November 14, 2005: The Stryker wheeled armored vehicle is generally thought of as the brainchild of U.S. Army commander general Eric Shinseki. While it was Shinseki who came up with the idea, in 1999, of converting six infantry brigades to "medium" brigades, equipped with Strykers, the concept goes back to the early 1990s. In the wake of the battle of Mogadishu in 1993, where American rangers and commandoes had to battle thousands of Somali militiamen without the help of any American armored vehicles, there was a lot of brainstorming on how to deal with future incidents of that type. The U.S. Army noted the wheeled armored vehicles the marines had been using since the 1980s, and the experience of many European nations with these vehicles. Several officers who had been in Mogadishu (including a marine general, who just happened to be there to check up on training) agreed that wheeled armored vehicles like the marine LAV would have been a big help, and could have been airlifted in quickly because of their lighter (than tracked armored vehicles) weight.

The other thing that made Stryker a success was the decision to use these new vehicles as a test bed for all manner of new computer and communications gear. Strykers were expected to be used for peacekeeping and rapid intervention. As such, they would be in need of first class commo gear, and all the new computer and sensor stuff made it easier to keep track of what was going on in the neighborhood as well.

A third factor was the involvement of the troops in the development of the vehicle. Even after the first brigade was equipped and trained to use Stryker, there was a constant call for feedback from the users. And many of those comments and suggestions were acted on. While the press was doing their usual gloom and doom assessment of Stryker, the vehicle, and the crews, were doing a great job in combat. If all you did was read the media, you'd be confused. Which is why it might be better to listen to the troops more, and headline hunting journalists less.