slat armor. While the United States abandoned wheeled armored vehicles after World War II, Russia kept theirs, and constantly improved their BTR series. While not as heavy, or as high tech, as the American Stryker, the BTR vehicles are popular with many nations, especially for use by police and paramilitary forces. The current...

The U.S. Army’s new high-speed, low-drag combat vehicle — called, dum-da-dum-dum! the Stryker! — is carrying troops all over Iraq. These government-issue vehicles are dodging improvised bombs. They’re taking the battle to the enemy. As a general named Patton once said, they’re making the other poor bastard die for his country. (Or at least making him die for that really, really rich guy shivering in a cave somewhere on the Pakistan/Afghanistan border.) The only problem is the Stryker! — dum-da-dum-dum! — doesn’t work. Not very well, anyway. More than 300 of the lightweight vehicles are seeing duty in Iraq. At...

In Interviews, Costly Personnel Carriers Said Effective in Combat MOSUL, Iraq, April 2 -- An internal U.S. Army report detailing flaws in a new $11 billion armored personnel carrier known as the Stryker has come under criticism from soldiers who use the vehicle in combat. The Dec. 21 report cited problems with the Stryker's protective slat armor, remote weapons system and computers. The flaws, it said, placed troops "at unexpected risk" to rocket-propelled grenade attacks and raised questions about the Stryker's development for urban warfare. But in more than a dozen interviews, commanders, soldiers and mechanics who use the Stryker...

The Army has deployed a new troop transport vehicle in Iraq with many defects, putting troops there at unexpected risk from rocket-propelled grenades and raising questions about the vehicle's development and $11 billion cost, according to a detailed critique in a classified Army study obtained by The Washington Post. The vehicle is known as the Stryker, and 311 of the lightly armored, wheeled vehicles have been ferrying U.S. soldiers around northern Iraq since October 2003.

Stryker vehicles being prepared for deployment in Iraq are being retrofitted with "slat" armor. The fact that they are being upgraded with this armor has given Stryker critics fuel for the fire. The critics of the Stryker vehicle claim that it is a high tech death trap for the troops who ride inside. Yet the problem really isn't the Stryker vehicle, it's the proliferation of high powered yet cheap munitions. Critics should take into consideration that RPG's are a serious threat to ANY vehicle, including the M1A2 tanks (depending on where the tank is hit). The energy utilized by RPG's...

After four months in Iraq, the Stryker brigade up in Mosul lost its first Stryker armored vehicle to an RPG attack on March 28th. Two RPGs were fired at the vehicle and one got past the Slat Armor. The vehicle caught fire and was destroyed. None of the crew were hurt. Only the driver was aboard, and he got out. The rest of the crew (an infantry squad) were on foot patrol at the time. About half a dozen RPG rounds have previously been fired at the brigades 309 Strykers, only causing minor damage. Two Strykers were damaged when hit...

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Two separate roadside bomb blasts in Baghdad killed four U.S. soldiers, the U.S. Army said on Sunday. A spokesman said three soldiers were killed and one wounded in a blast around 10:45 p.m. on Saturday in southeast Baghdad. Another soldier was wounded when a roadside bomb exploded at 6:30 a.m. on Sunday and later died of his wounds. The attacks brought to 389 the number of U.S. soldiers killed in action in Iraq since the start of the war to oust Saddam Hussein

Okay.....so where do you draw the line??? I mean....just how do you decide???? This person did this....that person did that. ALL did as they were asked by their Nation...and yet....some in this Nation are trying to paint some as "Good"...and some as "Bad" based on where they spent their time in the service of their Country. So...where do you draw the line??? The Democratic's are trying to paint one person (John Kerry) with the the words "Good"..based upon his time spent on active duty in Vietnam. They are also trying to paint another (George Bush) with the words "Bad"....based upon...

<p>BERLIN, Germany (Reuters) -- German police seized a 10-ton armored personnel carrier that two men had put up for auction online, authorities said on Tuesday.</p> <p>"The men bought the tank from the Greek army and brought it to Germany. They were evidently looking to turn a profit," said a police spokesman in the state of Hesse.</p>

A change made to the Stryker infantry vehicle has proven itself in combat. The 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division – also called Task Force Olympia after its Fort Lewis, Wash., home -- is replacing the 101st Airborne Division in this city. The Stryker, an eight-wheeled infantry transporter, is an armored vehicle designed to stop 124.5 mm rounds. Critics said the main threat in Iraq is rocket-propelled grenades, and that the vehicle would not provide protection from them. Army officials outfitted the Strykers with what the soldiers call a "cage." The slat armor put on the vehicles in Kuwait does look...

