only some synapses firing...

Started the fall of 2003, this blog gives you a glimpse of our experiences during our sons deployment to Iraq with the Stryker Brigade.

Friday, June 18, 2004

Escort Service

It's not glamorous. But it's essential.

Convoy duty. An army runs - and fights - only when it has the supplies it needs to continue. Fuel, food, ammo and spare parts. In warfare one of the primary targets of any attacking "army" are the supply lines. Cut off supplies and you slow the other army's advance and impede their success

Up to this point one of the only weapons platform that could keep up with the convoys as they traveled the byways and highways of Iraq were Humvees and/or trucks equipped with machine guns. The Strykers are about to change that. Elements of the Stryker Brigade have already operated out of Camp Anaconda as convoy escorts and the success rate has been phenomenal. Attacks on convoys escorted by the Strykers quickly tapered off.

The Strykers are more heavily armored than a Humvee but faster than a Bradley. They are fast enough to keep up and powerful enough to stop an attack. Each Stryker carries more firepower than anyone riding in a Humvee could ever hope for - 40mm grenade launchers and 50 cal machine guns can reach out and touch somebody, plus the added advantage of four heavily armed (including man launched missiles) "dismounts" to take the fight back to the bad guys. And the machine gunner is protected inside the vehicle and operates his weapon remotely. Telescopic gun sights allow the gunners to see further and infrared/night vision give them additional clout. The convoy attacks stopped quickly after the Strykers made an "impression" on the insurgents.

More of these Stryker vehicles will be starting convoy escort duty this weekend. Most if not all of the 1-14 Cav, his Squadron, will be moving to Balad. Strykers will be accompanying the fuel and supply trucks on the "mean streets" of Iraq. It can be assumed that they will escort those convoys viewed as being in the most danger of attack.

Convoy escort will mean a refocus by those tasked to do the job. The Strykers have been running patrols. A Stryker patrol's main function is to "entice" an attack so that the Strykers can take the fight back to the enemy. The Stryker Soldiers have been "aggressive" up to this point in their tour. This isn't the case with escort duty. Now the Stryker Soldier's main focus is to get all of the men and equipment under their protection safely from point A to point B. An attack on a convoy won't necessarily initiate an aggressive pursuit by Strykers - more likely there will be a Stryker that will pull aside to inflict a little damage, keeping the enemies heads down so that the convoy can pass without loss.

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home