For Immediate Release

November 18, 1999

APPROPRIATIONS BILL FUNDS
MEDIUM WEIGHT INFANTRY CONCEPT

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Army will be able to begin purchasing equipment for its new medium weight division concept at Fort Lewis with a special appropriation approved by the House of Representatives today, U.S. Rep. Norm Dicks said Thursday.

       The appropriation of $100 million, inserted into a multi-agency appropriations bill today, will allow the Army to implement its new medium weight infantry strategy immediately, Rep. Dicks said. The Army Vision concept, announced in October by Army Chief of Staff Gen. Eric Shinseki, will transform two brigades at Ft. Lewis into new medium-weight configurations that are easier to deploy than current heavy brigades, but which have significantly more fire power than current light brigades.

       The new brigades will rely more heavily on wheeled vehicles, air-droppable equipment and faster-moving troops, Dicks said.

       The bill approved today gives the Army up to $100 million to implement the new concept, which affects the 1st Brigade of the 25th Infantry Division, currently a light brigade, and the heavy 3rd Brigade of the 2nd Division at Fort Lewis. These brigades will be outfitted with new vehicles and equipment that will allow them to deploy overseas entirely in the C-17s based at McChord Air Force Base, and to deploy within combat theaters in the C-130 airlifter, the Air Force’s smallest major transport plane.

       The Army has already issued an invitation to defense contractors to demonstrate potential vehicles for the brigades at Ft. Knox, Kentucky in January. So far, three companies producing versions of light armored vehicles currently used by armed forces in other countries have expressed interest in competing to produce the new vehicles.

       "This funding will allow us to ‘jump start’ the transformation of the brigades at Fort Lewis into the Army of the 21st Century," Rep. Dicks said. "Congressional approval of the bill represents an initial endorsement of the new concept, and I am committed to assuring that we will continue to have the funding and the cooperation of my colleagues on defense-related committees in Congress to evaluate fully the merits of this new Army Vision concept," Dicks added.

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