Stryker Brigade on their way [Archive]

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defunct

11-07-2003, 04:30 PM

Hey people. Been lurking for a while...thought I'd register.

My buddy's in the stryker brigade up at Lewis...and he just let all friends and family know that there getting deployed _very_ soon. He couldn't tell me **** due to opsec...but I know the vehicles and gear shipped over on the slow boat a while ago, and I'd be surprised if they're still on US soil a week from now.

Just thought this was interesting b/c some media outlets have been saying spring as the likely deployment date for the unit...so get ready for media coverage and press releases very soon.

Hope they keep those bigass, thin skinned school busses out of harm's way.

It'll be interesting to see where they end up. Hopefully in in Kurd country handing out toothbrushes and building schools. ;)

StarvingStudent47

11-07-2003, 08:09 PM

Good luck to your buddy. I'm pretty skeptical about the Stryker, but hopefully I'm wrong.

FallenAngel

11-07-2003, 09:04 PM

Ditto on that good luck bit.

Student....which part are you sceptical about? The part where it's a thin-skinned RPG magnet or the fact that it's canadian? :lol:

96B

11-07-2003, 10:08 PM

Well I hope that it doesnt succomb to our skepticism but if in fact it does at least they have not been "mass produced" yet and are still new and open to improvement...

admar2

11-07-2003, 11:30 PM

talk about a freakin rpg magnet. best of luck to your friend though.

StarvingStudent47

11-08-2003, 02:51 AM

Student....which part are you sceptical about? The part where it's a thin-skinned RPG magnet or the fact that it's canadian?

I just hope that it was designed in the part of Canada that came up with ice hockey, instead of the part of Canada that came up with Celine Dion.

NcDeuce

11-10-2003, 09:24 PM

I'm curious to see how these new units will perform...the units were praised by Rumsfield and his Chief of Staff...

USMarine3521

11-10-2003, 09:28 PM

oorah to the men/women serving in the stryker brigades

wholagun

11-10-2003, 09:29 PM

I just hope that it was designed in the part of Canada that came up with ice hockey, instead of the part of Canada that came up with Celine Dion.

They come from my home town, so rest assured. The US bought them for about 1.2 billion of so, can't remember the actualy figure. I drive past the GM factory every so often and I see them on rails reading to be shiped South.

Fioraon

11-10-2003, 09:37 PM

ogukuo72

11-10-2003, 09:59 PM

A Stryker is a RPG magnet and a Humvee or a truck isn't? The American troops in Iraq need something armoured - anything that is armoured - not just against RPG's but also ensure passenger survivability against land-mines and IED's.

NcDeuce

11-10-2003, 10:07 PM

RPG magnet

What vehicle/aircraft is not one?
:bash:

jizzmonkey

11-10-2003, 10:21 PM

I'm with 1st bde 25th ID here at lewis (the second stryker brigade).
3rd bde 2nd ID is the stryker unit now deploying, they are going to kuwait for a couple of months and then to baghdad.

All of us have been winging this concept, there is no doctrine for it so we basically come up with it as we go, 7-j is doctrine for Ifc's (infantry fighting vehicles) but these are Icv's (infantry carring vehicles) so the bradley mech-world doesnt really apply in our case. I will say the stryker is a good design and very user friendly, but mechanically we have alot of issues.

jizzmonkey

11-10-2003, 10:31 PM

And on another note, the slat armor is supposed to protect us from the rpg's, but we arent to confident about it, we tested the reactive armor this summer, but there are alot of design issues with it, and its a bitch to install.
As far as AT mines go....well.... not warm and fuzzy about it either, me and my squad will dismount everytime, it makes me feel better.
and I think my chances of survival are allot better. If the iraqis start using thermobaric rounds we are all screwed.

