Armor: August 25, 2003

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The army Stryker brigades (which use wheeled armored vehicles) are under a bit of a cloud, as they are untried, and were dreamed up for peacekeeping jobs most soldiers are not particularly eager for. But the marines have been using wheeled armored vehicles for decades and found them quite useful in Iraq. The marines used their LAVs (Light Armored Vehicles) battalions to perform of variety of tasks that were only possible because of the high road speed of the wheeled LAVs. The LAV battalions screened the division flanks, dashed ahead to quickly seize distant objectives and were readily available as a blocking force. The marines are now looking into forming their own Stryker brigade, and may buy army Stryker LAVs (to save on R&D to develop their own.) All of this has proved good for the morale of the troops in the Stryker brigades, especially the one thats headed for Iraq this Fall.