Stryker vehicles start long journey to Middle East
Published Saturday, May 31, 2008
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The 1st Brigade 25th Infantry Stryker Brigade Combat Team has begun the long process of shipping its equipment to the Mideast.
This week, the 1,100 vehicles used by the brigade, including the eight-wheeled armored Strykers from which the unit gets its name, were put on trains for the first leg of the journey. The 1-25th is scheduled to deploy to Iraq sometime this fall.
Those trains will travel through Alaska to Anchorage where the vehicles will be loaded on a ship destined for the Mojave Desert in California.
“There’s literally tons and tons of stuff they’ve got to move,” said Maj. Chris Hyde, the public affairs officer for the 1-25th.
Many soldiers have loaded the vehicles with equipment they will need in Iraq since the Stryker vehicles will not return to Alaska until the brigade’s 12-month mission is completed.
For many, this will be a return trip to Iraq. The 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, now reflagged the 1-25th, was sent to Iraq for 16 months in 2005 and 2006 as part of the largest troop deployment from Alaska since Vietnam.
During the last year, the 4,000 members of the brigade have been preparing to go to Iraq. When they go to the National Training Center in California this July, it will be something of a final test before they head into the battlefield.
While they have engaged in numerous training exercises in Alaska, Hyde says that the Arctic just can’t come close to mimicking a desert environment.
“From what I’ve seen at the NTC, it looks startlingly realistic,” he said. “The mantra there is to make it as close to the real thing as possible.”
Even mannequins used for first aid training are equipped with fake blood packets that feel and even smell like the real thing, Hyde said.
At the training center, troops also will interact with Iraqi or Arab actors so that they better understand the culture before heading overseas.
The entire operation is monitored by “observer controllers,” who act like referees, telling soldiers what they’ve done right, as well as what could have been a deadly mistake in the heat of battle.
“Everything is stepped up a whole lot more,” Hyde said.
Community Discussion
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Our prays are with you 1/25 SBCT!!!!
The war machine grinds on. How terribly sad. When will we as humans ever learn?
As the Iraqi people continue to root out the butchers who have slaughtered the innocent and advanced the cause of tyranny, it is a proud day for Fairbanks to see our local troops be a part of bringing stability to this long suffering nation.
Peace may someday come to this world, but it won't be because American cities are attacked and our citizens are slaughtered in the name of a mad-man's ideology.
May we always remember the people leaping off the World Trade Center buildings, and the heroes of Flight 93.
I happened to see the train as it passed by Fred Meyer's and then behind Wal-Mart. Once the engines went by you couldn't even hear the click-clack of the cars over the noise of us shoppers. Most people didn't even notice the freshly painted vehicles or if they did they didn't pause to watch.
As I watched I couldn't help feeling sad for the GIs and their families who will be so affected by the coming deployment and separation. I wished they could stay home. I wished they weren't the face of our Nation that the world gets to see.
i've been watching them line up on the airfield for a while and i've been listening to my husband complaining about all the BS they are doing to get ready to leave. Seeing his stryker on a outbound train while i was at work yesterday really kinda hit me :-I
i just wish they would tell us when they are actually deploying and stop saying this fall...
It is the VETERAN, not the reporter, who has given us freedom of the press.
It is the VETERAN, not the poet, who has given us freedom of speech.
Actually, it's the Bill of Rights -- the first 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution -- that gives us those freedoms, not veterans. I think what you mean is that veterns fight for those freedoms.
And marencolleen, it's most likely September or October when the deployment occurs.
Hey SlyArticFox ever hear about OPSPEC?!!!! Thank you for giving terrorists the opportunity to know when my husband might be deploying. They've already stated they watch and read our news to know when we will be sending our next batch of fresh troops. I know how you feel Maren, I too am very scared and pray that they will only be gone for 12 months and not 16.
Actually, that would be OPSEC (Operational Security).
Sorry, didn't mean for that to sound snotty. However, a round-about-month of deployment isn't necessarily a violation of OPSEC (what about the media coverage on the day of deployment/day of arrival in Kuwait/push into Iraq, etc. that is normally covered by the media?)
Godspeed to the Soldiers and family members of 1-25!
My husband will be deploying along with alot of great Soldiers that I have become very close with...so all of the Soldiers and familys will be in my prayers and Im with AKARMYWIFE lets hope that this time its only 12 months and not the 16 that they done last deployment.
I'm an Alaskan Native, a Fairbanks resident, and a deployed soldier. (I have about 5 months left on my 15 month tour in Iraq.) I want to wish all of my brothers and sisters in arms a safe journey, a sucessful mission, and a speedy return home. Thanks for what you do.
Give me a frickin' break, AKARMYWIFE. Everyone who has a relative or friend in the military knows when the troops are deploying. It's not a national secret. And I'm sure that al-Qaida is sitting there, surfin' the NewsMiner web site, in between strapping bombs on, to find out what's going on in Fairbanks, Alaska. As if.
If your husband is getting deployed, he's had his orders for some time now. And can know basically down to the week when he's shipping out. Fox is right too, it's not a national secret, it's more like national news. I'm sure if the terrorists want to know something they'll go to the army site not the newsminer.
As this deployment gets closer I am sure that there are many emotions that will come and everyone reacts differently. I am only saying this so that we are understanding of this and not over reacting. We are a family that needs to be there for each other and support each other.
Yes they will be leaving this fall and our loved ones that are going know more closely the date so all you have to do is ask. I can imagine the feeling of seeing the train going through town - brought tears to my eyes to read that.
We know that they are going so as much as we wish we could change that we can not so now we need to get back in the deployment frame of mind and things we can do to make it easier on them. I know that my "Family" here on the Stryker Board will be my biggest support.
A Proud Army Mom
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