From TransFormaTion To CombaT The First stryker brigade at War

Soldiers pull local security during a search for insurgents west of Mosul.
The soldiers of the brigade’s main body began arriving back in the
United States on 22 October 2004, aware that they had accomplished a
number of extremely difficult tasks during their year-long deployment
to Iraq. They had been the first troops to employ the Stryker in combat.
As a result, they and their officers had deliberately concentrated on
developing the most effective ways to employ the vehicle in combat so
they could pass them on to the Stryker units that would take their place.
“We literally wrote the book,” 1st Lt. Nicholas J. Kardonsky avowed,
“on how to use the vehicle in combat.”
Not only had the brigade documented tactical lessons for future use,
it had also cultivated a reputation within CJTF–7 as a highly mobile
infantry force capable of responding rapidly and effectively to changing
operational conditions. The command and its successor had made use of
this unique capability again and again, calling upon the Stryker Brigade
to take the fight to the enemy not only in northwestern Iraq but also in
Samarra, Balad, An Najaf, Baghdad, and Babil Province. As the unit had
conducted those operations, it had also trained Iraqi National Guard units
and had carried out numerous civic action programs.
The Stryker had played a substantial role in the brigade’s success. The
5th Battalion, 20th Infantry’s operations officer, Major Baker, who replaced
Major O’Steen when he moved up to become battalion executive officer,
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