1st US Army / XII Corps

[Abbott Shaull]

Yeah I know...The west coast would of went to the 40th and the gulf coast to the 49th. East Coast would of been up for grabs...

[Rainbow Six]

I guess you could make a case for any recovered armour on the south east coast ending up at Fort Benning with the CivGov units based there (or maybe Fort Bragg) Still think anything found on the north east coast from spring 1999 onwards would have stayed in the north east though.

Just out of interest, in a V1 timeline was there anywhere in CONUS the US Army would have sent any armour that had been damaged in Europe or elsewhere but could be shipped back to be repaired

[HorseSoldier]

In the post-nuclear chaos and displacement, I'd think that just about anybody who could grab control of port facilities or interdict rail lines might end up in possession of some armor. This could include MilGov or CivGov units who diverted stuff headed for the front because they felt they needed them more, New America enclaves, local warlords or communities, or even Mexican/Division Cuba forces who overran ports in southern California and Texas. I doubt there was all that much stuff laying around to begin with after almost a year of high intensity conflict in multiple theaters, but it could turn up most anywhere in most anyone's hands by 2000. (Access to a good deal of military kit might help explain why the Warlord of Memphis seems to have been such a pain in the ass for MilGov, for instance.)

As far as armor repair/refurbishing, Anniston Army Depot in Alabama does rebuilds on M1s and assorted other AFVs in real life. I don't know if they were the only facility set up to do that work in the Cold War era. I'd think doing even extensive repair work in theater would make better logistical sense than shipping damaged tanks back CONUS and then back over to Europe or where ever in a WW3 scenario where sealift and airlift have to have been badly stressed.

[pmulcahy11b]

As far as armor repair/refurbishing, Anniston Army Depot in Alabama does rebuilds on M1s and assorted other AFVs in real life.

Red River Army Depot near Texarkana used to do that, I believe into the late 1990s. They employed a lot of people in Texarkana.

[Legbreaker]

I agree that come late 1997 (post nukes) any vehicles in a theatre are likely to stay in theatre. It would have to be fairly common knowledge that the situation back home is terrible and that any damaged vehicles sent back are either not coming back, or will simply sit there unrepaired.
The flow of replacement vehicles and parts would also have dried up so keeping what a unit has, no matter what it's condition, would be very important. They many not be repairable by the unit, but they still represent a valuable source of spares.

[pmulcahy11b]

So that's why the stocks of vehicles go down so drastically. It's not just that so many have been destroyed, it's that there are so few that still work. Some relatively stationary units may actually maintain "junkyards" for spare parts.

[Legbreaker]

I'd imagine that even the more mobile units would try and take as much with them as they could. Heavily damaged vehicles would be stripped down to the last nut and bolt, nothing but the twisted chassis left behind. A bunch of spare parts is usually easier to carry (and quicker to get hold of what's needed) than a hulking great wreck.

[HorseSoldier]

Red River Army Depot near Texarkana used to do that

Forgot about them -- the first Bradley I was on had a data plate showing it upgraded from M3A0 to A1 standard at Red River.

If the refurbish/repair lines CONUS weren't doing a lot of work on repairing battle damaged stuff from OCONUS (which, even pre-nuke, I think is kind of a long shot), they might be hubs for semi-official or even standardized mods to existing vehicles like the "Stingray Juniors" and such.

So that's why the stocks of vehicles go down so drastically. It's not just that so many have been destroyed, it's that there are so few that still work. Some relatively stationary units may actually maintain "junkyards" for spare parts.

Yeah -- without a functional logistics tail stretching back to a functional nation state keeping just about any system with any complexity to it running is going to require regular miracles on demand from mechanics and other support troops. Cannibalizing anything that isn't functioning anymore is going to definitely be a big part of that -- some stuff just isn't going to be reproducable to standard by a machinist, however skilled, without access to facilities above and beyond that organic to division/corps/army level maintenance units.

This would be a much bigger headache for aviation units than ground vehicles, since it's much easier for a parts failure to be much more catastrophic, and probably plays an equal role to combat attrition and fuel scarcity in the general clearing of European skies by 2000.

[Rainbow Six]

I'd think doing even extensive repair work in theater would make better logistical sense than shipping damaged tanks back CONUS and then back over to Europe or where ever in a WW3 scenario where sealift and airlift have to have been badly stressed.

Good point...it was just a passing thought I had, but thinking some more about it what you say sounds much more logical...

[Abbott Shaull]

There are suppose to be Maintenance units that are able to carry out these types of repairs in the rear of the theater of operation. It just cheaper to outsource such repairs during peace time. In fact, many of these employees would be used to bring such designated units up to speed while the shops back home would update vehicle before they were to deployed overseas.

[Webstral]

The idea of civilians doing some of this work overseas leads to some interesting character generation possibilities. Some of these folks could find themselves drafted into forward support units in 1998 and beyond.

Webstral

[pmulcahy11b]

The idea of civilians doing some of this work overseas leads to some interesting character generation possibilities. Some of these folks could find themselves drafted into forward support units in 1998 and beyond.

Webstral

Which brings up contractors such as Blackwater/Xi. They might be potential great assets, but possibly also uncontrollable since they aren't used to having to follow military rules. Do you really want these people in your unit

[Abbott Shaull]

Another source of armed thugs/marauders depending on your perspective of things...

[Abbott Shaull]

Actually let's face it, many of the Heavy Support and Maintenance units at Theater level would have these civilians due to the fact that the military didn't keep people with their skill set in, and if they were in, there are too few for all the of the Theaters of operations that open up.

[Legbreaker]

Give it a few years of warfare though and you could find anyone virtually anywhere. A clerk for example originally assigned to process salary payments may well find themselves on the workshop floor, as skilled and as efficient as any mechanic. (Hands on training)