The first "Stryker" Interim Armored Vehicles were being shipped by commercial truck carriers to the two Interim Brigade Combat Teams at Fort Lewis, WA at the end of May. The Military Traffic Management Command had shipped four Strykers as of 21 May and seven more are en route with team drivers being used to expedite movement from manufacturing facilities in Anniston, AL and London, Ontario. The 19-ton, eight-wheeled vehicles no longer carry the label "Light" armored vehicles and therefore require special expedited permits for oversize loads.

The 600 Strykers to be shipped to Fort Lewis are part of a very lucrative $4 billion contract, a joint venture between General Motors and General Dynamics Land Systems Defense Group LLC that calls for the production of 2,100 Strykers over the next six years. In addition to Fort Lewis' 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division and the 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division, the Stryker will be issued to the 172nd Infantry
Brigade (Separate) (Fort Richardson, AK), the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment (Light) (Fort Polk, LA), the 2nd Brigade, 25th Infantry Division (Light) (Schofield Barracks, HI) and the 56th Brigade, 28th Infantry Division (Mechanized) (Pennsylvania Army National Guard). - Adam Geibel