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The War in Iraq: Weapons
Stryker Performs Well According to Those Whose Lives Depend on It
by
April 5, 2005
Discussion Board on this DLS topic
This letter was sent to the Washinton Post in response to an article they ran on the substandard performance of the new Stryker armored fighting vehicle.
I read the article about the Stryker's substandard performance in Mosul with
interest. I offer the readers the following facts based on six months of
fighting a counter-insurgency with Strykers in Mosul, Iraq and ask them to make
their own conclusion. These facts are purely as they apply to one Stryker
Infantry Battalion -- 1st Battalion, 24th Infantry Regiment, which has operated
in Mosul, Iraq since Oct 2004 with 75 Strykers.
The article
specifically faulted the Stryker's substandard survivability and maintenance to
the point of stating it places soldiers' lives at risk. I would argue that
nothing could be further from the truth.
Since Oct 2004, our
Battalion's Strykers have been engaged with 122 Improvised Explosive Devices
(IEDs), 186 Rocket Propelled Grenades (RPGs), 33 car bombs, of which 10 where
Suicide Car Bombs, and countless mortar and small arms engagements. In November
and December we were fighting an enemy that massed up to 70 insurgents during
attacks. As a result the battalion has had 7 soldiers killed in action and 102
wounded in action (81 of which were able to return to duty within 21 days). The
majority of all casualties have come from doing what the nation expects us to do
- dismounted infantry operations closing with and destroying the enemy.
The insurgents most dangerous and powerful weapon is the suicide car bomb. I
have personally watched 4 of 10 suicide car bombs slam into Strykers creating an
explosion that is equivalent to a 500lb bomb, one of which was a suicide truck
carrying 52 x 155mm rounds (a net explosive weight 10% greater than a 2000lb
JDAM) that detonated within 25m of a Stryker. In all 10 suicide car bomb attacks
we did not lose a single soldiers' life, limb or eyesight for those soldiers
riding on the Stryker.
One example -- Over the last six months, one
Stryker, C21, has been hit by a suicide car bomb, 9 IEDs, 8 RPG direct hits, and
countless small arms. The Infantry squad has had 6 wounded but every soldier is
still in Iraq and still fighting on a daily basis. After each attack, the
Stryker continued to stay in the fight or was repaired in less than 48 hours.
Not only is the Stryker survivable, it is incredibly reliable. Our
75 Strykers each have at least 20,000 miles on them. We average over 1,000 miles
a month on each Stryker and amazingly we average greater than 96% Operational
Readiness rate. That is 3-4 Strykers down at any given time. This is the highest
operational readiness rate of any armored vehicle in the Army inventory. We
average less than 24 hours to refit a vehicle after it has received battle
damage. The electronic computers, monitors, mapping software, weapons cameras
and radios that give us incredible situational awareness average greater than a
94% operational readiness rate.
Much like every other weapon system
the Army has fielded it will continue to get modified and better with time.
Remember, we are on the fifth major modification of the M1 tank. These are the
irrefutable facts without emotion.
Now, let me share with you some
emotion. I have watched this vehicle save my soldiers lives and enable them to
kill our nation's enemies. In urban combat there is no better vehicle for
delivering a squad of infantryman to close with and destroy the enemy. It is
fast, quiet, incredibly survivable, reliable, lethal, and capable of providing
amazing situational awareness. These qualities distinguish it from every other
platform in the Army inventory but most importantly it delivers the most
valuable weapon on the battlefield - a soldier.
Do not just take my
word on the Stryker, ask one of the 700 soldiers in this Battalion which vehicle
they want to go to combat in.
MICHAEL E. KURILLA,
Lieutenant
Colonel
1st Battalion, 24th Infantry Regiment (Stryker Brigade Combat
Team)
MOSUL, IRAQ
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