The goal is to space out departures to avoid tangling traffic. Warrant Officer Georgia Rountree said the trek will consist of dozens of 15- to 30-vehicle convoys rather than a big Army parade.Įvery half hour during the convoy days, vehicles from the brigade will begin the drive, sticking to a 40 mph speed limit. "They will have full visibility - 360 degrees," he said.īut packing 300 Strykers along with hundreds of trucks and Humvees onto the highway isn't a commute taken lightly. Kevin Boyd said.īoyd said the Stryker drivers will have plenty of help keeping an eye on traffic, with lookouts on the vehicles as they rumble through the four-hour drive. That's why the Army bought its first Strykers in 1999 - the lighter rigs can be quickly flown or driven to war.Īnd while the brigade's Strykers were built by General Dynamics, they behave more like General Motors-built Cadillacs on the highway, Maj. The Strykers weigh in at an interstate-friendly 18 tons, about half of a loaded 18-wheeler. The eight-wheeled rigs have four-wheel steering and behave like heavily armored motor homes on the open road. Strykers, though, are built for pavement. Those heavier vehicles have been hauled to the training area by train. Long road convoys are commonplace at some Army posts, including Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington, where Stryker troops regularly hit the highway for a 150-mile drive to a training area near Yakima.Īt Fort Carson, though, most Piñon Canyon training has involved tanks and M-2 Bradley Fighting Vehicles - tracked rigs that aren't designed for freeway driving. Curtis Yankie, a transportation officer with the post's 4th Infantry Division. "It could pose some unique challenges," said Maj. Officials in the counties along the route have offered to ease the way for the Army rigs and usher them through areas that might become congested.
To do that, soldiers must learn the road.īrigade planners have labored for eight months to draw up convoy plans and work with local authorities along the route to blunt the impact on commuters. A big part of the Stryker's battlefield appeal is its ability to move quickly across vast distances, allowing commanders to reinforce a weakened line or exploit an enemy shortcoming in hours. Hodne's brigade has been training for more than a year with the Strykers, which replaced a contingent of vehicles including 72-ton M-1 tanks.
"The move to Piñon Canyon is itself a training event," said Col.
0 kommentar(er)
