TodayStryker brigade set for Iraq
The 108th Field Artillery is the first Stryker Brigade to come from the National Guard, officials say
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Sentinel file photo/Jason Malmont A Stryker vehicle at Fort Indiantown Gap
Local soldiers will be part of the first National Guard Stryker Brigade deployed to Iraq, according to Capt. Ed Shank.
“All eyes are on us,” said Shank, who is one of the 394 people in the 108th Field Artillery. “We’re going to make them proud.”
The brigade has known for a while now that it will begin what is supposed to be a year-long deployment by heading to Mississippi for further training in September, Shank said.
“It’s a schoolhouse that’s run by people who have been in Iraq,” he said.
Using the armored combat vehicles, Shank said, means troops can be driven instead of marched to their destinations on the field, which is faster and saves the troops’ energy.
And, Shank said, it is also safer.
“We have run into IEDs (improvised explosive devices) that have exploded under the tires, and they just sort of tipped up and then back down again,” Shank said. In the Stryker, he said, “We feel pretty safe.”
The unit will probably move to the Middle East in January, Shank said, noting that members know they are going to Iraq, but not exactly where they will be there.
Planning for the Stryker brigade started about seven years ago, he said, before the war in Iraq even began.
“A lot of us are pretty excited about it,” Shank said. “At least as excited as you can be.”
The brigade, whose members ages range from 18 to 57, includes about 100 people from the Carlisle area, Shank said. He is among the 10 to 15 percent of them who have already been to the Middle East for one or two tours.
