Armor lessons.

• Author: Goure, Daniel
• Position: Letters - Letter to the Editor

What a prescient leader was the former U.S. Army chief of staff, Gen. Eric Shinseki, when he proposed transforming his service with a mix of heavy and medium armored vehicles. The wisdom of his approach is demonstrated in Roxana Tiron's article on the use of armored vehicles in Iraq ("Heavy Armor Gains Clout in Urban Combat," July 2004).

Shinseki was criticized roundly for wanting to equip light brigades with the medium-weight Stryker armored vehicle. At the same time, advocates of transformation denounced him for insisting on retaining a significant number of heavy armored combat vehicles. It looks like he was right on both decisions.

As the article correctly points out, the Army needs a mix of vehicle types, particularly for stability and counterinsurgency operations. The new Stryker medium-weight brigade has proven to be highly effective in Iraq, maintaining security over an area that took an entire light division to patrol, while providing enhanced survivability for crew and passengers. Units from that brigade have participated in intense fighting in both open and urban terrain. If not for the industrial base limitations, the Pentagon would probably be shipping more Strykers to Iraq instead of armor...