A new general, a new vehicle
A new general with experience working with the U.S. Army’s new transformation takes over the Alaska command during a ceremony at Fort Richardson near Anchorage today.
After more than two years serving as commander of the U.S. Army in Alaska, Maj. Gen. James Lovelace will be moving on to the Pentagon, where he will be the Army’s assistant deputy chief of staff for operations.
Lovelace will be handing the Alaska command’s reins to Brig. Gen. John M. Brown, who had previously been deputy commander for transformation in the training and doctrine command stationed at Fort Lewis, Wash., near Tacoma.
While at Fort Lewis, Brown was involved with the transformation of two brigades into the Stryker Brigade Combat Team. The 172nd Separate Infantry Brigade headquarters at Fort Wainwright is the next of four brigades to undergo the same transformation within the next year.
“He brings a lot of firsthand expertise to the table,” said Maj. Ben Danner, spokesman for U.S. Army in Alaska.
These six Stryker Brigades are the first steps in Army Chief of Staff Gen. Eric Shinseki’s plan to make the Army a more modern, lighter and readily deployable force. The most visible change will be the presence of the Stryker, the eight-wheeled light-armed vehicle that will eventually replace heavy-armored tanks.
OCTOBER 2002
Defense bill contains money for Strykers
WASHINGTON–Two military bills on their way to President Bush for signature contain tens of millions of dollars in Alaska projects.
The Defense bill provides $60 million nationwide to transform some Army brigades into Stryker Brigade Combat Teams. Alaska will host one of the new, fast-moving brigades. The military construction bill has $25 million for the transition work, according to a news release from the office of Sen. Ted Stevens.
JANUARY 2003
New force based at Wainwright
Fort Wainwright will start to undergo a change in June as the post slowly becomes the third brigade slated to transform the Army into a more mobile and lethal unit.
The change will add soldiers to both the Fairbanks Army post and Fort Richardson outside Anchorage.
The new Stryker brigades cost an estimated $1.5 billion apiece, but as Army Alaska’s Commander Maj. Gen. John Brown said, that number could increase because of the additional housing that is needed for Fort Wainwright, which is already bursting at the seams.
In addition to the troops, the brigade will be equipped with about 300 of the vehicles the new brigades were named after–the eight-wheeled Stryker Infantry Carrier Vehicle, which are lighter and faster than the armored tanks the Army has been using.
The 172nd Brigade at Fort Wainwright was selected as the third brigade to undergo the transformation as the Army tries to adapt from the heavier fighting force of the Cold War to one that is more mobile, sophisticated and lethal to battle foes that now use tactics such as terrorism.
But it will take some time for this transformation.
Both family housing and single-living dormitories are slated to go up on base, some of which were planned for troops already here. Brown said the Army only builds enough housing for 60 percent of the troops stationed at Army posts; the rest live in the community.
New training facilities also need to be built.
When the transformation is complete, the brigade would be deployable year-round. The 172nd is now deployable only about 30 percent of the year, Brown said.
JUNE 2003
General says Stryker vehicle ready to go
FORT POLK, La.–Instead of kicking its tires, Gen. Eric Shinseki evaluated the Army’s new armored vehicle by interrogating the soldiers who had driven it, repaired it and maneuvered it through miles of pine forest in west-central Louisiana.
His verdict: “It’s ready.”
The Army and the rest of the U.S. military are changing profoundly, and the eight-wheeled Stryker–surprisingly quiet as it streaks down a dirt path at 60 mph–is leading the way.
The Stryker symbolizes a historic step toward the goal Shinseki announced in October 1999. He wanted to remake the Army by 2010 into a more versatile force that can move quickly onto distant battlefields, armed with unparalleled ability to dictate the pace of fighting.
Eventually there are to be six Stryker brigades with about 3,500 soldiers each, capable of arriving at a hot spot within days. That is far quicker than a traditional armored unit built around the unmatched firepower of the tank, which weighs three times more than a Stryker.
Barely three years ago, the Stryker was little more than an idea on paper, and not a terribly popular one.
Inside a set of tents that formed the brigade’s tactical operations center here, Shinseki sat on a plastic chair facing the commanders of two infantry battalions, an artillery battalion and a cavalry battalion. He outlined the rationale for creating Stryker brigades:
The Stryker has superior speed, which allows battlefield commanders to quickly seize what Shinseki called the “Big I”–the initiative. “Once you’ve got it, hold onto it,” he said.
