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The current Army force structure is comprised of light and heavy forces. Light forces strike quickly but lack survivability, lethality, and tactical mobility. Heavy forces are unequalled in their ability to gain and hold terrain and are the decisive element in major theatre wars, but have a large logistical footprint and are challenged to reach contingencies where deployment groundwork has not been established.

In October 1999, the Secretary of the Army and the Chief of Staff of the Army envisioned a force transformation in order to meet the demands of the 21st century. This transformation would take into account lessons learned from previous missions in order to maintain the Army's role of defending the American people. It also articulated a vision for transforming the Army into a force capable of dominating in any operational environment, provide rapid transition across mission requirements without loss of momentum and have an ability to meet the defense challenges of the future and provide decisive land power forces.

"To adjust the condition of the Army to better meet the requirements of the next century,
we articulate this vision: ‘Soldiers on point for the Nation transforming this, the most
respected Army in the world, into a strategically responsive force that is dominant across
the full spectrum of operations.’ With that overarching goal to frame us, the Army will
undergo a major transformation…"

Army Chief of Staff Gen. Eric K. Shinseki,
October 1999, in his speech launching
Army Transformation.

Army transformation is intended to fulfill the Army Vision which provides for an Objective Force that has the characteristics of being more responsive, deployable, agile, versatile, lethal, survivable, and sustainable. All transformation efforts would proceed in a phased and coordinated fashion to implement changes necessary to achieve these characteristics. The three major phases of the transformation process are the Initial Force, Stryker Force and the Objective Force.

The Draft EIS focuses on the transformation of Alaska's 172nd Infantry Brigade (Separate) into a Stryker Force.The Stryker Force would fill the strategic near-term capability gap. It would leverage state-of-the-art technology as a bridge to the future. The Stryker Force, although organized as a rapidly deployable force for providing the warfighting commanders-in-chief with increased options for responding to small-scale contingencies, would be available for employment, with augmentation, in major-theater wars. Stryker Force units would be highly mobile at the strategic, operational, and tactical levels.

The major objective of the development of the Stryker Force is to convert four to six brigade-sized units to Stryker Brigade Combat Teams (SBCTs). The Stryker Capability Phase would begin with fielding of Stryker armored vehicles (see pictured above) and would end when the selected SBCTs fully manned, equipped, and trained to operational capability.

The

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Transformation EIS