Brigade Combat Team - Stryker Brigade Combat Team

Stryker Brigade Combat Team

The Stryker brigade combat team (SBCT) is a mechanized infantry force structured around the Stryker eight-wheeled variant of the General Dynamics LAV III, chosen as "interim armored vehicle" for the US Army. A full Stryker brigade was intended to be C-130 Hercules air transportable into theatre within 96 hours, while a division-sized force is expected to need 120 hours. The Stryker brigade is an organic combined arms unit of light armored vehicles, and is organized differently than the infantry or heavy brigade combat teams. The Stryker brigades are being used to implement network-centric warfare doctrines, and are intended to fill a gap between the United States' highly mobile light infantry and its much heavier armored infantry. The BCT Ground Combat Vehicle Program is the planned successor of the interim armored vehicle.

Each Stryker brigade combat team consists of three infantry battalions, one reconnaissance (cavalry) squadron, one fires (artillery) battalion, one brigade support battalion, one brigade headquarters and headquarters company, one network support company, one military intelligence company, one engineer company, and one anti-tank company. Unlike the infantry and heavy BCTs, there is neither a brigade special troops battalion nor forward support companies in the brigade support battalion for the five maneuver elements.