The first Stryker combat vehicle in the islands arrived earlier this week from Alaska and will be on public display this week on the Big Island and next week on Oahu.
Public exhibitions
are set for new
isle-based Strykers
The Stryker, the Army's new 19-ton combat vehicle, will make its island public debut Saturday in Waimea on the Big Island.
Two of the combat vehicles, the brainchild of retired Army Chief of Staff Eric Shinseki, were flown into Hickam Air Force Base on a C-17 cargo jet earlier this week from Fort Wainwright in Alaska and Fort Lewis in Washington, accompanied by two soldiers who operated the vehicle in Iraq.
Strykers on Oahu
Next week, the Strykers will be on display on Oahu at:>> Alii Beach Park in Haleiwa, at 66-67 Haleiwa Road, on Tuesday from 5 to 7 p.m.
>> Wahiawa District Park in Wahiawa, at 1139 Kilani Ave., on Wednesday from 5 to 7 p.m.
>> Waianae Intermediate School in Waianae, next Thursday from 5 to 7 p.m.
The two multipurpose vehicles will be loaded onto the Army's experimental twin-hulled 313-foot speed vessel HSV-X1 Joint Venture at Ford Island tomorrow for the trip to the Big Island's Kawaiahae Harbor on the Kona coast and then driven to Waimea Airport where they will be on display Saturday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
The eight-wheeled vehicles will then be driven to Hilo for another public showing at the Hawaii Army National Guard's helicopter hangars near the airport on Sunday, beginning at 10 a.m.
The vehicles will be returned to Oahu next week for three public showings.
On July 7, Lt. Gen. James Campbell approved the conversion of the 25th Division's 2nd Brigade to the fifth of six Stryker units. The 2nd Brigade, which is now in Iraq, will begin the conversion when it returns to Schofield Barracks.
The unit will receive 810 additional soldiers and 291 Strykers by the time it becomes operational in three years.
Twenty-eight military construction projects are planned to prepare Schofield Barracks and the Big Island's Pohakuloa Training Area for the new Stryker unit, at a total cost of $693 million.