The brigade is organized to enable its command network to keep up with the fighting and support forces. In other words its vital communications links–for intelligence, surveillance and command–can be maintained 24 hours a day across a larger geographic area.
The focal point of a brigade is its infantry, which can advance more quickly and with less effort than the soldiers who are carried in today’s Bradley Fighting Vehicle or armored personnel carrier. Shinseki cited examples from the Iraq war of how dismounted infantry can be more effective than tanks against paramilitaries holed up in a mosque or school.
–The Associated Press
JULY 2003
Stryker plan out for public comment
The extensive draft environmental impact statement for the U.S. Army Alaska’s transformation has been released, signaling the beginning of the public comment period.
The normal 30 days required for the comment period was lengthened to 45, said Army Alaska spokesman Maj. Ben Danner. It runs from July 11 through Sept. 8.
There are three meetings scheduled to take public comment. The first is at Z.J. Loussac Library in Anchorage Aug. 12, the second at the Carlson Center in Fairbanks Aug. 13, and the third is at Jarvis West Office Building in Delta Junction Aug. 14. All meetings will run from noon to 8 p.m.
The two-volume compilation begins with a nine-page summary that identifies the need, describes the alternatives that were scrutinized and gives a brief synopsis of environmental consequences.
Otherwise, readers can look through the 2,000 pages that detail everything from ecosystems and human cultural resources on Army land in Alaska to expected effects on traffic.
AUGUST 2003
New training site goes up in Anchorage
ANCHORAGE–There’s a new 1,800-square-foot house going up at Fort Richardson, but the Army doesn’t expect any permanent tenants.
By next June, bullets will be whizzing inside as soldiers use the seven-room “shoot house” to learn how to clear a building of enemy combatants.
Army officials Tuesday showed off new training facilities for the incoming Stryker Brigade to demonstrate why they’re ramping up security. Trails on Army land leading from the east Anchorage neighborhood of Muldoon bring bikers, skiers and berry pickers dangerously close to new shooting ranges.
Among the other training facilities under construction: an urban assault course down a simulated city street, an underground sewer system, complete with lifelike odors, and a breach facility, where soldiers train to enter a building some way other than the door–with explosives.
Also under construction is an “after-action review” complex, where soldiers and trainers can review video recordings of some exercises and discuss what could have gone better.
–The Associated Press
SEPTEMBER 2003
Stryker vehicles bring safety concerns
Convoys of eight-wheeled Stryker Brigade vehicles rumbling down the highways of Alaska have raised concerns about safety and road damage.
As the U.S. Army Alaska prepares to transform its infantry, the city of Delta Junction and the state Department of Transportation & Public Facilities point to the need for new passing lanes on the Richardson Highway.
This, along with other concerns, was listed in their official comments on the draft environmental impact statement regarding the 172nd Infantry Brigade’s transformation to a Stryker Brigade. Comments were due Tuesday.
The change is expected to increase traffic en route to Donnelly Training Area–the military lands that surround Fort Greely Army Garrison–from 47 percent to 131 percent, according to figures in the draft impact statement.
OCTOBER 2003
Washington Strykers go for combat
TACOMA, Wash.–After three years of hurried development, the Army’s newest combat vehicles are one ocean ride away from their first combat test.
On Friday, the 3rd Brigade of the 2nd Infantry Division began rolling their eight-wheeled Stryker troop carriers onto transport ships–the Military Sealift Command’s Sisler and USNS Shugart–bound for Kuwait.
–The Associated Press
Joint deployment center opens
Eielson Air Force Base unveiled a new facility that will streamline the process Interior military forces undergo before they board a plane for deployments, base officials said Friday.
The joint military center, named because it will be utilized by both Fort Wainwright soldiers and Eielson airmen, cost $22.5 million to build.
“That’s a lot of taxpayers’ money put into this facility,” said Col. Jan-Marc Jouas, commander of the 354th Wing, at a ribbon cutting ceremony Friday morning. “I can guarantee the taxpayers out here that we’re going to make very good use of it.”
MAY 2004
Army construction jumps for brigade
The Army is gearing up for the deployment of the Stryker brigade, which will bring about 2,400 troops and their families to Alaska. The Corps of Engineers is overseeing the construction of several housing and barracks projects for these new troops.
