My modernized Striker Infantry Company.

I got to fight as a PL and Take Command in the states, and this is my wish list.

Ok, I was in the army for 23 years, and my last five years were in a Stryker company and as a battalion staff officer in the Stryker unit. I would use some opinions to increase the lethality of the Stryker Battalions. Because I am a fiction writer, I don’t go through the army acquisitions process.

The basic building block of the Stryker Battalion is the Platoon—forty barrel-chested freedom fighters with four Infantry Carrier Vehicles. The vehicle armament consists of a CROWS or CROWS J that can mount an M2A1 50 caliber browning machine gun or an MK19 automatic 40 mm grenade launcher. That was good when fighting an insurgency in Iraq, but completely under-gunned for war in central or eastern Europe against the forces of the bear.

The infantry squad has individual weapons for the soldiers consisting of the M4 weapon system or the new Sig Battle rifle. The M7 shoots the 6.8mm by 51mm cartridge developed to be a high-pressure round for extreme velocity and terminal effects. The squad's soldiers are fitted with many thermal and night vision systems that allow the squad to be effective in daylight or night. Battle management tools also put information at the squad leader’s fingertips. Each squad has a Javelin weapon system for anti-tank duty and could also be equipped with a Carl Gustav launcher with many different rounds to eliminate threats on the battlefield.

Now is where my imagination uses commercial off-the-shelf solutions to make the platoon more lethal on the modern battlefield. My first change would be to replace the Common Remote Weapons System on top of the platoon Strykers, remove the 50 cal and MK19, and replace it with a 30 mm XM 814 link-fed bushmaster cannon. This weapon system can be mounted on lighter vehicles and even pedestals on a pickup truck. The Marines, God bless them, are mounting this exact weapon system on JLTV light mine-resistant four-wheel trucks. This immediately increases the support-by-fire potential for the dismounted squad.

In my day, the company had three rifle platoons with 12 strikers, and the CO and Xo had a Stryker for battlefield circulation and to float to the line platoons if they lost a truck due to maintenance or combat loss. There would be seven 30mm armed Strykers in the company. But wait, there’s more!

In my day, the Infantry company had a fourth platoon of three mobile gun systems armed with a 105mm cannon for duty as an assault gun. This looked good on paper but was an utter disappointment in use. A 105mm canister round was terrific for eliminating a threat from dismounted infantry or thin-skinned vehicles. The gun also had a multi-purpose Hige Explosive round that could reach out and touch enemy forces hiding in a building. The SABOT rounds for the 105mm could destroy T72/80 tanks on the battlefield. The suck part was only eight rounds ready to fire in the autoloader, and the replenisher for the autoloader was, I can’t say what I'm thinking, or I’ll have to go to the Angry Jumpmaser HR department for counseling. It looked good on paper but not so good in practice.

Now, this is where imagination and fiction come into play. The 105mm cannon goes to the scrap heap of life. The manned turret on the MGS is replaced with one that houses a 50 mm XM 913 bushmaster autocannon. Now, I have an unusual affinity for anything that can shoot three rounds of high explosive dual-purpose ammunition and SABOT armor-piercing rounds at 200 rounds a minute. This would give the infantry company commander a reaction force in the defense or offense. I’m thinking, “Here I come to save the day!” kind of destructive firepower for the company.

If you need big guns, have a company of M10 Booker Mobile Protected Firepower light tanks at the battalion level to provide a platoon to each line company for contingencies where big guns are needed or used at the battalion level as a quick reaction force to come running when things get heavy. A company of 14 Booker MPF systems has a lot of destructive potential for the battalion commander to have in his back pocket.

The balanced platoon of two CROWs J with an attached javelin launcher for threats on the battlefield that need to be instantly destroyed, along with two CROWs with the 30mm link-fed bushmaster cannon, is a great place to start. The Army is already addressing the issue of the 30mm at the platoon level with the Medium Caliber Weapon System that uses an unmanned turret to provide extra hitting power to the infantry company. My fictional company, TO&E, operates a different cannon, but it still provides the hitting power of the MGS platoon with a 50mm bushmaster and has a place for the M10 Booker to contribute to the effort.

My next question is, WHERE would this balanced company’s firepower be best used in a World War III scenario? Stay tuned to your favorite ebook retailer to discover where I’m going in my Breaching Ain’t Easy universe with this cartoon.