ßå$tÄ®Ð¢HÏ¿ð

11-10-2003, 10:47 PM

well best of luck for sure...as for it being an rpg magnet many canadian troops in afghanistan are crusing them around...if its good enough for us it should be good enough for you :P

jizzmonkey

11-11-2003, 01:29 AM

yeah, but the canadians use the LAV's, we actually borowed a bunch for initial testing, still have them, with canadian plates and all, but while we tested them we ****ed them up so bad you guys didnt want them back, we had to pay for them.the LAV's are a solid platform, less room, but better fire power with the 25mm, the only problem we had was compatability with the c-130'sand as it stands we can barely fit a stryker in a c-130 without taking it out of configuration, which defeats the purpose of the 19 hour world deployment.

Ratamacue

11-11-2003, 01:32 AM

The Marines use the LAV-25 and it seems to be a pretty good platform though they mainly use it for Light Armored Reconnaissance to my knowledge.

jizzmonkey

11-11-2003, 01:35 AM

most people dont understand the money thats involved with the stryker, GM is making out like fat cats. Alot of the testing we did was bogus, I spent 4 months at ft. knox for a platrform test, showing the stryker off to a bunch of political generals, alot of them have CEO jobs waiting for them when they retire to work for GM and general dynamics.
The results for this test we conducted were allready written before we even showed up to do the test.
Thats why we arent getting the warm and fuzzy we all want with it.

ogukuo72

11-11-2003, 01:46 AM

Don't the US Army still have plenty of M113's?
Why do they need to send new and untested vehicles to a war zone for essential the same role that the US Army has been using the M113 for?

wholagun

11-11-2003, 01:48 AM

Why do they need to send new and untested vehicles to a war zone for essential the same role that the US Army has been using the M113 for?

What about Canada, we've been using them for some time.

ogukuo72

11-11-2003, 02:07 AM

So these American vehicles are essentially the same vehicles as the Canadian ones?

defunct

11-11-2003, 02:33 AM

Yes my Brother stationed at Fort Lewis is a gunner on the Strykers. If you dont mind me asking whats your mates unit?

5 of the 20th, 3rd brigade 2 ID (http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/agency/army/2id-3bde.htm). as mentioned there's two brigades of the strykers (more?)

Alot of the testing we did was bogus, I spent 4 months at ft. knox for a platrform test, showing the stryker off to a bunch of political generals, alot of them have CEO jobs waiting for them when they retire to work for GM and general dynamics.

The results for this test we conducted were allready written before we even showed up to do the test.

Thats just infuriating. Someone should blow the whistle on those ****ers once they get out.

wholagun

11-11-2003, 02:38 AM

So these American vehicles are essentially the same vehicles as the Canadian ones?

They were built in Canada, thus I assume they are the same as the ones used by the US. Correct me if im wrong, others will be a in better position to answer then i can. Mabey some US units saw ways of improving the capabilities of the vechicle and added or changed a few minor things, but over all they are the same I belive.

tthiel

11-11-2003, 11:47 AM

The Army has made it clear that the Stryker is a POS. The only people for it are Rumsfeld and his hand picked yes men.

I'm curious to see how these new units will perform...the units were praised by Rumsfield and his Chief of Staff...

obd

11-11-2003, 01:11 PM

****monkey, you seem to be trustworthy so I am inclined ot believe what you say and it makes me madder than Mortimer does!!!! If thats true, and US generals are involved in procuring weapons that should be ****canned in order ot help them get cushy post military jobs then that just makes me sick. They should be getting the best equipement possible period. It scares me that the military industrial complex is allowed to liase with our generals like that. That is a dangerous conflict of interest.There should be a law to outlaw company reps from bribing influential service members to get thier contracts through. Those generals are shaming themselves, the army, and the nation and worse than that, they may end op having the blood of young good American boys on thier hands who trusted them to give them the best to fight for the nation. Instead they may die for some generals six figure salary and new mercedes. ARGHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!! I would not shed a tear if somebody went out there and killed every one of those generals involved in doing that for every US soldier who dies due to the thin armor of the Stryker. Those generals are traitors and deserve to be shot like the dogs they are!!!!! Hang 'em all.

wholagun

11-11-2003, 01:40 PM

Obd, it happens all the time. Armies all over the world purchase arms based on political desicions not on what is best for their armed forces. Sad but true. Recently Poland purchased US F16's the decision was purly political, many believed that the Griffenw as superior the F16 but ......well its over now so thiers no point in debating it.