Plans for the next two years include housing for 140 families and barracks for 144 troops at Fort Wainwright. Other housing units are planned at Fort Richardson in Anchorage and at Eielson Air Force Base in Fairbanks.
Another big boost in the Corps budget came from the $178 million Bassett Army Replacement Hospital at Fort Wainwright. Construction on this 269,000-square-foot facility started four years ago and should be completed by November 2005.
Other military projects include a $28.5 million Alert Holding Area at Fort Wainwright that will allow troops to inspect and weigh vehicles, a $14 million Joint Security Forces Complex that will combine security forces operations for the Air National Guard and active duty members, and a $12.5 million community center at Fort Richardson.
UAVs join Strykers
ANCHORAGE–Tipping the scales at 350 pounds, the Army Shadow 200 is slightly lighter than beefy Chicago Bears’ offensive lineman Aaron Gibson. That’s pretty small for an airplane.
The Shadow 200 is a pilotless plane that has been used on spy missions in Iraq since arriving there a year ago. Now it’s finding a home base in Alaska and other posts as unmanned aerial vehicles play an increasingly important role in the U.S. military.
“They’re one more way of scouting an area, one more tool,” said Lt. Col. Richard Williams, commander of the unit in charge of the Shadows at Fort Wainwright, where the UAVs and relevant equipment will be based after they arrive in late July. Plans also call for exercises around forts Richardson and Greely.
Relatively small and light, the Shadow is easily disassembled for transport to almost anywhere on the planet. It has a 13-foot wing span–about twice that of a bald eagle–and measures only 11 feet long.
In Alaska, four Shadows will join the 172nd Stryker Brigade’s arsenal of war tools. They are among nine four-plane Shadow systems headed to posts in the United States and abroad this year.
Twenty-two soldiers currently training at Fort Huachuca, Ariz., will be assigned to UAV duties within the 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat team. The brigade–expected to be fully operational by May 2005–is among the high-tech, versatile units being developed for quick deployment around the world.
–The Associated Press
JUNE 2004
Army, Delta settle training range dispute
WASHINGTON–The Army will do a full environmental impact statement on new training ranges it previously had proposed to locate near Delta Junction.
The announcement comes about nine months after the Army settled a lawsuit that the city of Delta Junction filed over the range location.
Delta officials had said that the military’s proposed ranges would be too noisy and would increase fire and flooding dangers.
In the settlement, the Army agreed to withdraw an “environmental assessment” it prepared last year, said Pete Hallgren, Delta Junction city administrator.
That assessment had concluded that the Eddy Drop Zone was the preferred site for the new ranges. The zone is located six miles southeast of Delta Junction, on the east side of Jarvis Creek.
Hallgren said Thursday that the Army agreed in the settlement to start over with a new environmental review–either an assessment or an impact statement.
Under the federal National Environmental Policy Act, an impact statement is a more thorough review than an assessment.
The Army published a notice in the Federal Register on Tuesday saying it intends to complete an impact statement.
“This is really a success story in terms of the whole NEPA process, in terms of getting comment from the community,” said Lt. Col. Ben Danner, U.S. Army Alaska spokesman at Fort Richardson near Anchorage.
After last year’s controversy, “we went back and looked at it all and decided to further examine all the issues of concern,” Danner said.
Danner said the Army doesn’t have a firm date for completion of the impact statement.
AUGUST 2004
Report: Stryker vehicles too heavy to transport
WASHINGTON–The weight of the Army’s new armored vehicle significantly restricts the flight range of the C-130 cargo aircraft that transport it, say congressional investigators.
In fact, under certain conditions, the investigators said the weight of the Stryker vehicle makes it impossible for the military cargo planes to take off.
“The Stryker’s average weight of 38,000 pounds — along with other factors such as added equipment weight and less than ideal flight conditions — significantly limits the C-130’s flight range and reduces the size force that could be deployed,” according to a report from the Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress.
SEPTEMBER 2004
Training center goes into high-tech scenarios
It’s an adolescent’s dream and an enemy’s nightmare.
They may look like video games, but some 700 computers at the newest state-of-the-art training facility at Fort Wainwright give soldiers a taste of war long before they step onto the battlefields.
The Terry L. Wilson Battle Command Training Center is the first of its kind and is part of the $1.2 billion construction that is included in the transition to the Army’s third Stryker Brigade Combat Team.
