(Three Fort) Lewis Stryker Brigade Soldiers Killed In Iraq

KOMO-TV ^ | December 8, 2003 | Staff

[Vetvoice]

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.

[Vetvoice]

How many articles do you have to write and how many times must you tell the Army "This vehicle is unsafe" before someone with courage says, "This vehicle is unsafe?" That lack of courage in the Army has cost us three fine young men without a shot being fired because the design of this top-heavy vehicle causes it to roll over on any angle more severe than 30 degrees.

[RedBloodedAmerican]

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.

The names of those killed have not been released.

Unit First Of Its Kind

The light-armored Stryker Brigade is the first of its kind in the military, designed to be mobile and get troops to the hot spots fast.

The brigade, composed of 3,300 soldiers, is fully computerized and connected to the Internet as they travel.

The Stryker resembles the light-armored vehicles used by the Marines for decades. But the Strykers have thicker armor. And before leaving Kuwait for Iraq last week, the Army installed what's called "slat" armor designed to detonate rocket-propelled grenades before they hit the vehicle.

Computers inside give soldiers a detailed map of enemy positions. A sophisticated gun system has optical and infrared cameras to target the enemy.

Although it's primarily a troop-mover, the Stryker can pack an offensive punch. It can be equipped with automatic grenade launchers, anti-tank missiles and 50-caliber machine guns.

The Stryker team will be deployed in Iraq for at least a year.

[Amerigomag]

because the design of this top-heavy vehicle causes it to roll over on any angle more severe than 30 degrees.

It apparently is also rather difficult to exit when inverted and submerged.

[Jeff Head]

FYI.

[yonif]

The IDF has said all along that the US needs to change the vehicles it is using in Iraq, as per their experiences fighting Arab terrorists and in similar land structure areas.

[Orblivion]

This thing may not be the best off road choice for the troops. But it's speed and stealth will make it hella good for urban guerilla warfare.

[Prodigal Son]

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.

Hmmm. You don't reckon that could've happened to a 113 or even a Humvee?

[meenie]

The Stryker was originally a Canadian system with a bad reputation of rollover. Speed + tendency to rollover = problem.

[Prodigal Son]

Yeah, but how does any vehicle fare when the road caves in?

[meenie]

It doesn't fare well.

[BurbankKarl]

CJTF-7 Public Affairs
BAGHDAD, Iraq
Release #031209a




Embankment collapse kills three soldiers, injures one soldier


TIKRIT, Iraq – Three soldiers from 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division (Stryker Brigade Combat Team), and part of Task Force Ironhorse were killed and one soldier was injured in an accident that occurred during a combat patrol northeast of Ad Duluiyah in the evening of Dec. 8.



Two Stryker infantry carrier vehicles were traveling on a rural road when an embankment collapsed causing them to roll over into a canal.



The injured soldier was evacuated to 21st Combat Support Hospital.



Names of the deceased soldiers are being withheld pending notification of next of kin.



The accident was not the result of hostile action. Both vehicles have been recovered.



The cause of the accident is under investigation.

[Prodigal Son]

It doesn't fare well.

It or any vehicle? For what it's worth, I wouldn't want to be in a Bradley or a 113 or a Hummer in a similar situation. I don't know of too many vehicles that do well when faced with a road collapse and falling into a body of water.

[Vetvoice]

We've had an M113 and an Abrams go into canals. The Abrams went into the canal when the Iraqis shot a bridge out from under it. The M113 went into the canal when one of its tracks with over 3,000 miles on them broke causing the vehicle to slew to one side.

I have not heard of any Humvees being driven into the canals. I don't believe liquor is allowed there.

[Vetvoice]

No, this version of the LAV III began life in one of General Dynamics wholly-owned sidiaries in Switzerland called Mowag. Look them up in a search engine and glance through their 8x8 vehicles until you find their Piranha IV. That is the entire LAV III with another name painted on it.

[blanknoone]

Stryker rollover ping.

[NeonKnight]

I have not heard of any Humvees being driven into the canals. I don't believe liquor is allowed there.

Not allowed by whom? The Iraqis have liquor stores and bars. The GI's are probably allowed to have a few beers when not on duty. It's the American way. When I was in (25 years ago) you could even have a couple of beers at lunch.

[Prodigal Son]

I'm pretty sure we've had at least one death as a result of a humvee going into a canal. If I recall, it had an embedded reporter in it and he died as well.

