The changing face of the U.S. Army Alaska is one that will take some time, but officials hope it will result in a more formidable fighting force.

The transformation of the Army's Arctic forces has several legs, including the conversion of the 172nd Stryker Infantry Brigade scheduled to conclude in May 2005.

The Stryker brigade is expected to bring an additional 680 soldiers to Fort Richardson and 300 to Fort Wainwright.

The process, which has been underway for a few years, is moving rapidly for such major transformation, said Maj. Ben Danner, with the Fort Richardson Public Affairs Office.

"The battalion is currently in the activation and build-up process," said Lt. Col. John Norris, commander of the 4th Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, which is the part of the Stryker brigade to be stationed at Fort Richardson. "We are focused completely on receiving all of the new soldiers arriving daily to our unit and Alaska. This is an enormous task, receiving the soldiers and getting them settled and processed into our unit."

However, the 4-23rd is not the only growing unit and will stand beside the recently evolved Task Force 1-501st Airborne, formerly the 1-501st Parachute Infantry Regiment.

"For them, it's a transition from an airborne infantry unit, which means that they have limited capabilities to support themselves in terms of fire support, logistics, medics, and that sort of thing," Danner said. "What they became...is an airborne task force that's now a complete fighting unit in itself."

That means the unit is self-sustaining, said spokesman Chuck Canterbury.

According to Danner, the transformation means the unit, currently deployed to Afghanistan, has grown from approximately 500 soldiers to some 850 and now has the artillery and forms of support it needs internally under the control of the commander.

There are a number of motivators for bringing the task force and the Stryker brigade into such close proximity.

"They make for a very nice complement to each other and the kinds of missions they're capable of, (especially since) we have such a nice relationship with the Air Force here," Danner said. "It's all about the ability to put combat power in the right place at the right time. They become a tremendous asset in terms of their force entry capability from the airborne brigade and the initial forces in terms of the Stryker brigade."

However, getting these units in place takes a lot of preparation and is a large portion of the third phase of the transformation process.

"It really has to do with changing the infrastructure within the U.S. Army Alaska to be able to support these two units and provide command and control," Danner said. "For example, we are building new barracks because we have quite a few more soldiers coming in. But it's a ripple effect as well because with more soldiers coming in, we're talking too about more daycare, additional housing, and an increase in personnel in support facilities."

It will also be necessary for the army to revamp the manner in which it operates to ensure the units will be able to meet mission requirements for deployments, Danner said.

"Within the scope of their mission, is the fact they have to deploy very quickly, which takes a tremendous amount of support forces," Danner said. "It's the soldiers deploying, but you have to have forces trained and facilities (properly) equipped in order to get these forces."

This challenge, however, is not one the developing units find intimidating.

"We don't like to look at the many challenges in activating this battalion but prefer to focus more on the opportunities presented to us," Norris said. "We are the newest infantry battalion in the United States Army and will become a critical part of the Army transformation."