Fort Lewis' Stryker force Korea-bound

Wednesday, July 30, 2003

By MIKE BARBER
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

A 56-member platoon from the Army's newest fighting force, the Fort Lewis-based Stryker brigade, is heading to Korea for a week of realistic combat training.

The infantry exercise comes on the heels of a Pentagon announcement that the entire 3,600-soldier Stryker brigade at Fort Lewis will pull a six-month rotation in Iraq beginning in October.

The platoon from Charlie Company, 5-20th Infantry, 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, is to fly out this morning aboard a C-17 aircraft from neighboring McChord Air Force Base.

The platoon will take part in live-fire training and learn the terrain and conditions of Korea, Army officials said. A team of six civilian contractors is joining the platoon to observe and fine-tune equipment for improvements. The platoon is due home Aug. 8.

Fort Lewis is the home of the Army's two Stryker brigades, which are expected to serve as models for future forces. One, the 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, completed final training last month and awaits certification as "operationally ready" as the first Stryker brigade combat team. A second, the 1st Brigade of the 25th Infantry Division, is expected to be ready by June.

Although the brigades were on the sidelines of the war on Iraq, they were created to meet needs seen in the first war there.

Cold War strategies rendered obsolete in the early 1990s had left the Army with "heavy" brigades that pack a huge wallop but are cumbersome to deploy, and "light" brigades that are quick and nimble but less lethal. The Stryker brigades are designed to combine rapid deployment with greater firepower.

The brigades are named for the 19-ton armored vehicles created for them, which, unlike tanks, have eight wheels. The high-tech-equipped Stryker vehicles come in 10 variations on a common chassis, can sustain 60 mph and have self-recovery abilities.

The Pentagon also announced plans to deploy some of the 15 National Guard enhanced-infantry brigades to the region.

Washington state's 4,300-member 81st Enhanced Infantry Brigade is among them, but National Guard officials said the 81st is unlikely to be called up soon. The brigade is based at Fort Lewis and frequently trains in Yakima.

P-I reporter Mike Barber can be reached at 206-448-8018 or mikebarber@seattlepi.com

Add P-I Local headlines to