(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.

[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.

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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...