James Bailey

What happened to the Stryker discussion? how many REMFs does it take to sustain a deployed Stryker rifleman for a month? 10:1? 20:1? 30:1?

The SBCT's 155mm gun is a huge upgrade from the old infantry bde's 105mm. That advantage represents the most important firepower difference. Survivability is the biggest upgrade the Stryker offers over the normal infantry bde's humvee gun trucks. Overall, SBCT seems like a huge step forward for infantry forces. The key question that remains for me is deployability and logistical sustainability of these units. We have touched on both these topics briefly, but I don't think anyone has presented a conclusive answer. But then again, perhaps no one at the Pentagon even knowns!?!

STRYKER-PSG : Do you have any comments on how the logistics of a SBCT and its 300+ ICVs compare to other BCT types? I'm sure they go thru a lot of POL during a typical deployed day... Thanks - great thread all around; enjoying all the comments a lot.

Good post Chris and nice summary of the BCT TO&Es - I enjoyed reading these. I can see why the SBCTs in Iraq is in such demand. That is a lot of rolling thunder. Do you have any info on the logistical requirements of a deployed SBCT? How does it compare to a HBCT and IBCT?

Isn't this the exact role Stryker is built around - a meat-ier 'light force' on the escalation dominance chain? It allows our infantry to get there faster, with more punch than our previous capabilities, and survive longer against the light enemy without adding all the logistical burdens of a full heavy force.

JonS- what does TE OPE KAATUA O AOTEAROA mean? StrykerPSG- is there any serious discussion that you are aware of about adding a LAVIII/25 as a SBF platform?

If anyone wants to read one of the key AGAINST aarguments, it is here: O'Reilly Piece The irony in this piece is that his key argument AGAINST the Stryker - namely that it puts US servicemen's lives at risk - turned out to be one of the biggest arguement FOR the Stryker. Good illustration of how the theoretical analysis can fail to hold up in real world.

1992-94: 110th MI Bn, 10th Mtn Div, Fort Drum NY --Deployed 1993, OP Restore Hope, Somalia 1994-96: 312th MI Bn, 1st Cav Div, Fort Hood, TX 1996-98: US Army Intel & Security Command, Fort Meade, MD 1998-01 IRR Washington DC vic. 2001-2006: 3-116th Inf, 29th Inf Div, VA National Guard --Deployed 2005, OP Enduring Freedom, Afghanistan (TF Thunder, 25DIVARTY)

If I were a LAV salesman, I would be very very happy these days and my phone would be ringing off the hook. Wheeled heavies are clearly the direction Western military powers are headed. There are just way too many advantages against the light enemy compared to the tracked heavies. Sure if China suddenly invaded India or North Korea the South, this would change. But in the Dafurs, Iraqs, Afghanistans, Lebanons, etc wheels are the only way to go. Keep the HMMWVs inside the wire, the M-1 MBTs in reserve and ride in style on 8 wheels!

Thanks for the comments StrykerPSG. Good stuff. What turned me in favor of the Stryker was conversions with senior NCOs that have fought in the damn thing and *unanimously* they all agreed it is helping us win fights and keep guys alive and as such a huge step forward. Why was the 25mm SBF idea not pursued? That turret has wide range of fire options - 5.56mm pin, 7.62mm coax, and the 25mm ass-kicker. I get the 50cal as a good compromise but I don't understand why a compromise was necessary. I did talk to many Canadians in Afghanistan, and they loved that turret and thought us mad for dropping it. EAs are huge and Co-Lat damage restrictions less in Afghanistan compared to Iraq, so some caveats must be mentioned here. Finally, thanks for your service.

Try to spell his name right, and then worship the man whose idea you are keeping alive. http://www.cmmc2.org/forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=614 All the best Andreas </font>

Hey Jon, good to see you around again. Yeah, you might have hit the nail on the head with that question. Why didn't we just use the LAVIII design? LAV designs have clear advantages over the HMMWV, which, even with all the bells and whistle, is not really a combat platform. LAV designs also have a clear advantage over tracked heavier platforms by reducing the logistical footprint w/o losing lethality or survivability against a light enemy. So LAVIII vs Stryker: Can one of you experts fill us in on why USA choose to reinvent the wheel?

BigDuke- You oppose the war, that is fine. But that doesn't mean you should be throwing our soldiers away, which is what you do if we don't have the Stryker. The reality is that there are hundreds of soldiers breathing today thanks to the Stryker. There are thousands who still have their arms and legs all attached thanks to the Stryker. These are facts, not theories. It has moved the light force away from being light on survivability (the Humvee is not a combat platform - we learned that in Somalia and that hasn't changed after adding a few tons of steel). My only regret on the Stryker is that we (1) don't have more of them, and (2)didn't have them sooner. We could have cut the KIA rate in half and the WIA rate in 1/3d if we had. I personally know two KIAs in Afghanistan that would have been with us today if they had been in a Stryker. Also, it is not just the US Army that is benefitting. Talk to some Canadians. They do things with their LAV-III bn in Afghanistan that the US light bns can't dream of doing in our Humvee gun trucks. The Canadians are damn fine infantryman, and their LAV-III has been a huge combat multipler on their light-fighting skills. (BTW - great thread. Really enjoying reading all the different view points. Kudos!)

Question- Did anyone take the time to read all of JasonC's 35 points? Reminds me of Martin Luther. Being an old light fighter myself, I orginially thought the Stryker was an overpriced piece of sh*t. However after several years of talking to the guys that know - primarily NCOs on the front lines - I have taken a 180 degrees turn on the thing. The school-bus painted drab can take hits and keep its cargo "Charle Miking" it. Survivability is the key point here - forget all those other shortcomings. Chris - glad to hear of your retirement! Are you Ready Reserve? Thinking about the Guard?

Yep, the 210th MP has got a great rep. I'm 3-116th. Thanks for your service. Go ANG!