jizzmonkey

11-11-2003, 03:15 PM

we did a head to head test with the m113 vs Stryker, Stryker wins hands down, the m113 is more manuverable, but lacks the room for a 9 man squad, not to mention has less armor. And its tracked, the army wants to move to a wheeled icv, and we spend a ****load on tires.
And no they arent like the Canadian ones, they carry a squad instead of a fire team, some parts of the vehicle are still made in Canada, and those variants seem to be reliable, but they just started to assemble them in alabama, and those are all ****ed up.
Dont just think its about the stryker, its the way the unit manning system changed, the armies transformation isnt just about the stryker, we have more assets available to us now than we ever did, in the past if we needed a UAV we had to request one, and rarley got it, now we have one thats part of our battalion, we have our own platoon of tankers, 120mm mortar section per company, and snipers in every squad, civil affairs guys, the new rista teams, they are all organic to the stryker companies and battalions, the brigade as a whole probably has more assets than the 101st entire division (not including the slice elements not organic to them). Its all about tbeing smaller yet more leathal and self sufficient.

fng

11-11-2003, 03:22 PM

For more info on the M113 vs Stryker debate do a Google search for "M113 Gavin".

jizzmonkey

11-11-2003, 03:24 PM

its alla bout the "asimetrical" battlefield now.

WARPIG

11-12-2003, 08:56 AM

General Shinseki has been a big Stryker fan. He didn't like the idea of wheeled vehicles out performing US tracked vehicles.
Bottom line is that the Stryker is a first run. Field tested but not really battle tested. Good luck with that ****monkey. I would guess that the A2 will address any new glitches and be a better vehicle.
Hey ****.. have you gotten to use the new ACU's yet? Do they work out ok? How do they look. First pictures I saw of them looked dorky as hell. Better than BDU's?
Give us the skinny. What about load carrying equipment. Climbing in and out of a 113 sucked with the old stuff.. Canteens, Ammo pouches.. etc. Any new changes that we can look forward to?

NcDeuce

11-12-2003, 10:18 AM

I don't see any reason why the Stryker would not do well...

But Shinseki also decided to hand every one and their grandmother a beret. :fork:

Red

11-12-2003, 10:36 AM

stryker,i must say the US military have some nice fancy names

jizzmonkey

11-12-2003, 11:58 PM

my unit hasnt gotten the ACU's yet, according to everyone I've talked to we are supposed to get them sometime this month, 3RD BDE got them allready, I've seen them walking around post in them, they really dont look any different unless you really pay attention to them, the tops seem allot shorter, but besides difference in the pocket configuration. At first glance you dont really see much difference, I dont know, I'll have to try 'em before I form an opinion. The new rapid fielding program is getting us all sorts of goodies, our budget is so high, if we ask for something we pretty much get it. I was light my entire life so I wasnt really used to all the mech stuff. Getting in and out of the strykers isnt too bad, the 113's sucked. We started using chest pouches and that seems to make life allot easier, besides, the you can invert the MOLLE vest and configure it like a chest rig if you dont want to go out and buy your own gear. But most of us buy the tactical tailor pouches to add extra stuff to our kits. The stryker isnt a bad vehicle, and there are allot of improvements that the manufaturer is making. They come and ask what we think about stuff, and they have been listening to our suggestions and making considerable changes. All our mechanics are civilian contractors, we have them for the next 4 years, they will deploy with us when we go to iraq, and thier pretty cool, the army hasnt trained enough mechanics yet for us to take the maintanence over.

WARPIG

11-13-2003, 07:13 AM

Hoooah!
Good stuff to hear. Keep us posted ****. Mech and light are really different animals. A lot more stuff to keep track of when your mech.
Because of all the money pouring into the Strykers, your gonna be highly visible. Be ready for that spot light when you go to Iraq. Press are gonna love you on day one but after that they are just going to hope something bad happens so they can report the "failures."
If I don't hear from ya before you SP.. keep your head down brotha.