ANNISTON ARMY DEPOT, Ala. - The depot has entered into a workshare agreement with General Dynamics Land Systems to reset more than 300 Stryker vehicles for the U.S. Army's TACOM Life Cycle Management Command.

Work to bring these worn out vehicles "back up to fully mission capable" is to be split between the two partners and is expected to start in December, said Jeff Simmons, director of production at Anniston Army Depot.

Already, the Strykers to be reset are being delivered to the depot.

GDLS, the Stryker's original equipment manufacturer, has had similar contracts with the Army to perform reset work at various sites stateside and overseas, even performing some of the reset work for the mobile gun system model at Anniston Army Depot as part of a separate program.

TACOM awarded GDLS a $46.4 million contract for the reset of vehicles to be used by the 56th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, Pennsylvania Army National Guard. The depot, an installation under TACOM, is funded through Army workload channels to support the program with direct labor and facilities.

Partnering with GDLS on Stryker production has been in place here since 2001 when GDLS began manufacturing all 10 models of the Stryker Family of Vehicles in a facility adjacent to the depot's vehicle test track. And since 2006, the partners have teamed up in the repair and upgrade of the eight-wheeled vehicles that have been damaged in combat or battle.

Depot and GDLS mechanics are required to perform different levels of maintenance depending on the program under which the vehicles enter the production line here.

"Reset programs don't require total disassembly of the vehicle like overhaul programs do," said Simmons. "Vehicles selected for the reset program have little structural damage, and therefore, undergo maintenance and receive upgrades based on the wear and tear sustained."

The reset program is expected to last until July 2010.

ANAD, a leader in public-private partnering, first worked with GDLS in the 1990s to repair and overhaul combat vehicles, such as the M1 Abrams.