Strykers Gear Up for New Afghan Mission

[unhappycamper]

Strykers Gear Up for New Afghan Mission
February 20, 2009
Army News Service|by SSgt. Michael J. Carden

WASHINGTON - The Army's Stryker armored vehicle will get its first crack at the resurgent Taliban and terrorist strongholds in Afghanistan this summer when the 2nd Infantry Division's, 5th Stryker Brigade Combat Team hits the ground there.

Gen. David D. McKiernan, commander of NATO's International Security Assistance Force and U.S. Forces Afghanistan, said at a Pentagon news conference yesterday that he specifically requested the Stryker brigade for its versatility.

"I asked for a Stryker capability, with one of the brigade combat teams, so that it could provide the mobility, the situational awareness, the protection," McKiernan said. "And, quite frankly, it provides a lot of infantrymen. And that would give us an ability to maneuver capabilities in the southern and southwestern parts of Afghanistan."

The brigade will bring about 4,000 Soldiers and nearly 300 Strykers to the fight in Afghanistan. They will be operating in the country's southern region and along the Pakistan border, areas that don't have a sufficient security presence, preventing governance and infrastructure progress, McKiernan said.

"We need persistent security presence in order to fight a counterinsurgency and to shape 'clear, hold and build' in support of a rapidly developing Afghan capacity," he said, referring to the strategy of clearing an area of insurgents, preventing them from returning, then taking advantage of the improved security to build governance and infrastructure.


Rest of article at: http://www.military.com/news/article/army-news/strykers-gear-up-for-new-afghan-mission.html