Will the Stryker die a lot?

[Cameroon]

You know, I had a hunch that was going to be the reason. I was hoping that it was something plausible but misguided rather than just tossing out a lesson learned.

[Battlefront.com]

I said the US military has a "terrible record" of forgetting things. That is probably too harsh, but there are more examples than just snipers and tank phones. For example, the US military is having to relearn a lot of what it learned in Vietnam regarding irregular warfare. And don't even get me started on what the political leadership forgot...

Steve

[Sixxkiller]

The US Army doesnt forget things so to speak. They just change doctrine so much that there isnt enough hours in the day to remember.

I can remember when Gen. Shinseki made his speech about going to a light mobile force and scaling down the heavy batts. Looks like he was prophetic but most commanders didnt like the idea of losing the heavy support. Sometimes its not about not remembering but the rigidness of the officer corps.

[MikeyD]

Someone up above mentioned Stryker losses in Iraq. I recall a board thread from several months back. When the first batch of Stryker vehicle finally got rotated back to the states after being the mounts for several tours in succession the vehicle count was off. 310 vehicles had gone into Iraq and considerably fewer had come out. It turned out something like 20-24 vehicle were a complete write-off, another dozen were still in-theater undergoing extensive repairs - I don't think I've reversed the numbers here but my memory ain't what it used to be.

One reason why 1-72nd may be able to claim to have not lost any Strykers to IEDs (that was the first time I'd heard that claim) could be because they transitioned a LOT of their duties to the ubiquitous M1114 humvee and to Iraqi soldiers and police. Its my impression Strykers were keeping a low pofile for awhile. 3-2nd Stryker Brigade, by contrast, lost its first Stryker to an IED within a week of being in-country. And the first time a 3-2nd Stryker was fired-on by an RPG the blast pierced the bow and cut engine coolant lines! Reportedly the ONLY time an RPG has pierced a Stryker!

[Battlefront.com]

Sixxkiller,

Sometimes its not about not remembering but the rigidness of the officer corps.

And the politicians who put money (i.e. bribes) and hometown jobs ahead of sound military policies.

When I say "forget" I mean that they stop actively supporting the training and/or equipping of the force to be able to retain the lesson learned. For example, convoys in hostile territory.

During the Cold War it was assumed there would be fairly nice, neat frontlines with safe logistics to the rear. Either because the territory was already friendly or because it would become friendly once "liberated". Large scale insurgency type situations were not considered at all. Then the US military went off to Vietnam and found otu the hard way that when you go to play in someone else's backyard, all bets are off. The soft convoys were favorite targets for small arms, RPGs, and IED ambushes. Sound familiar?

Since there weren't enough AFVs to go around escorting every single convoy the troops improvised and converted 6x6 trucks and welded armor on them and mounted heavy weapons on them. These were called "gun trucks". What was one of the first things US troops did in Iraq? Make gun trucks, of course.

So the lesson learned about how to deal with insurgents and soft convoys at the soldier level, but higher up they had apparently forgotten that sometimes people are not overjoyed to see foreign armed forces driving down their streets.

Steve

[Wicky]

Originally posted by Battlefront.com:

...[P]eople are not overjoyed to see foreign armed forces driving down their streets.

Steve

Will this military spec Hayabusa feature?