On this day 25 years ago (Commentary Thread)

[Homer]

At one point 39th IN BDE was a oeRound Up unit for the 101st. However I havent found a source to determine if they organized as an air assault brigade or a standard light infantry brigade. Not sure how you have them aligned. Id assume with continued defense spending if they werent organized as an air assault brigade they would be.

[Louied]

Homer,

By the mid (1985) to late 1980's 39INB had a Direct Training Relationship with 101 AAD and it fell under XVIII Corps. However it was scheduled to go to Europe either with XVIII Corps or as follow-on reinforcement with I or III Corps
(the TAA-92 Chart has them falling under III Corps). All the SIBs Inf Bns were reorganized from H-Series (HHC, 3xRifle Coys, CSC) to an organization based on Abn/AA Bns (HHC, 3xRifle Coys, TOW Coy) (j or L series). I know 45 SIB converted its Bns I am not sure if 39SIB converted by 1989.

[Homer]

Thanks. I figured theyd go abn/aaslt at some point.

[chico20854]

March 6, 1997

Sirjan Khorrasani, a veteran of the Iran-Iraq War and rug dealer, is recruited by National Security Force Major Javad Hedayati, formerly of the Pasdaran and an old firend, for Operation Shadow. Khorrasani is to remain in Esfahan if the IPA withdaws from Esfahan, appearing to cooperate with the occupying Tudeh and Soviets, while leading the local Pasdaran resistance band.

Unofficially,

The head of the Polish Free Congress, Lech Walesa (freed from jail earlier in the war in a daring joint SAS-Delta Force raid) addresses his fellow NATO heads of state, emotionally imploring them to liberate his nation after over 50 years of Soviet occupation. The CIA Director gives an assessment of Soviet military capabilities given the current world situation.

A FBI counterintelligence monitoring team radio-locates a Spetsnaz team as they attempt to arrange pickup by their supporting sympathizer. The elite FBI Hostage Rescue Team deploys to Albuquerque.

HQ, XI Corps completes its pre-deployment activities and rail loads its vehicles for transit to the load port of Bayonne, New Jersey.

The Dutch Red Army fires a RPG at the Rotterdam refinery, starting a small fire and shutting down one of its hydrocracker units for three weeks.

A group from the Latvian Free Army, supported by an A-Team of the 10th Special Forces Group, attacks the fuel depot at the iauliai air base, setting it ablaze and seizing a dozen weapons from the guard force.

A major artillery duel erupts along the Oder-Niesse line. The troops in the bridgeheads retreat to their deep shelters, and American A-10s soon appear overhead, raining cluster bombs on the Polish and Soviet batteries. Three A-10s are lost when 57mm and 100mm flak batteries open up on them.

The Whiskey-class diesel submarine S-359 arrives in the North Sea after over two weeks creeping at slow speed along the Norwegian coast. It lays 18 MDM-1 mines on the seabed between British and Dutch channel ports, then turns back for Murmansk.

Convoy 8.2.1 is attacked by the Soviet Whiskey-class submarine S-383 northwest of Cyprus, sinking the Turkish freighter Ihlsan.

The Solt Companion sinks, leaving behind a massive oil slick.

[chico20854]

March 7, 1997

Nothing official today...

The 30th Armored Brigade, 44th (my 20th) Armored Division (Tennessee National Guard) completes Rotation 97-4 at NTC-3 at the Yuma Proving Grounds in Arizona and is declared combat ready. It begins rail loading its vehicles for transit to East Coast load ports.

A FBI-USAF team surrounds the Spetsnaz team in New Mexico after it is picked up by a sypathizer. The team is disarmed and handled as POWs, the sympathizer is arrested on treason charges.

photo
The Spetsnaz team under Col Mikhail Tumanski attacks the fuel depot at Avonmouth near Bristol. The team uses its 82mm mortar to split open some of the massive tanks and fires a pair of AT-4 missiles into the resulting spill to start a massive fire.

The 265th Engineer Group (Combat) (Georgia National Guard) enters combat in Korea under command of IX Corps.

As part of the unification of the German Army from the prewar NVA and Bundeswehr, the 17th Motor-Rifle Division (a mobilization-only unit) is retitled the 217th PanzerGrenadier Division.

The 142nd Field Artillery Brigade (Arkansas National Guard) fires it first shots in anger along the Oder-Niesse line.

The Soviet raider Buliny sinks the Liberian-flag bulker Galet, carrying bulk wheat to Capetown. The loss of the cargo further heightens the hunger crisis in Africa.

Convoy 8.2.2 arrives at Port Said, Egypt and is officially ended. (Many of the ships will continue on to the Arabian Sea and Persian Gulf under escorts provided by local navies and the US 5th Fleet). Convoy 8.2.1. arrives at the Turkish port of Izmir and begins unloading supplies of food, munitions and light vehicles.

