JOINT BASE LEWIS-McCHORD, Wash. – Stryker armored fighting vehicle, Cadillac of the infantry, is much more than a mode of transportation for soldiers. It is an eight-wheeled, strategic mobile home on steroids where soldiers eat their meals together, sleep in full gear, strengthen camaraderie, and roll through war zones.

Joint Base Lewis-McChord is home to the highest number of Stryker brigades in the Army. General Dynamics is the defense contractor that modifies and upgrades these tactical vehicles.

The General Dynamics team at JBLM knows what it takes to increase the survivability and lethality of the Army’s Strykers. It may be the fact 90 percent of the team has served in the military that makes them so efficient or perhaps their patriotism dedicates them to their profession. Their motto “Our soldiers know we have their backs” comes from their commitment to the task.

“You have to have a love for soldiers,” said Joseph Green, a Tacoma, Wash., native and quality insurance manger who served for 10 years in the Air Force. “You have to be able to put yourself in their shoes; it’s a selfless service.”

The employees of General Dynamics provide a service that protects the lives of others, much like military service members. Mechanics can sometimes work 12-hour shifts, seven days a week upgrading the Strykers and getting them fit for war for units that have orders to deploy.

There are 1,600 Strykers in the Army’s arsenal and every vehicle here is modified and upgraded at the JBLM shop, said Green. The team upgrades the factory-built Strykers by installing air conditioning units, radios and video cameras to provide the vehicle commander with a clear view of the battlefield.

They install rocket-propelled grenade grills causing incoming RPGs to detonate away from the Strykers. A mine protection kit is installed protecting soldiers from improvised explosive devices by strengthening the undercarriages of the vehicles.

“We’re having more soldiers coming out of attacks with much less injuries,” said Green, who ensures each Stryker is immaculate prior to seeing the battlefield.

Abel Mendez, a native of Fresno, Calif., and a General Dynamics mechanic, has worked for six years providing soldiers with reassurance when they deploy.

“By the time we’re done with the vehicles, they have a fully up-to-date Stryker with all the highest modifications there are,” said Mendez, whose primary directive is keeping soldiers alive.

Strykers enter the chop shop ready to intimate the enemy and depart prepared to annihilate. The mechanics upgrade the weapon systems to make them more lethal and accurate. They reduce the Stryker’s weight so they can handle rougher terrain and navigate through close and urban terrain, said Mendez, who served as a mechanic in the Army.

The General Dynamics team travels around the United States and into theater, where they can spend anywhere from a week to a year, to get the Strykers ready for war, said Mendez.

“We definitely take a lot of pride in what we do and the majority of us being prior service, those are still our brothers and sisters out there,” said Mendez.

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