What is a Stryker?

CASEY RESSLER

Frontiersman Valley Life Editor

The Stryker is one of the U.S. Army's newest options on the battlefield, as the armored vehicle unit employs the latest technology and weaponry.

The Stryker brigade has 10 different vehicles, which makes it completely battle-ready. There are vehicles that provide force, such as the Mobile Gun System and Ant-Tank Guide Missile Vehicle, as well as vehicles that increase survivability, such as the Medical Evacuation Vehicle and the Fire Support Vehicle. It also has a set of tactical vehicles, including a Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Reconnaissance Vehicle.

Each Stryker - a wheeled armored vehicle that looks like a tank - weighs 19 tons and can reach speeds in excess of 60 mph. They can travel more than 300 miles on 53 gallons of fuel, according to a U.S. Army Web site.

"These highlights provide a force that will move rapidly as a cohesive combined arms combat team, a capability not currently in the Army inventory," the Army fact sheet proclaims.

The Stryker was introduced to give the Army the ability to "maneuver more easily in close and urban terrain while providing protection in open terrain."

In Alaska, the Stryker Brigade Combat Team (SBCT) consists of approximately 3,100 soldiers stationed at Fort Wainwright just outside of Fairbanks, and another 700 soldiers stationed at Fort Richardson.

All have been deployed to Iraq.