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The Army's groundbreaking, 4,000-member Stryker light-infantry brigade has touched down in the Middle East at Camp Udairi, Kuwait. And the new unit, which left Fort Lewis after a send-off that featured the "Lawrence of Arabia" movie theme, already is getting a morale boost from home for the holiday season. "The overall plan for Thanksgiving is still being worked on, but we do know that Miss America 2004 will be here to visit with and entertain the soldiers," Lt. Col. Joseph Piek, spokesman for the Stryker brigade, said by e-mail yesterday. "There have been all kinds of volunteers to work escort...

CAMP UDAIRI, Kuwait - Pfc. Gerard Minnitto normally packs a light machine gun, but these days the Stryker brigade infantryman from Tacoma is turning a wrench. He's among the soldiers and General Dynamics contractors working around the clock to bolt slat armor onto the brigade's fleet of more than 300 Strykers before they move up into Iraq. The armor - each looking like a great green cage - is meant to protect the $2 million vehicles and the soldiers inside from rocket-propelled grenades. The inexpensive shoulder-fired RPGs are ubiquitous in Iraq and have killed dozens of U.S. troops. Naturally, Minnitto...

CAMP UDAIRI, Kuwait - The Stryker brigade has landed in Kuwait. The last of its 5,000 soldiers were to arrive today, completing a six-day airlift out of McChord Air Force Base and the largest movement of Fort Lewis combat troops since the Vietnam War. They've been showing up day and night at this desert post about 10 miles south of the Iraqi border. They'll spend the next few weeks gathering up all their gear and vehicles before they move up for their yearlong assignment in Iraq. This marks the first deployment of the brigade, and the first battle test for...

PORT OF KUWAIT, Kuwait (Army News Service, Nov. 12, 2003) -- For the first time since World War I, the 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division has deployed overseas. The brigade’s Stryker vehicles and other equipment arrived Nov. 12 in the port of Kuwait on board the USNS Shughart and USNS Sisler after a three-week voyage from Fort Lewis, Wash., via the Port of Tacoma. The deployment marks the second time that Stryker vehicles have landed on foreign soil though. In August a platoon from the Army’s first Stryker Brigade Combat team conducted a capabilities demonstration in South Korea. Also on...

OTTAWA (CP) - Canada is buying 60 new combat vehicles to provide the battlefield gunfire once delivered by tanks, even though the army concluded five years ago that the armoured Stryker was a bad choice. Defence Minister John McCallum will announce the multi-million-dollar purchase Wednesday, sources said. The Stryker is an eight-wheeled, 18-tonne, lightly armoured vehicle equipped with a 105-mm cannon. The United States is buying 2,100 of them in various variants, from GM Defence is London, Ont., and General Dynamics Land Systems in Michigan. The Americans named the vehicle after two of their Medal of Honour winners. It's not...

The Army’s prized Stryker wheeled troop carrier is supposed to spearhead America’s lighter, go-anywhere-fast force. But NEWSWEEK has learned that the vehicles may be flawed—and that the military has known about the problem for months. JUST A MONTH before the next U.S. Army unit is due to deploy in Iraq to relieve the hard-pressed forces already there, the military is confessing to a potential showstopper. The deploying unit’s new armored vehicles may have faulty armor which would leave them vulnerable to machine-gun fire and to the rocket-propelled grenades that are the Iraq insurgents’ favorite weapon. Unlike the massively thick steel...

TACOMA, WASH. - The Army's new Stryker armored vehicles are headed for their first operational assignment -- service in Operation Iraqi Freedom. Vehicles of the Fort Lewis-based Stryker Brigade Combat Team began rolling onto ships today at the port of Tacoma, Wash. The Stryker vehicles and related equipment will support 3,600 soldiers from the I Corps' 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division who will begin their assignment in Iraq in a few weeks. This week’s move at the port of Tacoma represents several benchmarks for the port, according to the Military Traffic Management Command. It’s the biggest movement of military cargo...

In a few weeks, Fort Lewis will see the largest deployment of a combat unit since Vietnam. The Army's first Stryker brigade is about to leave three years of incubation at Fort Lewis for its real-world debut in Iraq. The 3,600 soldiers of the 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division are scheduled to move out later this month and in early November. They'll pioneer a new armored vehicle and a new way of operating that represents the Army's first steps toward transforming itself into a more mobile, technology-driven fighting force. Observers from around the world will watch closely to see if...

Hi - Thus far, the only pieces I've written about my CERTEX embed focus more on the IBCT as an organization to train tomorrow's combat leaders than the interim vehicle they've been assigned to use. The pieces have run in ARMY, Battlespace, and JDW. Re: The M8 AGS, wait until next week when UD uses the AUSA show to unveil "Thunderbolt," a 120 mm version of the AGS featuring hybrid-electric drive. It's already been test fired (stationary and on the move) and should really open some eyes regarding the potentials of upgrading existing platforms... Best Regards, Thanks. I will send...

The United States Army’s Stryker program is misguided because Desert Storm demonstrates that threats still exist to which Stryker’s protection and firepower are insufficient.[1] In addition, it does not pass basic mobility and deployability requirements. The measure of success for a combat vehicle is determined by its level of crew protection and its firepower. Many modern vehicles in various stages of testing and development attempt to make maximum use of technological sensors and diagnostics to augment the vehicle’s protection. Modern variants also use technology to augment their fire capabilities by attempting to digitally link them to other modern weapons platforms...

<p>The Army is scrambling to fix a flaw in its newest armored vehicle -- the already troubled Stryker -- before sending it to Iraq next month for its first test in real combat conditions.</p> <p>The Stryker is a 19-ton armored car that was supposed to combine the speed and quick deployability of light forces with considerable firepower and armor protection.</p>

The commander of I Corps and Fort Lewis said Monday he's confident the Army's first Stryker brigade will have a successful deployment when it leaves for Iraq next month. Lt. Gen. Edward Soriano said work continues to shore up the types of armor plates that military live-fire tests recently found were defective on the unit's namesake vehicles. Teams from the vehicle's general contractor, General Dynamic Corp., are reinforcing the plates with more steel. They're scheduled to finish the job by month's end, a timeline that doesn't interrupt the brigade's planned deployment, Soriano said. "I'm not going to let them go...

New live-fire tests by the Army have found that almost one-third of the ceramic armor tile used to protect troops inside the new Stryker carriers failed to meet the minimum requirements to stop heavy machine-gun fire. The new disclosure from sources close to the program comes just weeks before 3,600 members of the Fort Lewis-based 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division are scheduled to debut the Stryker vehicles in Iraq. The vehicle's maker, General Dynamics Land Systems, is now rushing about 20 two-man teams to Fort Lewis to fortify the unit's 309 Stryker vehicles. The plan is to add a 3-mm...