The nation that will insist upon drawing a broad line of distinction between the fighting man and the thinking man is liable to find its fighting done by fools and its thinking by cowards.
-- Sir William Francis Butler
The first Stryker Brigade, touted as the centerpiece of the post-Cold War Army, underwent a rigorous series of comprehensive tests and exercises over the short span of three-and-a-half years, a period in which our country became embroiled in a war against Global Terrorism. While this publication examines Army Transformation and the development of the Stryker, it focuses primarily on the brigade's combat operations in Iraq from November 2003 to October 2004. The brigade's performance in combat provides the reader with dramatic insights into conflict as well as the Army's ongoing transformation efforts.