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February 18, 2005
Ranger regiment in Afghanistan to get 16 Strykers
By Sean D. Naylor
Times staff writer
The Army is giving 16 Stryker vehicles to the 75th Ranger Regiment for use in Afghanistan later this year. This is the first time that the medium-weight, wheeled armored vehicle has been fielded to a unit other than one of the six formations designated to become “Stryker Brigade Combat Teams,” or SBCTs.
The Stryker has been used extensively in Iraq, but the Rangers’ deployment to Afghanistan will mark the first occasion that the Stryker has seen action in that country.
The 75th Ranger Regiment is the Army’s most elite airborne infantry outfit. It is headquartered at Fort Benning, Ga., and its three battalions are stationed at Fort Benning, Hunter Army Airfield, Ga., and Fort Lewis, Wash.
“The Rangers have been looking to upgrade for some time and now, during the war, is a great opportunity,” said a senior special operations officer. “I don’t see it as a mission change, just another tool to prosecute the mission from a protected, versatile mobility platform.” The Rangers have seen the value of the Stryker in urban operations when working side-by-side with Stryker units in Iraq, the officer said.
In a brief interview on Feb. 18 at the Association of the U.S. Army winter symposium in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Gen. Bryan Brown, head of U.S. Special Operations Command, emphasized that the initiative did not reflect a larger shift toward armored vehicle operations on the part of the Rangers. No decision on whether to expand the initiative beyond the initial 16 Strykers would be taken before 2/75 returned from Afghanistan and the command had a chance to evaluate the lessons learned from the deployment, he said.
Despite the sudden demand for 16 of the vehicles for the Rangers, the Army plans to keep all other units on schedule to receive their Strykers, although it’s not clear how exactly that will be accomplished.
February 18, 2005
Ranger regiment in Afghanistan to get 16 Strykers
By Sean D. Naylor
Times staff writer
The Army is giving 16 Stryker vehicles to the 75th Ranger Regiment for use in Afghanistan later this year. This is the first time that the medium-weight, wheeled armored vehicle has been fielded to a unit other than one of the six formations designated to become “Stryker Brigade Combat Teams,” or SBCTs.
The Stryker has been used extensively in Iraq, but the Rangers’ deployment to Afghanistan will mark the first occasion that the Stryker has seen action in that country.
The 75th Ranger Regiment is the Army’s most elite airborne infantry outfit. It is headquartered at Fort Benning, Ga., and its three battalions are stationed at Fort Benning, Hunter Army Airfield, Ga., and Fort Lewis, Wash.
“The Rangers have been looking to upgrade for some time and now, during the war, is a great opportunity,” said a senior special operations officer. “I don’t see it as a mission change, just another tool to prosecute the mission from a protected, versatile mobility platform.” The Rangers have seen the value of the Stryker in urban operations when working side-by-side with Stryker units in Iraq, the officer said.
In a brief interview on Feb. 18 at the Association of the U.S. Army winter symposium in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Gen. Bryan Brown, head of U.S. Special Operations Command, emphasized that the initiative did not reflect a larger shift toward armored vehicle operations on the part of the Rangers. No decision on whether to expand the initiative beyond the initial 16 Strykers would be taken before 2/75 returned from Afghanistan and the command had a chance to evaluate the lessons learned from the deployment, he said.
Despite the sudden demand for 16 of the vehicles for the Rangers, the Army plans to keep all other units on schedule to receive their Strykers, although it’s not clear how exactly that will be accomplished.
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