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56th Stryker Brigade Combat Team


The 56th Stryker Brigade Combat Team (SBCT) is the only reserve component SBCT and one of a total of seven in the United States Army. The Pennsylvania National Guard was selected to field the brigade; it was activated in October 2004. They currently are undergoing training and should hit operational capability in late 2008.

In our current world forces need to get to the fight fast. They must deploy rapidly with limited logistics and hit the ground anywhere in the world within 96 hours. Stryker meets this need by being rapidly deployable, agile, versatile, lethal, survivable and sustainable. It employs the latest computer technology and can take soldiers safely and accurately into a range of environments, from war to humanitarian assistance.

HISTORY

The unit traces its history back to the “Associated Regiment of Foot,” a militia formed in Philadelphia by Benjamin Franklin on November 21, 1747. Since 1747, the 56th Brigade and its units are credited with participation in the Civil War, World War I, World War II, and the Kosovo Defense Campaign. Elements of the brigade have served in Operation Iraqi Freedom and the entire brigade served in recovery operations for Katrina.



Soldiers with the 56th SBCT “ramp up” during lane training at Ft. Indiantown Gap. In lane training the soldiers are given mission after mission that span all types of operations and they must react to contact when moving from lane to lane.

EQUIPMENT AND TRAINING

The equipment and training the Soldiers are receiving in the 56th SBCT is unprecedented for the National Guard.

Many of the Stryker vehicles are fitted with Remote Weapons Systems (RWS). The RWS allows the gunner to stay protected inside the vehicle while engaging targets with a computer game style display and gunners grip.

Three hundred Stryker vehicles are assigned to the 56th Brigade at a cost of approximately $2.2 million per vehicle. The capabilities it provides include digital systems to support a tactical Internet that links key leaders and capabilities across the brigade. This helps to create a near real time picture of the battle field allowing commanders to see first, decide first and act first. This gives Stryker momentum in combat and allows the brigade to bring all its capabilities to bear on the enemy. Once contact with the enemy is made, the Brigade fights in combined arms teams integrated down to the company level.

The SBCT includes a high concentration of snipers, mortars, and infantry weapons systems including the Javelin anti-tank missile to give it the highest ratio of small arms for any brigade-size element.

To maximize the benefits of weapons and technology, the SBCT focuses on innovative and adaptive leadership. It sports a high number of Ranger allocations, and encourages decentralized execution through the enhanced situational awareness of leaders down to the lowest levels. The SBCT is an agile force that can contribute to campaign objectives across the entire spectrum of conflict from peacekeeping through major theater wars.



Capt. Andre McCoy with the 56th SBCT sits in the gunner seat inside the Stryker vehicle. The display magnifies the target as he maneuvers a joy stick that places crosshairs and enables him to engage.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION