Senators protest Stryker delay
By Tony Capaccio
Bloomberg News Service
WASHINGTON — The Pentagon ignored congressional orders when it put off financing two brigades of the new Stryker combat vehicle in Hawai'i and Pennsylvania, two U.S. senators have charged.
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Money for four brigades of the eight-wheeled Stryker is in the Pentagon's fiscal 2004-09 spending plan. Defense Department officials allowed the Army to include $3 billion for the possibility of buying a fifth and sixth brigade — about 660 vehicles — contingent on future studies.
2003 defense appropriations from Congress called for financing of the final two Stryker combat vehicle brigades.
Making the decision to pay for the last two brigades contingent on studies is in "direct violation" of the $355 billion fiscal 2003 defense appropriations act that directed the Pentagon to provide money for all six brigades, Democrat Dan Inouye of Hawai'i and Alaska Republican Ted Stevens wrote to Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz.
Stevens is the incoming chairman of the defense appropriations subcommittee. Inouye is the panel's ranking Democrat.
The Defense Department last month decided to provide money for a fourth Stryker Brigade Combat Team slated for Fort Polk, La., but left in doubt the fifth and sixth such teams in Hawai'i and Pennsylvania.
Pentagon officials asked the Army to "come back and define with a little more specificity" plans for a remodeled Stryker with greater combat capability.
An Environmental Impact Statement review is under way for a Stryker brigade in Hawai'i that would mean $693 million in construction projects on O'ahu and the Big Island. The Army had planned on training with the armored vehicles in 2006.
The Jan. 6 letter highlights the extent to which decisions by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to cut or delay major weapons systems are being challenged by lawmakers.
"Your action is yet another example of the disregard of the Congress and existing law, by the senior leadership of the Defense Department," the senators wrote. "In this post 9/11 world, the Congress and executive branch need to be able to work together in an atmosphere of trust and cooperation. We find your repeated actions demonstrate an unwillingness by the Defense Department leadership to work with Congress in a partnership."
The lawmakers also referred to the Pentagon's decision last May to cancel the $11 billion Crusader self-propelled howitzer late in the debate over the fiscal 2003 budget.
Wolfowitz was not immediately available for comment.
Wolfowitz last month wrote Inouye that he was evaluating options including using the $3 billion to accelerate improvements in the first three Stryker brigades.
"We will work closely with the Army in the next few months on this effort," Wolfowitz wrote. "We will consult with you about the options."
In response, the lawmakers wrote, "We find your offer to consult with Congress to be hollow."
The Stryker can be configured in 10 versions, each performing a specialized combat mission including carrying troops.
The vehicles can travel up to 62 mph on all terrain. Each weighs about 18 tons. An M1-A2, the Army's most capable tank, weighs 68 tons by comparison.
Stryker manufacturers General Motors and General Dynamics will receive about $600 million in orders if the fiscal 2004 budget is approved by Congress.
Advertiser military writer William Cole contributed to this report.
