In 2000, I was commanding 3/2 Armored Brigade (Arrowhead!), when I received new orders to be prepared to field a new organization with new equipment.
Our Brigade would become the 1st Interim Brigade Combat Team (IBCT), then later the Stryker Brigade Combat Team (SBCT) 2/
While the Abrams tank is named for GEN Creighton Abrams (hero of the Battle of the Bulge), and the Bradley is name after GEN Omar Bradley, the Stryker is named after two Medal of Honor winners - PFC Stuart Stryker (World War II) & SPC4 Robert Stryker (Vietnam) 3/
GEN Shinseki, a personal hero & one of my mentors, drove the fielding (that's him in a suit in this picture).
His idea: have an air deployable unit that generated great battlefield intelligence w/ vehicles that could bring lots of infantryman to the fight..quickly & quietly.4/
Influencing a bunch of tankers to give up their Abrams for a lightly armored "infantry bus" was tough.But they soon learned the power of intel-driven operations.
The Stryker proved their value in combat in Iraq & Afghanistan with even Special Operators wanting these vehicles. 5/
THEY ARE NOT A TANK!
They are lightly armored, and have either a .50 cal machine gun, a grenade launcher, or a 30mm cannon (w a lot of guys in back).
They are quick & quiet.
Our Division had a Brigade of Strykers in Iraq, they performed extremely well. 6/
There is also a Stryker with a 105mm gun (smaller and less powerful than an Abrams or Leopard 120mm).It's good infantry support.
The cannon has had some problems & I'm not sure if the Mobile Gun System (MGS or AGS) will be part of the package to Ukraine. We'll see. 7/
The wheels of the Stryker are better than tracked vehicles for roads;the down side is they get stuck...a lot. They're usually much easier to recover out of mud than a stuck tank.
Soldiers say they are easier to maintain, fix & keep running...& they use much less fuel.8/
The Friday package will likely include more Bradleys, which have more armor, a stronger gun & anti-tank missiles (TOWs).
Ukrainians are training now at Grafenwoehr & Hohenfels, Germany (@7thATC)
A combination of these vehicles, HIMARS, M777, & additional T-72 (or other tanks) in the hands of a trained Ukrainian army will make a HUGE difference for offensive operations.
Looking forward to hearing confirmation...and news of what other @nato nations are providing. 10/10
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WRT national security & global threats, an extremely dangerous time re US "foes." -Massive Russian strikes in Ukraine -Georgia's "frozen conflict" heating up. -Moldova dealing with Russian troops in Transnistria -Russian economy collapsing...due to Putin's wars --Assad flees to Russia 1/4
-China intimidates Philippines, assaults Hong Kong's autonomy, represses Tibet & Xinjiang, threatens Taiwan, blocks international trade routes -N. Korea troops & weapons in Russia, increases missile capabilities -Hamas destroyed, but Hezbollah, IJ, MB & the Africa terror groups still active. 2/4
-Piracy increases in Persian Gulf and Red Sea regions -US, Mexico & Philippines rated as most active human trafficking countries -Draughts, famine & other climate change factors + outcome of conflicts causes increased migration into US & Europe. -Domestic terrorism indicators rising. 3/4
Watching the Israeli operations in S. Lebanon today, as the IDF releases numerous photos of arms caches found in & near homes. 1/7
These are similar to what US forces found throughout Iraq when we were there.
Using civilian locations provides terror organizations w/ unique advantages:
- difficult to find
- difficult to target
- when found, striking/destroying results in civilian casualties. 2/
This morning, the IAF also struck a 3.5 km tunnel complex between Syria & Lebanon that provided a means of bringing those weapons to Hezbollah.
Between 0900-1100 hrs local time today, Hezbollah launched over 100 rockets & drones into N. Israel. 3/
A few thoughts on what occurred in two different conflicts yesterday...the use of "killer pagers" by Israel and Ukraine's attack on the large ammo cache at Toropets military base 300+ miles inside Russia.
A short 🧵 1/12
First, the pagers.
In this article (gifted) from the @nytimes, the author claims there "no clear strategy" for this coordinated attack.
I disagree. Having used electronic & signals countermeasures in Iraq, the strategy is clear. 2/
Terrorist organizations - unlike conventional militaries who have encrypted signal capabilities - must find ways to communiate. It is important to continue to disrupt & counter this ability.
In Iraq, terrorist use of cell phones allowed US and ISF to glean valuable information & disrupt their networks. 3/