The U.S. Army's newest armored vehicle, the Stryker, is plagued with problems and fraught with dangers for crewmen, say military watchdogs and other organizations who have examined the wheeled vehicle's performance record. Also, critics and analysts have questioned the Defense Department's procurement of the vehicle as well as the Pentagon's decision to build it, adding the military has ignored warnings about the Stryker's perceived vulnerability and overall survivability in combat. According to an analysis by the Project On Government Oversight, or POGO, one of the Pentagon's own testing officials sent the defense agency a letter warning the $3 million-per-copy Stryker...

<p>SAMARRA, Iraq — They’ll probably never write a holiday carol about how Sgt. Raymond Soto’s platoon passed the hours waiting for Christmas morning. The Christmas Eve presence patrol through the city started quietly enough — then someone fired a rocket-propelled grenade at Soto’s Stryker infantry carrier.</p>

The Department of Defense approved plans for the Army to field six Stryker Brigade Combat Teams (SBCT). Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld approved an Army enhancement plan on Dec. 8 that provides for the acquisition of Stryker Brigade Combat Teams (SBCT) 5 and 6. The Army's plan focused on enhancing the aviation, fire support, network, and sensor capability of SBCTs 5 and 6, and retrofitting brigades 1 through 4 with newer technology as it becomes available. The approval gives the Army permission to begin expending funds for the new brigades’ acquisition and fielding. Rumsfeld directed the Army to prepare the...

TIKRIT, IRAQ - A roadside bomb destroyed a Stryker vehicle with the Fort Lewis Stryker Brigade. A scout platoon on a reconnaissance mission south of Tikrit ran over what the military calls an improvised explosive device. The soldiers inside got out safely but the 19 ton vehicle caught fire and burned out of control. "There was a small explosion, and the engine caught fire. The soldiers inside got out and tried to put the fire out but it got out of control and started setting off the ammunition," said ABC news producer in Iraq, Mike Gudgell. One soldier in the...

BAGHDAD, IRAQ - Three soldiers from the Stryker Brigade Combat Team were killed in an accident during a combat patrol in Iraq Sunday night, ABC News reports. A fourth soldier was injured. The accident occurred after an embankment on an unimproved road collapsed, causing two Stryker infantry carrier vehicles to roll over into a canal. ABC News says it was not a result of hostile fire. Heavy rainfall in the area might have been a cause, but the Army is still investigating.

Accident in Iraq kills three Ft. Lewis soldiers By Hal Bernton Seattle Times staff reporter Three soldiers from the Fort Lewis-based Stryker brigade died last night in north-central Iraq when the collapse of a roadside embankment sent two of their vehicles tumbling into an irrigation canal, according to Army officials. It's a sober start for the brigade that arrived in Iraq only a few days ago for a 12-month tour of duty with its armored, eight-wheeled Stryker vehicles. These are the first new Army fighting vehicles in 20 years and have been assigned to combat patrols north of Baghdad, where...

Two email vignettes written by an insider interviewing troops from the 3rd ID. First Email I spent all day yesterday interviewing the members of the 3-15 Infantry. They fought a two-day battle to hold objectives CURLEY, LARRY and MOE. These were each main east-west road intersections along the north-south MSR into the center of Baghdad. The two tank-heavy TFs of the 2nd BCT had attacked north along the main road to seize the heart of Baghdad. It was TF 3-15's mission to seize the intersections (large cloverleaf complexes) and retain them in order to allow movement of the ammunition and...

Reported rape stuns Stryker unit MICHAEL GILBERT; The News Tribune CAMP UDAIRI, Kuwait - A female Stryker brigade soldier reported she was raped, brigade officials said Saturday. The sexual assault apparently occurred late Friday or early Saturday outside a women's shower trailer in one of the tent cities where brigade soldiers are living before they move up to Iraq. Detectives from the Army's Criminal Investigation Division on Saturday taped off an area around a cargo container next to the shower trailer. The CID agents from Camp Arifjan, another Army post near Kuwait City, are handling the investigation. The brigade's public...

CAMP UDAIRI, Kuwait - It won't be long before Pfc. Eddie Love will be doing the most dangerous job in Iraq. The 22-year-old driver from Federal Way and his buddies with the Stryker brigade's distribution company will run convoys on supply routes, where U.S. troops are most vulnerable to ambushes, roadside bombs, land mines and accidents. U.S. forces at first weren't completely prepared for this kind of war, where there are no front lines and support troops are as likely to have to fight as the infantry. The story of Pfc. Jessica Lynch and the ill-fated 507th Maintenance Company is...