The Joint Readiness Training Center is pleased to present the fourteenth episode to air on ‘The Crucible - The JRTC Experience.’ Hosted by the Commander of Ops Group (COG), COL Matthew Hardman. Today’s guests are the command team from 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, COL Andrew Kiser and CSM Michael Eierman. The SBCT’s Hollywood call-sign is “Warhorse” but are also known as “Mountain Warrior” and their motto of “For Love of Country.”

The 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team was established in November 1917 as the 7th Infantry Brigade for the 4th Infantry Division and served valiantly in World War I. The brigade was deactivated just prior to World War II but saw service during the Vietnam War. The Mountain Warrior Brigade is one of the most deployed brigades during the Global War on Terror with numerous deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. Their long, distinguished service to the Nation includes nineteen Medal of Honor recipients with three recipients from the GWOT era.

The Mountain Warrior Brigade’s rotation at the JRTC was the first Stryker rotation in nearly five years as the rotational training unit. This rotation was an extremely complex rotation as it was almost a Division (-) or at least BCT (+) sized rotation as in addition to being a SBCT, they also had attached 142nd Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, the Canadian 3 R22eR light infantry battalion, and 83rd Chemical Battalion as well as an armored company and Paladin battery for a grand total of eight thousand Soldiers and 1,600 vehicles training at the Joint Readiness Training Center.

In this episode they discuss some of lessons learned from operating Stryker and armored elements across complex, restrictive terrain during large scale combat operations. They emphasized the need to focus on the heavy-light / mounted-dismounted paradigm required to fight across complex terrain at a high operations tempo. As COL Kiser described it, “Fighting Geronimo in a broom closet.” The brigade heavily focused on the dismounted infantry squad being the primary maneuver element with the Strykers simply providing transportation and sustainment with occasional use as support-by-fire assets.

Part of S02 “If I Would Have Only Known” series.

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