Schoolhouse using Strykers

Story and photos by KW Hillis/The Cannoneer

FORT SILL, Okla. (TRADOC News Service, Feb. 10, 2005) – Preceded by the low growl of its engine, a Stryker fire-support vehicle appears at the crest of the uppermost hill of the rugged terrain known as “the Pig Farm.”

The front two sets of tires are turned, hard left, as vehicle commander Staff Sgt. Donnel Valdez directs the vehicle down the muddy, rutted slope Jan. 20.

On a bumpy, dry area in front of the hills, another Stryker kicks up a large cloud of dust as its driver negotiates a turn.

“‘The Pig Farm’ is used to gain the driver’s confidence,” said Capt. Edward Coleman, commander, B Battery, 1st Battalion, 30th Field Artillery Regiment.

In the distance, two of the four Strykers fielded with the U.S. Army Field Artillery School churn up and down the steep hills.

“It’s the only place where we can really go off-road and run the vehicles like this. (We) can go uphill, downhill and get some side driving. A lot of people are afraid of the side motion of the vehicle. They don’t realize how much of an angle it can do,” said Sgt. 1st Class Jeffrey Tucker, certified instructor. “These things will go up to 30 degrees.”

The East Range off-road confidence course is the second of “the three major pieces” of the 21-day Stryker instructor course. The other major pieces are the drivers’ course and the live-fire exercise, which started Jan. 28, Coleman said.

Six of the eight schoolhouse Stryker instructors were certified after completing the first instructor course in November 2004. The remaining two instructors – Staff Sgt. Michael Herbst and Sgt. Michael Nestell – are earning are earning their certifications during this course.

The first two-week Stryker training course starts Feb. 14 for Soldiers who have finished their advanced individual training and are en route to a Stryker brigade combat team.

Why Strykers?

Infantry Strykers, deployed to Iraq with the 1st SBCT from Fort Lewis, Wash., have already met and exceeded their original intent.

“We needed a fire support vehicle to keep up with the maneuvers, support the infantry Soldiers on the ground ... (and) to call for fires,” Coleman said. “But it has been so successful in Iraq just going down a regular town street, patrolling ... now it’s taken on a different role, the role of a security asset.”

The need for a more maneuverable, lighter weight, easily transported, wheeled vehicle became evident in Iraq.

“Rolling down the highway when we went from Kuwait to Baghdad, our most versatile vehicle that we had in our fire-support arsenal is the BFIST (Bradley fire-support team vehicle),” said Coleman, who was deployed last year. “But that is a track vehicle, so therefore it is not feasible for that vehicle to roll down the highway with us.”

The vehicle’s tracks tear up the highway, and running on the highway is not good for the Bradley. So the Bradley has to take a side route across the fields, or the 40-ton vehicle is transported to where it is needed, instead of keeping up with the ground troops.

The 20-ton Strykers, each with four sets of wheels giving the vehicle a 58-foot turning radius and a speed of 62 mph, is maneuverable, lightweight and fast. The vehicles can be transported either by truck or air in a variety of aircraft, including C-130s, he said.

Priorities

Normally when new equipment is developed for the Army, the schools immediately get the equipment and start training. But because of the need to get the Stryker to Iraq, 1st SBCT Soldiers were trained by the new-equipment-training team from the development company, General Dynamics Land Systems, Coleman said.

Now the priority is sending the eight Stryker variations to the appropriate schools: medical to Fort Sam Houston, Texas; nuclear, biological and chemical to Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., and Fort Knox, Ky.; infantry to Fort Benning, Ga.; and FSVs to Fort Sill.

Strykers are also being sent to units which will deploy them in the field, and new variations are being developed.

“They are already working on another Stryker,” he said. “That is how successful the base chassis of this vehicle has been.”

Safety

The Stryker FSVs assigned to 1st-30th FA are configured with all the communications and weapons systems and safety and security equipment required for deployment, except for the shield protecting the vehicle commander and the cage around the entire vehicle, Valdez said.

“A Stryker has never been taken out by a (rocket propelled grenade),” Coleman said. An RPG explodes upon contact. It hits the Stryker cage first, which takes the impact. Shields and cages are added to deploying vehicles.

Communications

Because of the whole-Army concept, a battalion can consist of vehicles and equipment that aren’t necessarily similar, but the communication systems within them are identical or compatible.

The Force XXI Battle Command Brigade-and-Below Communications system, which is installed in Strykers and in all vehicles in a battalion, sends information up to and receives information back from, via satellite, a command unit. The command unit can immediately disseminate information to the individual vehicles involved in a battalion so all know where the friendlies or the enemies are.

“Once that information comes up and it is plotted within the FBCB2, it is seen by every vehicle,” Coleman said. “It’s feeding data almost real time from the satellite imagery.

“At the headquarters echelon, when they have the FBCB2 displayed, when they see the friendly units, they can click on the unit just like the mouse on a computer and find out what unit is closest to an enemy unit,” he said. “The headquarters can give the mission to fire on the enemy unit.”

On the screen within headquarters and in the individual vehicles, icons depicting enemy units are red, while icons depicting friendly units are blue, he said.

The Strykers also have a handheld, secure phone or VIC-3 communications system to contact other vehicles directly in the battalion; forward observer software, which can send back enemy information or a call for fire; and an internal communications system.

The future

“The Stryker vehicle essentially pushes (Fort Sill) into the future,” Coleman said. Fort Sill is in step with the Army’s transformation from units with one focus to units that have diverse capabilities.

“By going to separate Stryker brigades, you will now have field artillery, infantry, NBC and medical all in one,” he said. “All eight configurations of Stryker could be deployed together.”

Fort Sill is designed to support the SBCTs in two ways.

“The III Corps side has units that fill gaps in units that are deploying, which may not have that asset,” said Coleman. “The training side is TRADOC (Training and Doctrine Command). We’re training the individuals to go out to the force with the most current knowledge that we have and the most current systems and vehicles that are out there.”

The Stryker instructors at TRADOC also have Operation Iraqi Freedom experience.

“So now we have the latest information, the most relevant information with the most recent equipment to send them out to the field,” he said.

Vehicle commander Staff Sgt. Rico Bussey, B Battery, 1st Battalion, 30th Field Artillery instructor, directs the Stryker fire-support vehicle down a steep slope at the “Pig Farm” Jan. 13. Navigating the rough terrain on the East Range is part of the 21-day instructor course, which ended Feb. 5. The eight certified instructors will teach the first class of Soldiers assigned to Stryker brigade combat teams starting Feb. 14.

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