The Olympian

Stryker vehicles restored to combat readiness

The Olympian • Published January 17, 2008

Nearly 300 Stryker armored vehicle are receiving some tender loving care after enduring 15 months of combat in Iraq.

This morning, more than a dozen vehicles were the first returned to the 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division after being repaired and refurbished to like-new condition.

“When it leaves here, it’s in the best shape it can be in,” said Tony Conoscenti, project manager for the vehicles’ “reset.” The cost of the vehicles' reset is $44 million, he said.

The vehicles traveled thousands of miles on patrol in desert conditions as insurgents shot at them or attempted to blow them up. Back home, protesters at the Port of Olympia attempted to barricade their return to Fort Lewis in November, leading to dozens of arrests.

The vehicles’ return means soldiers can begin the next phase of their training cycle -- which might lead to another deployment to Iraq.

More than 150 contractors are working long hours to return the vehicles to the brigade as quickly as possible. Conoscenti, a former infantryman who served 16 months with a Stryker brigade based in Alaska, said the contractors know the more time the soldiers have to train in the vehicles, “the more prepared they’re going to be” in the event of another deployment.

The contractors will repair 268 vehicles by April 30. Another 19 severely damaged vehicles are being rebuilt at a General Dynamics Land Systems plant in Anniston, Ala. The brigade will receive 20 new armored vehicles to replace those damaged in Iraq to the point they couldn’t be repaired.