"Back at the Gap" Major General Frank H. Smoker, Jr. (USAF, Retired) Retooling for Stryker Brigade will reshape landscape 44th in a series Probably the most important event in the history of Fort Indiantown Gap since World War II was the transformation on October 24, 2004 of the Pennsylvania Army National Guard’s 56th Brigade, 28th Infantry Division, into the 56th Stryker Brigade Combat Team (SBCT). During ceremonies formally recognizing the formation of this new unit, Maj. Gen. Jessica L. Wright, adjutant general of Pennsylvania, said, “We unveil today’s future for the Army. The activation of the Stryker Brigade is the largest program undertaken by the Pennsylvania National Guard in modern history. We are especially proud of the 56th Brigade as the only National Guard unit to have been selected as one of the Army’s six elite rapid-mobilization brigades.” During the ceremony, U.S. Congressman John Murtha, D-Pa, praised the Pennsylvania National Guard leadership for its efforts in bringing the Stryker Brigade to Pennsylvania. “I am proud to be a Pennsylvanian and to participate in a service where I know you are going to make a difference.” He said. Murtha, a member of the House Defense Appropriations Committee, explained, in the 1990’s, the Army was still operating as it had years before during the Cold War era. Then, as peacekeeping and urban warfare missions were increasing, this led the Army to develop a lighter, more high tech fighting force. The result was the creation of the Stryker Brigade Combat Teams, with one of these six combat teams being assigned to the 28th Infantry Division. Fort Indiantown Gap was chosen in July 2003 as the home base for Pennsylvania’s SBCT, Murtha said. The 56th, based in Philadelphia, will require 3,717 traditional Guardsmen and 220 more full-time military personnel, mostly posted with units around the state. In Pennsylvania, it will feature 300 of the Army’s new state-of-the-art, rapidly deployable eight-wheeled vehicles, each costing $2.2 million. The Stryker vehicle was named in honor of two deceased Medal of Honor recipients, Pfc. Stuart R. Stryker, who served in World War II, and Spec. Robert F. Stryker, who served in Vietnam. Both were killed in action. Although bearing the same last name, they are not related. Pennsylvania has the largest Army National Guard in the United States with the 28th Infantry Division being the premier division with a large number of soldiers in a high state of readiness. The 56th Brigade can easily make the transition to a Stryker Team because a majority of the unit requirements either already exist within Pennsylvania or are available through unit conversions. The Stryker Brigade is a $1.5 billion program that includes 85 new construction projects across the Commonwealth from Philadelphia to Erie. There will be ten new readiness centers (armories), eight new organizational maintenance shops along with extensive upgrades to numerous existing facilities, new firing ranges, new training areas and new equipment. New or upgraded readiness centers are estimated to cost over $141 million. One of these new readiness centers will be located in Lebanon, at an estimated cost of $8.3 million. Plus, nearly $36 million will be spent in new or upgraded organizational shops (repair and service centers) throughout the state. At the Gap’s National Guard Training Center alone, estimated construction costs for new or updated training ranges or other facilities to be built or renovated are estimated to be about $163 million. Fifty additional technicians will be assigned at the Gap to operate the new simulators, increasing the Gap’s workforce to about 1,550 personnel. In October 2004, Congressman Tim Holden held a press conference with Wright to announce a Defense Appropriation in the amount of $20.3 million for the new Unit Training Equipment Site at the Gap. This is one of the first new facilities programmed for the 56th Stryker Brigade, and it will provide space and equipment to work on the Army’s most advanced weapons systems, including the Stryker family of vehicles. Until the recent BRAC list was announced, there was some concern on my part that Fort Indiantown Gap might be on the year 2005 realignment or closure list. But the officials at the fort believed that the $1.5 billion in federal money for new National Guard facilities and equipment that is coming to Pennsylvania would help protect the Gap. Fortunately, as it turned out, the Gap is not on the list and is still destined for the new Stryker transformation and all that it entails. While the 56th Brigade soldiers have been training on their new digital system for almost two years, the leadership only recently began collective training with their active component counterparts in a combined Command Post Exercise at Fort Lewis, Washington. Formed at Fort Lewis in 2001 as the Army’s first Stryker Brigade, it has the most experience with this mission and was chosen to host this combined exercise. The 56th Brigade expects to complete fielding of the Stryker family to evolve in 2006 and to complete its transformation by late 2007. “The biggest challenge for us in the 56th Brigade is changing the way we think, not just tactics, but the day-to-day training.” said Col. Joel M. Wierenga, the brigade commander. The command sergeant major of the brigade is Command Sgt. Maj. John E. Jones. Included in the new training facilities at the Gap is an urban assault course and four Shadow 200 unmanned reconnaissance planes cost $2.2 million each. These planes can be launched without exposing a pilot to certain dangerous reconnaissance missions. Each plane is equipped with cameras so sensitive they can detect disturbed earth where a roadside bomb could be planted, said Lt. Col. Dave Edwards, the Gap’s training site engineer. The Shadow 200 is launched under remote control from a special track, has a cruising speed of 75 mph and an endurance of five hours flight time. It has a wingspan of 12 feet and a length of 11 feet. Equipped with only a 38 horsepower engine, this plane is very quiet. Before the Pennsylvania brigade is fully fielded, there are going to be major changes to the landscape at the Gap. Eight new ranges and six new buildings are planned. A machine gun range costs $4.2 million because the guns are wired to a computer controlled by range officers. The officers can make numerous targets pop up all over the 1,500-yard range and know instantly if troops hit them. The ranges won’t look much different from the Gap’s current ranges, but three training courses are designed to teach Stryker troops lessons learned from urban environments of Somalia, Panama and Iraq. One complex will include an urban assault course where soldiers will learn to blast their way into buildings with explosives. Another component is a “shoot house” where troops will learn to fight indoors. Remote-controlled figures will pop up with soldiers having to make quick decisions on whether the figures are hostile – in which case they will shoot them – or noncombatants in the wrong place at the wrong time. The most sophisticated and expensive part of the urban training plans is a $16.7 million “city” to be built on the Gap’s Second Mountain. The town will consist of about two dozen buildings and underground tunnels that troops will attack under the watchful eyes of video cameras. To critique the attack, the unit can view the film of the operation much in the same way a football team watches game films. All of these improvements will put the Pennsylvania National Guard in step with the Army’s most advanced systems. Published in the Wednesday, July 13, 2005 edition of the Lebanon Daily News   © 2005 Frank H. Smoker, Jr. All rights reserved. Reproduced by permission of the author. Go "Back at the Gap" Index