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N0truescotsman made a comment on a post by American Mercenary (read it here) with regard to the Stryker Brigades that I just had to respond to.
US Army Stryker Brigades are not (in my opinion) motorized infantry as designated by the US military. I present as an example the 9th Infantry Division (Motorized) that was thoroughly tested during the 1980s.
The goal was to give light infantry forces tactical mobility that would allow them to easily defeat other light infantry, enough firepower to engage mechanized forces (using maneuver) successfully until heavy armor could arrive, while at the same time retaining the strategic mobility that is the hallmark of all light infantry.
The unit was stationed at Ft Lewis in the CRAZY state of Washington (only place in the world that has forests, jungle (you can call it rain forests...its a freaking jungle) and a gosh darn (no profanity...its Christmas) desert within a couple hundred miles of the beach.
The unit road in the dune buggies that the Navy SEALs and Force Recon later made famous in Gulf War 1 until switching over to HMMWVs later.
Much to the Army's credit, the concept was thoroughly tested and found wanting. Even semi-competent opponents (looking at you NTC) were able to demonstrate the vulnerability of the unit to artillery fires and the inability of the unit to survive combat against a fully mechanized force (if they were forced to stand and fight instead of using hit and run tactics).
Fast forward to today and do a simple TO&E and its readily apparent that the Stryker Brigades are a totally different breed of cat.
By any other forces standards the Stryker Brigades are HEAVY mechanized forces. Don't let the wheels fool you! A full strength Stryker Brigade brings a tremendous amount of combat power to the battlefield. The only thing that keeps it from mirroring an Armored Brigade Combat Team is the lack of tanks. If the Army ever gets serious about fixing the Mobile Gun System (MGS) my guess is that bean counters will be doing comparisons of the cost of a ABCT vs. SBCT to see which is cheaper to operate....and experiments will be done to see if an enhanced SBCT (if my guess is correct that they're cheaper) could replace the ABCT in a cost savings, not combat effectiveness move (Note: I'm not trying to imply that a SBCT is as combat effective as an ABCT but I'm betting someone will state that an enhanced version is JUST as capable).
So no. The Stryker Brigades are not re-named Motorized Infantry. At least not in the traditional sense.
As a sidenote, not even the Russian Motorized units are 'truly' motorized in the traditional sense of the word.
