Army shrinks stockpile of obsolete Stryker parts at local warehouse, new report says Read more here

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The Army has added additional enlisted Stryker mechanics to units at Joint Base Lewis-Mcchord as it normalizes maintenance for the eight-wheeled infantry vehicles. During the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Army leaned heavily on Stryker manufacturer General Dynamics to keep the vehicles ready for combat. In this January photo, Stryker brigade mechanics Sgt. Lorencio Banquel, left, and Spc. Maime Ramirez, use a hydraulic lift to remove the engine cover on a Stryker vehicle during maintenance at JBLM.

Army shrinks stockpile of obsolete Stryker parts at local warehouse, new report says
By Adam Ashton
Staff writer
September 27, 2014 Updated 7 hours ago

An Army stockpile of obsolete Stryker parts in South King County, once valued in the tens of millions of dollars, is almost gone, according to a report obtained by The News Tribune.

The Army shed much of the excess parts in the two years since a Defense Department Inspector General report drew attention to lapses in oversight. An investigation in 2012-13 found about $892 million worth of replacement gear was allowed to accumulate at a government warehouse in Auburn without being entered into a military equipment database.

Now, the Army says it has $625 million worth of usable equipment in Auburn and about $7.5 million worth of obsolete parts. The Army has eliminated about $100 million worth of unusable Stryker gear since 2011, said Ashley Givens, a spokeswoman for the Stryker program.

Secretary of the Army John McHugh forwarded the update on the Stryker program to the House and Senate Armed Services Committees in April to fulfill a provision in this year’s defense budget that demanded a report on the status of the Stryker warehouse.