By Ann Roosevelt
Key members of the Senate Appropriations Committee (SAC) have agreed to discuss another Stryker Brigade Combat Team (SBCT) for the National Guard when the House-Senate Conference Committee on the Fiscal Year ’08 Defense Appropriations Bill meets to work out differences.
Currently there is one National Guard SBCT, the 56th SBCT of the 28th Infantry Division (Mechanized) in Pennsylvania.
Stryker brigades ride in armored, wheeled vehicles built by General Dynamics [GD] that come in 10 variants from infantry carrier to mobile gun system.
Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii), chairman of the SAC defense panel, on Oct. 3 on the floor of the Senate responded to Oregon colleagues, who spoke out supporting another SBCT for the guard.
“It is well documented that the Stryker Brigades have indeed performed exceptionally in Iraq,” Inouye said. “You and your colleagues’ views on Strykers for the Guard are noted and will be taken into consideration as we enter into conference.”
Inouye noted the House added more than $1 billion for Strykers.
Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), also a member of SAC and the defense panel, echoed Inouye. “I reiterate my colleague’s sentiment that we will take into consideration our colleague’s views on a Stryker Brigade for the National Guard.”
Oregon Sen. Gordon Smith (R) offered strong support for the National Guard because they fight alongside the active duty force and deserve the same protection and equipment. He added that the Stryker vehicle has performed “exceptionally and proven itself to be a superior fighting vehicle.”
Thus, he asked “that the Army ensure that funding for additional Stryker vehicles with the intent of forming a second Stryker Brigade Combat Team for the National Guard figures prominently in immediate planning.”
Sen. Ron Wyden (D) agreed with Smith and said “in the hands of the Guard, the Stryker vehicles would also be used during domestic disaster situations as well as combat overseas.”
The issue is of interest to House members as well. The House version of the FY ’08 Defense Authorization Bill calls for a report on the utility of and options for more Stryker vehicles for the Guard. This report would be due March 1, 2008.
Even before the defense authorization and appropriation committees began work on the FY ’08 defense bills, Guard officials and some analysts argued that more Strykers would be helpful.
For example, Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour (R) wrote Rep. Gene Taylor (D-Miss.) that another Stryker brigade would support federal and state responsibilities (Defense Daily, March 15). Taylor is a member of the House Armed Services Committee and the House National Guard and Reserve Components Caucus.
Additionally, some analysts have been considering the issue and believe more SBCTs in the National Guard would better match the needs of 21st century operations and provide an equipment synergy with active Army components (Defense Daily, Feb. 5).