[Jimmy Valentine]

Jeepers, creepers, this is exactly the story I did not want to see first on the Stryker in Iraq.

A fully armored combat vehicle and we lose people in a traffic accident.

I just want to close my eyes and go please no please no please no!

[Prodigal Son]

The GI's are probably allowed to have a few beers when not on duty.

And if not allowed, Joe will find a way. Alcohol wasn't allowed in Bosnia either but that never stopped anyone. I had a buddy mail me a fifth of Jack as a Thanksgiving "Care Package". Good friend he was ;-)

[ArneFufkin]

I'm pretty sure we've had at least one death as a result of a humvee going into a canal. If I recall, it had an embedded reporter in it and he died as well.

Amercian Journalist Michael Kelly Killed in Iraq

"Kelly is believed to have been traveling in a humvee when it suddenly veered off the road and fell off a cliff into the river below."

[verity]

It is not a f****** "traffic" accident.

[boxerblues]

The Iraqis have liquor stores and bars. The GI's are probably allowed to have a few beers when not on duty

The Iraqi's may have it but our guys are getting article 15's if caught with liquor, not that it stops anybody from trying. The closest they get to having any beer is the non alcoholic type

[boxerblues]

The Iraqis have liquor stores and bars. The GI's are probably allowed to have a few beers when not on duty

The Iraqi's may have it but our guys are getting article 15's if caught with liquor, not that it stops anybody from trying. The closest they get to having any beer is the non alcoholic type

[JSloth]

It apparently is also rather difficult to exit when inverted and submerged.

---

You're joking, right? What vehicles are designed for easy exit when inverted and submerged????

[Jimmy Valentine]

What is it then? And don't say combat!

[verity]

It is called an accident.

[archy]

You're joking, right? What vehicles are designed for easy exit when inverted and submerged????

The Russian BTR 80 and 90, for two, after problems that developed with the BTR 60 and 70 that did not. The V100, V150 and V300 Cadillac Gage *Commando* series were another, as per the M706 used in Vietnam, as well as the more recent Military Police Armored Security Vehicle, a 4-wheeled armored car meant for use by the MPs at checkpoints and for convoy escort duties, cancelled because it might have made the Stynker look bad by comparison.

Oh, and the World War II German SdKfz223 and Swedish PV M 39 *Lynx*, and the current Finnish SISU, the Czech OT610 Skot, and the South African Eland/ AML90. There are others, I'm sure.

[archy]

Yeah, but how does any vehicle fare when the road caves in?

The bigger ones don't turn upside-down, and in this one, nobody drowned.

>

[archy]

It or any vehicle? For what it's worth, I wouldn't want to be in a Bradley or a 113 or a Hummer in a similar situation. I don't know of too many vehicles that do well when faced with a road collapse and falling into a body of water.

The roof hatches of a Stryker- or other vehicle- aren't of much use upside down. Neither the ramp of a Stryker nor M113 would drop if upsidedown, even if the operating cable was cut, since it's gravity that lowers the half-ton armored ramp. But at least in a M113, there's a door built into the ramp that can be manually opened to get out through the back.

The problem for the crew inside the Stryker that went in the water was that its hatches were padlocked shut, and rescuers had to get boltcutters to open them to get the bodies out.

-archy-/- <imgsrc

[archy]

Yeah, but how does any vehicle fare when the road caves in?

The problem arises when operating at night with night vision goggles instead of headlights, a nice edge against the other people. But there's no depth of field with NVGs or IR driver's periscopes, and a pothole could be 6 inches deep, or 10 feet- there's no way to judge depth, it just looks like a black oval.

So it can be real easy to get too close to the edge of banks along levies or riverbanks, especially if trying to keep the upper parts of ther vehicle in turret defilade, with as little of the upper half of the vegicle sticking up past banks or dunes to make a good target for a dug-in RPG shooter.

More Stryker problems reported *here*.

[Prodigal Son]

Yeah, I never liked driving with NVDs myself. Preferred to be in a following track watching those black out drive running lights ahead of me. It was always kind of neat to be the gunner or AG though in the back, reading a book in the middle of the night with the NVD switched to infrared.

[JSloth]

OK, you nailed it & are obviously more informed on the subject than I......thanks for the (very civil!) response!

Later...