THE STRYKER DIFFERENCE


Soldiers in Afghanistan are now riding in new Stryker armored combat vehicles that have an improved hull design to protect them from improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and roadside mines. The double-V hull (DVH) is designed to deflect blast debris away from the vehicle and the Soldiers inside. The Stryker DVH, with enhanced armor, wider tires, and blast- attenuating seats, went from conception to production in less than a year. The DVH design is based on proven technology simi- lar to that found on Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles used in Afghanistan.


A VISION FULFILLED Formerly called the Interim Armor Vehi- cle, the Stryker is named after two Medal of Honor winners: PFC Stuart S. Stryker, who served in World War II, and SP4 Robert F. Stryker, who served in Vietnam.


“It is important to remember that the Stryker was designed for those who fight


THE STRYKER STRIKES


A Stryker equipped with a mobile gun system fires a round of high-explosive ammunition July 26 at Yakima Training Center, WA. Stryker crews with 1st Battalion, 17th Infantry Regiment conducted crew gunnery qualification as a semiannual requirement. (U.S. Army photo by SGT Mark Miranda.)


battles and win wars. It was to give them greater capabilities. People are the most important because they alone deliver on our Nation’s nonnegotiable contract to fight our Nation’s wars,” said GEN Eric K. Shinseki (USA Ret.), Chief of Staff of the Army from 1999 to 2003 and now Secretary of Veterans Affairs.


Shinseki, who completed two combat tours in Vietnam during his 38-year Army career, oversaw the creation and delivery of the first Stryker vehicle, which rolled off the production line at Anniston Army Depot, AL, in April 2002.


“We wanted to make our formations more responsive, more deployable, more versatile, more agile, more lethal, more survivable, and more sustainable,” he said.


“We were merging the extraordinary capa- bilities of the best light infantry units in the world with the decisive qualities of the best heavy forces in the Army.”


Shinseki is credited with successfully speed- ing up the timeframe for Stryker deliveries and shepherding the platform through to its combat debut in Iraq in 2003.


“Modularity was really the Army’s vision that Secretary Shinseki championed. The Army needed a force that was versatile, flex- ible, digitally capable, and networked. The force needed to be packaged on a platform that increased mobility and could be rapidly deployed. The end result of this vision was the Army’s Stryker Brigade Combat Team [SBCT],” said MG Robert B. Brown, Com- manding General, U.S. Army Maneuver Center of Excellence at Fort Benning, GA.


“This vision saved hundreds of my Soldiers’ lives in combat,” Brown added, referring to his years as an SBCT Commander.


Brown said that the Stryker vehicles under his command withstood a full range of enemy attacks to include rockets, small- arms fire, and IEDs.


36


Army AL&T Magazine


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