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thedrifter
02-25-07, 04:54 AM
A look at advanced new fighting gear Meet the commander

MICHAEL GILBERT; The News Tribune
Last updated: February 25th, 2007 01:31 AM (PST)

The 4th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division will be the first of the Army’s five Stryker brigades to go to Iraq with all 10 variants of its namesake armored vehicle, as well as with other advanced weapons systems.

Strykers made their combat debut in November 2003 after more than three years in development. The Army created the brigades as a middle alternative to its heavy armored formations and its light infantry units.

Previous brigades deployed with versions of the eight-wheeled Stryker designed for eight specialized functions: infantry carrier, reconnaissance, command, medical, fire support, mortars, anti-tank guided missiles, and engineer.

The 4th Brigade will take two additional versions. Also, one of its infantry battalions will be the first in the Army to go into combat wearing a high-tech system to help soldiers shoot, move and communicate.

Mobile Gun System

Five years in development, the vehicle is armed with a 105 mm cannon that fires four types of rounds designed to blast through walls, destroy enemy bunkers or clear the streets of fighters. The brigade is equipped with 27 of the $3.7 million vehicles.

How will soldiers use it? In a major engagement at Fallujah in 2005, Marines and soldiers quickly learned that insurgents had set up bombs and ambushes along nearly every street in the city. Troops had to blast their way through buildings to avoid the kill zones.

Stryker commanders said they could use the Mobile Gun System against sniper nests. And just having the big gun on the street will have an intimidating effect, they said.

Nuclear, Biological, Chemical Reconnaissance Vehicle

The NBC vehicle is equipped with an array of sensors to detect radiation and biological and chemical agents, and to collect and analyze samples.

There are three of the $2.1 million vehicles, and they might be called to the scene of an attack where industrial gases might be present. Insurgents three times this month have set off improvised bombs attached to tanks of chlorine gas, U.S. military officials said.

Otherwise, commanders will likely use the specialized vehicles for general armored transportation. Each is armed with a .50-caliber machine gun and equipped with the same communications and computer gear as other versions of the Stryker.

Land Warrior System

The Army has been working for more than a decade to develop a light-weight ensemble of computers, radios, cameras, a Global Positioning System and lasers that soldiers can wear in combat. The goal is to greatly enhance their knowledge of their surroundings, their ability to communicate and the precision of their fire.

One of the 4th Brigade’s three infantry battalions – the 4th Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment – has been training for nearly a year with the latest version of the Land Warrior System. It still has glitches, but leaders in the unit and the brigade were satisfied with its performance enough to take it to Iraq.

Still, the Army earlier this month proposed to cancel $170 million it was to have spent developing the system for three Stryker brigades. Officials said the Army wants to spend the money now on more immediate needs, but that funding for a program such as Land Warrior would likely return as part of the service’s massive Future Combat System program.

About 200 soldiers in the 4-9 will go ahead with plans to bring the system to Iraq, and General Dynamics will send contractors to support the system.

Lt. Col. William Prior, the 4-9 commander, said the system has proved its value, although he and his soldiers have one pressing concern: weight.

The system weighs about 17 pounds. When worn with the additional body armor, Kevlar helmet and other protective gear, the Land Warrior System packs an average of 80 pounds of gear onto each soldier. That’s not including ammunition or other special equipment, such as a shotgun or bolt cutters.

Prior said he’s seeking permission from the Army to pursue a lighter set of soldier protective gear.

“If we’re not over the breaking point, we’re close to it,” said Command Sgt. Maj. Phil Pich, the 4-9’s senior enlisted soldier.

Col. Jon S. Lehr is the commander of the 4th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division. He has overseen the Stryker unit’s training since he and his nearly 4,000 soldiers arrived at Fort Lewis in the spring of 2005.

His office walls are adorned with big-game trophies, including an enormous tom turkey, a wild boar and a massive buck with a 5-foot rack of antlers.

His passion for hunting is a birthright, the result of his upbringing in central Pennsylvania.

“It was so much a part of the culture they gave children a couple days off from school for the opening of deer season,” he said. “Hunting is a big part of my life.”

Age: 48.

Hometown: Dover, Pa.

Family: Lehr and his wife, Stacey, live at Fort Lewis.

Education: Bachelor’s in criminal justice, York College of Pennsylvania; master’s in general administration, Central Michigan University; master’s in strategic studies, Marine Corps War College.

Early career: Lehr joined the Pennsylvania Army National Guard a couple of years out of high school and became a weapons specialist in a Special Forces A Team. He was commissioned as an active-duty second lieutenant after graduating college in 1982. First assignments were with the 2nd Infantry Division in Korea.

Ranger experience: Lehr spent six years in the 75th Ranger Regiment, first as a platoon leader and assistant operations officer in 3rd Battalion, and later as company commander and logistics officer in 1st Battalion.

Other command time: Lehr led an infantry company and a brigade headquarters company in Korea. He commanded a battalion in the 1st Brigade, 101st Airborne Division from 1999-2001, and was called back to be the brigade’s deputy commander for the invasion of Iraq and first year of the war.

Other assignments: Lehr taught for two years at the Marine Corps Command and Staff College, a midcareer educational program for Marine officers at Quantico, Va. He also attended the Marine Corps War College.

In June 2004, he returned to Korea for a third time as assistant deputy chief of staff of U.S. Forces Korea.

Interests: The Lehrs are avid fitness buffs. She teaches a 5:15 a.m. exercise class each day. He runs, rides a stationary bike and lifts weights.

“I don’t expect everybody to run an 11-minute two-mile,” he said. “But I expect everybody to do P.T. every day and try to improve themselves and work on those skills that will enable them to do their job.”

Originally published: February 25th, 2007 01:00 AM (PST)

Ellie