KTUU.com | Alaska's news and information source | Alaska’s Strykers take on global task
Member Center:
by Jennifer Zilko
Saturday, Sept. 22, 2007
ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- Alaska's Stryker Brigade came home from Iraq almost a year ago but has been anything but idle.
The Strykers are in elite training with a foreign army and soon they will enter a new era of service to its country and the world.
The 1st Stryker Brigade 25th Infantry Division, previously known as the 172nd Brigade, renamed after arriving home from Iraq. They spent almost two weeks at Fort Greely training with the Indian Army on counter insurgency drills.
According to the commanding general of the U.S. Army Pacific, they will soon be part of the military's Global Response Force. Each branch of the military has a team designated to the force.
Lt. General John M. Brown III, said the soldiers participating in the exercise at Ft. Greely will soon be prepared to deploy anywhere in the world in as little as 96 hours.
"It's significant for the Army because it's a confirmation of the transformation that the Army's been on for the last several years," Brown said.
That transformation has been in progress since 1999, with the ultimate goal to have an army force capable of deploying quickly in any type of situation, whether it's floods, earthquakes or even war.
The Stryker Brigade deployed in the summer of 2005 for 16 months. They patrolled the streets of Iraq trying to control the sectarian violence.
Now back in Alaska, Gen. Brown said the Strykers have proved themselves.
"Just as combat has demonstrated the great capabilities the Stryker Brigades bring to us, the ability to use it now as part of the nation's Global Response Force is very significant," Brown said.
They are significant for Alaska and for the U.S. Army's capabilities to respond to a crisis at a moment's notice.
Contact Jennifer Zilko at jzilko@ktuu.com
