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beach.....#100!!
(Juliana Gittler / S&S) Soldiers with 14th Cavalry of the 1st Brigade (Stryker Brigade Combat Team), 25th Infantry Division (Light), stand guard over a civil affairs project in a remote town in western Iraq.
(Juliana Gittler / S&S) Soldiers from 1-25s 1st Battalion, 24th Infantry Regiment stand in the hatch of their Stryker after an operation in Mosul, Iraq. The vehicles agility and security make it effective in urban environments, soldiers say.
Stryker: Bulky Fighting Vehicle is Winning Over Once-Skeptical Soldiers
November 10, 2004
By Juliana Gittler, Stars and Stripes European Edition
Editors note: They rolled in on eight untracked wheels a year ago, one year after being introduced to the Army. Heres a look at how the Armys Stryker vehicle has fared.
MOSUL, Iraq Ask nearly anyone in a Stryker unit and theyll say they werent too crazy about the eight-wheeled vehicles at first.
Something about rubber tires seemed unlikely to withstand the same beating as a tracked vehicle. The Strykers looked slow and lumbering.
But the naysayers have been converted.
After the Strykers introduction to the Army two years ago, and after a year of combat experience in Iraq, the vehicles are almost too good to be true, say those who ride them, fix them or command them.
I was kind of skeptical, said Sgt. David Finney, noncommissioned officer in charge of the ground support equipment shop for the 73rd Engineer Company, part of the 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division.
I was used to working on tanks. I saw the tires and thought, what are you going to do with broken tires? But its surpassed everything Ive expected, he said. Its definitely saved lives. The Strykers can take a pretty big hit and get back on the road quickly.
In October, a car bomb packed with 500 pounds of explosives hit a Stryker in Mosul. It killed a soldier and pummeled the vehicle.
The Stryker was back on the road in six days.
Strykers are extremely durable vehicles, said 1st Lt. Eric James Joyce, battalion maintenance officer for the 1st Battalion, 24th Infantry Regiment, with the 1-25th.
The vehicles heavy armor shelters occupants from blasts and ballistics. Its eight individual wheels have a run flat technology that allows them to drive on after being blown out.
Ive seen Strykers be hit by an [improvised explosive device] and drive home on eight flats, said Staff Sgt. Lee Hodges, assistant vehicle commander and gunner for the Reconnaissance, Surveillance and Target Acquisition Squadron of the 14th Cavalry with the 1-25th, who rode a Bradley in the Persian Gulf War.
A hug across six decades: Pearl Harbor survivor Houston James embraces former Marine Staff Sgt. Mark Graunke Jr. at Dallas' Veterans Day commemoration. Graunke lost a hand, leg and eye while defusing a bomb in Iraq in July 2003.
Inflatable fun: Boys play with a balloon in the old city area of Kabul, Afghanistan.
Thank you US Military!!
U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Sean Barnette, 376th Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron, pulls Sgt. Michael Nettles, 68th Medical Evacuation Company, Fort Wainwright, Alaska, from a UH-60 Blackhawk during a training exercise at Forward Operating Base Salerno. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Cheryl Ransford
Firefighters Answer the Call
Air Force firemen remain ready to respond to aircraft and tent fires as well as overturned vehicles at Forward Operating Base Salerno
By U.S. Army Spc. Cheryl Ransford 17th Public Affairs Detachment
FORWARD OPERATING BASE SALERNO, Afghanistan, Nov. 16, 2004 With safety in the forefront of everyones minds, having firefighters ready and standing by is important when an emergency happens on base.
Four airmen run the fire department at Forward Operating Base Salerno from Manas Air Base, Kyrgyzstan, who respond to most emergencies here.
The types of emergencies the team is prepared to react to range from aircraft and tent fires to overturned vehicles, said Air Force Senior Airman Sean Barnette, 376th Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron.
By having a team of trained firemen on base to react to emergencies, the chances of something getting out of control are lessened, he said.
One of the main roles of the firemen is ensuring the aircraft land without any problems.
We are on the flight line, ready to go, every time a prop-type aircraft lands, in case something were to happen during landing, said Barnette.
While the firemen work with the aircraft most of the time, they are also ready to handle just about any other type of emergency that may arise, said Air Force Airman 1st Class Joshua Flagle, 376th ECES.
Since most of the personnel at Forward Operating Base Salerno live and work in tents, the biggest concern is electrical fires inside the tents.
ENGAGING THE ENEMY Marines of 4th Battalion, 14th Marines Mike Battery, Gun 4, receive the command to engage enemy targets with a M-198 155mm Howitzer at Camp Fallujah, Iraq, Nov. 11, 2004. The command was called in by fellow Marines in the city of Fallujah during Operation Al Fajar (New Dawn). Defense Dept. photo by U.S. Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Samantha L. Jones
MARINES IN FALLUJAH A Marine with Company I, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, takes cover from a car explosion in Fallujah, Iraq, Nov. 9, 2004. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Luis R. Agostini
A Marine with Company I, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, aims in on anti-Iraqi forces from inside a building in Fallujah, Iraq, Nov. 9, 2004. At the request of the Interim Iraqi Government, Multi-National Forces in Iraq along with Iraqi Security Forces began Operation Al Fajr to eliminate anti-Iraqi Forces sanctuaries in Fallujah and allow the government to restore a legitimate government to the city. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Luis R. Agostini
Marines with Company I, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, patrol the streets of Fallujah, Iraq, Nov. 9, 2004. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Luis R. Agostini
Marines with Company I, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, rest inside a building in Fallujah, Iraq, Nov. 9, 2004. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Luis R. Agostini
A repeat, but worthy.