FORT LEWIS, Wash. - With 4th Brigade receiving the final installment of refurbished Strykers from General Dynamics Land Systems Jan. 22, the Raiders are now prepared to move on in the Army Force-Generation cycle from resetting to reintegrating.
"Today, you are a witness of one of the reasons of why being a Stryker Soldier and being in the Styrker community is a great opportunity," said brigade commander Col. John Norris at a small ceremony at the GDLS motor pool.
"This brigade came back just this past August. We parked our vehicles, we handed them off to contractors with the GDLS so that we could rebuild and refit our brigade combat team during the reset process. That allowed us to focus on taking care of the ... human dimension side of the team," Norris said.
Fifteen months of wear and tear certainly took its toll on the brigade's assault vehicles, evident by the number of hours worked and parts used in completing the reset.
According to reset coordinator, Rick Brittle, it took 175 personnel 260 hours per Stryker to replace, on average, 130 parts. There were a total of 34,000 requisitions submitted in the four months it took to complete the reset.
In order to get the Strykers completely finished by last week, GDLS personnel had to double the number of vehicles being worked on inside the work bay from eight to 16.
They also had three times the number of workers on hand than normal and were finishing about four vehicles per day.
While in theater, the Raider Brigade participated in the Blue to Green transition where, according to Lt. Col. J.C. Miller, Stryker mechanics were added to the brigade's support battalion, the 202nd BSB, and received on-the-job training from GDLS personnel.
This was done because the number of contractors available is being cut significantly.
With the reset finally completed, Norris said his brigade will hit the ground running as the calendar turns to February.
"Today marks the end of the transition from reset to training. We're getting ready to finish the reset cycle thanks to the great help of these Americans right here," said Norris of the GDLS employees attending the ceremony.
"GDLS team, at large, I want to thank you," he said, "and it's been my honor as the brigade commander of 'four-deuce' Raider Brigade to work with you to get us to this point today where we can move forward and start training."
Matt Smith is a reporter with Fort Lewis' Northwest Guardian.
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