DECEMBER 2004
Mascot change goes for more bark and bite
The 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team has shed its “Snow Hawk” mascot in favor of the “Arctic Wolves.”
The change was made to reflect the new look and mission of the unit–sleek, fast and lethal.
“We just felt that the Arctic Wolves was more in line with our future of transformation,” said Col. Mike Shields, commander of the 172nd since July. “They hunt as a pack, never leave a comrade, hunt and commute over extended distances–in Alaska over 1,000 miles–survive in darkness and six or seven months of extreme cold weather, and hunt and kill any prey that they run into.”
The roughly 4,000-member brigade–stationed predominately at the Fort Wainwright Army Post with an infantry battalion at Fort Richardson outside Anchorage–used the Snow Hawks emblem since 1998. The 172nd was officially dubbed the Arctic Wolves by the U.S. Army Center for Military History at the beginning of December at the request of the brigade.
Fort Wainwright soldiers have seen other designations over the years that have mirrored the changing units at the post. But when the 1st Brigade, 6th Infantry Division was redesignated as the 172nd Infantry Brigade in April 1998, it once again regained the Snow Hawk designation that was picked when the unit was part of the 86th Infantry Division Black Hawks during World Wars I and II.
They were the Arctic Warrior brigade when they were part of the 6th Infantry Division from 1986 to 1994, said Linda Douglass, a spokeswoman at Fort Wainwright.
Vehicle performance passes muster with Army
Army officials are pleased with the combat performance in Iraq of the Stryker vehicle Fort Wainwright troops are fielding as they work their way toward a combat deployment.
“It’s fast, it’s quiet and it tracks incredibly well on the snow,” said Col. Michael Shields, commander of the 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team at Fort Wainwright. “Soldiers have total confidence in the weapon system. It’s incredibly accurate and lethal. It works very well in the Arctic environment.”
However, Iraq is considerably warmer and more hostile than Interior Alaska.
The eight-wheeled infantry carrier vehicles are at the heart of the new brigades that are aimed at bridging the gap between a slower Army of the Cold War to a faster, more mobile and lethal force of the future. The eight versions in production weigh from 19 tons to 24 tons, which includes the 4,500-pound slat armor that was added to vehicles in Kuwait before they entered Iraq.
The vehicle, which is assembled by General Dynamics in Alabama, is not only quieter than its heavier predecessors, but has digital technology that feeds soldiers simultaneous information on the locations of both friendly and enemy forces.
Soldiers from the Department of the Army headquarters in Washington, D.C., the 3rd Brigade and Fort Wainwright’s 172nd held a video conference Thursday to talk about the Stryker vehicle for media at the different sites. The conference was televised on a large screen set up in a heated tent that is serving as the 172nd’s tactical operational center during a simulated combat exercise this week.
APRIL 2005
Army report: Stryker vehicle has flaws
WASHINGTON–The Army says it has uncovered many problems with its newest troop transport, a combat vehicle first put into use in Iraq.
A study of the Stryker’s performance in Iraq found numerous design flaws and other problems. For example, the 19-ton, eight-wheeled vehicle bogs down in mud and the engine strains when 5,000-pound armor is added to protect troops from insurgents’ explosives.
The armor’s extra weight also is causing problems with the Stryker’s automatic tire pressure system, requiring crews to check tire pressure three times a day, according to a report from the Center for Army Lessons Learned.
Among the other problems with the Army’s first new combat vehicle in two decades were:
The weapon system does not shoot accurately when the Stryker is moving.
Troops cannot fasten their seat belts when they are wearing bulky body armor.
Computer systems for communications, intelligence and other systems have malfunctioned in the desert heat due to air conditioning problems.
The problems were cited in an Army report from December that was made public Thursday by the private Project on Government Oversight.
–The Associated Press
Strykers head south to Mexican border
Members of the Stryker Brigade needed training in a desert setting. Border Patrol agents along the U.S.-Mexican border needed help stopping the flow of illegal drugs and immigrants.
When the two sides joined forces earlier this winter, they stopped more than 2,500 illegal aliens and 6,900 pounds of marijuana from making it to the United States.
In the exercise, called “Operation Bootheel,” 444 soldiers in the 4th Squadron, 14th Cavalry Regiment of the 172nd Stryker Brigade used the sophisticated surveillance equipment in their Stryker vehicles to spot people crossing the border.
