Posted on 01/11/2006 12:13:44 PM PST by Cannoneer No. 4
January 11, 2006: The U.S. Army’s new Stryker wheeled armored vehicle has been in Iraq for over two years now. The first Stryker brigade left its 299 Stryker vehicles in Iraq, when the troops finished their one year tour. Now, after two years, those vehicles are being brought home and refurbished. Seven percent of the vehicles got banged up pretty bad, mostly by roadside bombs. These had to be rebuilt.
Those 299 Strkyers averaged about 24,000 kilometers a year. Some put in close to 110,000 kilometers. Military wheeled vehicles operating in that part of the world are in need of refurbishment after about 50,000 kilometers. The refurbishment for the Strykers involves a new set of tires, new drive train and transmission. Any other equipment that got banged up or worn out will be repaired or replaced. Vehicles are repainted as needed. The electronics in each vehicle will be upgraded. The Strykers are the first of a new generation of “digital” vehicles. That means networking, computers and the ability to exchange digital data with other vehicles and troops equipped with wireless networking gear. In effect, a battlefield Internet. This stuff survived remarkably well in Iraq, despite the heat, dust, vibration and heavy use by the troops. The entire refurbishment process takes about twenty days per vehicle.
This was the first combat experience for the Strykers, and they performed quite well. Like most new military vehicles, they received a lot of criticism for being too expensive, too fragile, too heavy, too big and unsuited to the task. But the troops who used the Strykers liked them, and the vehicles proved to be more effective than any alternatives (more heavily armored M-2 Bradley’s, or armored hummers.)
That is untrue. You will have to talk to the recently releasd soldiers who were attached to this lash-up.
I have. There will always be a few who demand nothing but perfection – in everything but themselves. I did meet one disgruntled soldier who complained that a friend had been killed when Stryker was hit with an “IED”. The Sargent I was talking to at the time added that the "IED" was five 500 pound bombs wired together.
Vetvoice - Some points:
I have no idea why you are directing this comment to me. And my "gullibility days are long passed.
I do have contact with both active duty military, contractors and OEM personnel on a somewhat daily basis. What this has always told me is that everybody has their own "truths" in what they say. I don't have a damn thing to do with Strykers, so I simply don't friggin' know from beans about them other than what I hear and read. Which gives me exactly squat worth of opinion.
IMO, Cannoneer No.4 has always performed an exemplary job of providing accurate and multi-sided info. He has also made it clear when he is/was presenting a personal opinion on issues. If you have a problem/bitch/complaint or difference of opinion with something he posts, be prepared to back it up with valid sources and references - not scuttle butt or barracks BS. We all know what that is worth. And if so, discuss it with him via back-channels.
I have found that there are a lot of "experts" on here and a few who have the real skinny. And they ain't necessarily the same folks all the time.
Thank you for sharing that with me. I will give it due consideration.
Hope you get to feeling better.
Cannoneer No. 4
Most of the guys who I went to war with, those who stayed in, wanted to stay Stryker. Even the guys who grew up on Bradleys and Tanks.
Sorry, but I don't recall the exchange.
There are not many whose "truths" have been fact-checked and published by daily newspaers. I've published seven articles.
War profiteer huh?
Not exactly news, and not limited to General Dynamics. Civilian tech reps have long been used to maintain equipment, even way back before I retired over 20 years ago. They were even used at the depot level during the Viet Nam War.
My only objection to the Stryker was always the corruption used by Generals Heebner, Keane and Shinseki to pull off the deal. They will not even allow us to breathe now that our military is shot through and through with wheeled armor. They need to, at least, 'fess up to the Americans how many tracked vehicles the Soviets lost is Afghanistan (1250) before they withdrew them and brought in all tracks.
Civilian tech reps are the only ones allowed to work on the Stryker - even at the organization level?
Name one system during Vietnam that required civilian technicians.
I back mine with three years in the Army, 18 months in Vietnam and eight years in college - four for a Bachelors, two for a Masters amd two more for my PhD. That and a lifetime of contacts with all military from servicing soldiers to reserves and contractors keep me pretty well on top of things...
At the depot level it was common for helicopters (onboard the Corpus Christi Bay) - and even for boats. We seldom had the available time to use depot level, we did everything from engine rebuilds to hull repair ourselves until we started working with the Navy. They may have had civilians, but when my boat was in dry dock I was in the hospital.
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