A soldier looking through the telescopic sights on top of the vehicles can see up to 20 kilometers on a clear day.
“The equipment they have is very unique to what we do,” said Shem Peachey, the patrol agent in charge at the Lordsburg, N.M., Border Patrol station.
Peachey said the Strykers enabled the Border Patrol to find more illegal aliens than they usually do by themselves.
Federal law prohibits the military from direct law enforcement, so once the targets were spotted, the soldiers notified the Border Patrol to pick them up. The exercise was coordinated by Joint Task Force North, which works with federal law-enforcement agencies to provide military support.
About 200 pieces of equipment were shipped. The Strykers were transferred by train and boat, then driven the rest of the way. Other equipment was flown down on aircraft from Eielson Air Force Base.
Once there, the soldiers participated–for the first time together as a squadron–in a real-life mission of defending an 81-mile border.
Army strikes back in defense of Strykers
WASHINGTON–Citing videotaped testimonials from soldiers in Iraq, the Army on Thursday returned fire in a battle with critics of its Stryker troop-carrying vehicle, which some say inadequately protects soldiers.
The Army says the Stryker has proven its worth in numerous combat engagements, although its own think tank, the Center for Army Lessons Learned, found numerous design flaws and other problems.
When the Army center’s study of the Stryker’s performance in Iraq received news coverage in late March, Army officials mounted a public defense of the 19-ton, eight-wheeled vehicle. Some see it as a forerunner of a new generation of lighter, more mobile Army combat vehicles.
Taking its campaign a step farther, the Army gave news organizations a digital videotape that it said was produced by soldiers of the 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, from Fort Lewis, Wash., which spent a year in Iraq and was the first unit to deploy the Stryker in combat.
Another Stryker unit based at Fort Lewis, the 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division, is now in Iraq, using the same vehicles.
–The Associated Press
MAY 2005
One step closer to Iraq
The scene Tuesday at the Joint Mobility Complex at Eielson Air Force Base was a small preview of what the building may look like in early fall when thousands of local soldiers head to embattled Iraq.
The last 108 soldiers of the 3,800-member Stryker Brigade Combat Team at Fort Wainwright Army Post were preparing to leave for their last major training exercise, in Fort Polk, La., before deploying to Iraq in August.
The brigade will spend a month at the Joint Readiness Training Center, honing combat skills during mission rehearsal exercises.
For the brigade, it’s one of the last stops before the real thing.
“This is the capstone event for the brigade,” deputy brigade commander Lt. Col. Gregory Parrish said. “This is the big scrimmage.”
The brigade is one of the largest troop units to train at the JRTC, a training center that closely replicates conditions and situations encountered in Iraq. Parrish said the first half of training will be spent focusing on smaller unit preparations, such as convoy exercises and other situations the brigade couldn’t train for in Alaska. The second half of training will detail mission readiness exercises, such as contact with opposing forces, finding and isolating insurgent cells, and rebuilding efforts.
The soldiers leaving Tuesday were expected in Louisiana by 5 p.m., where they met the rest of the brigade, more than 290 Stryker vehicles, 980 additional wheeled vehicles and 18 tractor-trailers of other equipment, from office supplies to quarts of oil.
Stryker soldiers get battlefield, cultural training
Patrolling an Iraqi village whose residents were wary of U.S. troops, 1st Lt. Jeremiah Ellis approached a group of villagers and with a few words of Arabic and the help of a translator started a conversation.
The villagers were impressed with the Stryker Brigade member’s Arabic and even more so with his penmanship of the language, which values elaborate and elegant script. He wrote “May your hand be blessed” on the hand of one of the villagers.
“I told them I wanted them to be blessed and have a hand in taking control of their Iraq,” Ellis said.
Ellis is practicing walking a fine line in Iraq’s culturally complex battlefield. He has a military objective to stabilize the country, but must also bridge a cultural gap so that his peace efforts don’t offend his hosts.
The U.S. military has made cultural training for troops nearly as important as firearms and battlefield training. Most military personnel consider the Joint Forces Training Center at Fort Polk in central Louisiana the premier training facility for troops preparing to deploy to Iraq.
Ellis, along with the rest of the 3,800-member 172 Stryker Brigade Combat Team from Forts Wainwright and Richardson spent the month of May at JRTC in preparation for deployment this fall. There, soldiers trained for the cultural and military challenges they will face.