The 18th Field Artillery Brigade loads its guns and trucks onto aircraft at Pope Air Force Base, North Carolina for deployment to Saudi Arabia.

The Soviet 40th Army, advancing west out of Afghanistan (from marshalling areas near Shindand and Herat) links up with troops of the 45th (my 32nd) Army at Bardaskan, in the harsh desert southwest of Mashad (and cutting off the last overland connection to the isolated Pasdaran garrison).

[chico20854]

March 8, 1997

The US 4th (I have the 3rd) Marine Division first enters combat against the North Korean Army.

Unofficially:

NATO heads of state conclude their conference. After nearly two days of discussion, they order SACEUR to prepare and execute an invasion of Poland to restore the Polish Government in Exile's control of the country, something it has not had since September, 1939.

A shipment of M-60 machineguns from the factory in Saco, Maine to the Army ordnance center at Anniston, Albama goes missing while the unmarked truck carrying the weapons was travelling through southwestern Virginia. Over 250 brand new weapons were aboard.

The site of the munitions train fire and explosion outside RAF Caerwent in Wales is cleared of unexploded ordnance so railroad workers can begin the task to remove the wreck of the train and rebuild the damaged track underneath it.

The carriers Abraham Lincoln, Independence, Constellation and John C. Stennis launch a coordinated series of raids against North Korean targets northwest of Pyongyang.

The 28th ANZUK Brigade begins a series of exercises at the Shoalwater Bay Training Area in central Queensland, Australia. This is the first time the formation has had its battalions operate together.

1st Brigade, 9th Infantry Division (Light Motorized) arrives at the port of Tacoma, Washington to load equipment and vehicles for Saudi Arabia. The brigade loads many of its vehicles and supplies into containers so that relatively abundant container ships can be used, speeding the brigade's deployment.

The former NVA (East German Army) reserve 6th Motor-Rifle Division is re-named the 26th PanzerGrenadier Division and reorganized, its three motor-rifle and single tank regiments each assigned a even mix of panzergrenadier and panzer battalions.

The American heavy cruiser Newport News departs Scapa Flow, Scotland, leading a group consisting of a missile cruiser, a destroyer and three frigates, on convoy escort duty in the Norwegian and Barents Seas and to provide on-call naval gunfire support for NATO troops ashore.

The British ferry European Freeway is sunk by a mine (laid by a Soviet submarine just days before) in the North Sea. It was carrying equipment to bring II British Corps up to strength.

The 82nd Motor Rifle Division arrives in the Bulgarian port of Varna, assigned to the 58th Army.

Convoy 126 forms in Jacksonville, Florida. It includes the vehicles, guns and heavy equipment of the 209th (New York National Guard) and 227th (Florida National Guard) Field Artillery Brigades.

The 20th Engineer Brigade (Airborne) loads its heavy equipment aboard transports in Morehead City, North Carolina for deployment to the CENTCOM region.

The transports Donald Kowalski (the former Soviet frieghter Donetsk Komsomolets, captured by the Royal Navy in December), the American transport Gulf Farmer and the Panamanian roll-on/roll-off ship Ciudad De Oviedo load the 187th Infantry Brigade (US Army Reserve)'s heavy equipment in Reykjavik, Iceland while 737s carry the brigade's troops to German airports.

3rd Brigade, 24th ID is fully manned and equipped in Saudi Arabia. The transport ships that carried its equipment are released to return to the U.S. for their next mission.

Long Range Aviation completes a week-long stand-down following several months of intense operations over the seas adjacent to Soviet territory, China, the Balkans and the Persian Gulf. Half of the force's Tu-16 Badger regiments are disbanded, their remaining aircraft and crews reassigned to the surviving units to bring them up to strength. Despite herculean efforts, the delivery of new Tu-22M4 Backfire bombers (one aircraft a week) is insufficient to replace the Backfire force's losses, and a third of the regiments are left intact but stripped of aircraft and aircrews. (The intent is to equip those regiments with aircraft as they become available). The Tu-22 Blinder force is allowed to continue operations until it fades into irrelevance, while the Tu-160 Blackhjack force is held for long-range nuclear strikes on the UK, Canada and USA and the Tu-95 Bear force continues to launch cruise missiles from over Soviet territory at targets in the NATO (and Japanese) rear.

[Homer]

Do the Des Moines class get any upgrades in T2k (phalanx, chaff, upgraded electronics, etc) or get reactivated as is

[chico20854]

March 9, 1997

The Danish army (Slesvig RCT) first enters combat against Warsaw Pact forces. The Danish contingent is involved with a minor attack to drive Czechoslovakian forces back in Bavaria.

Unofficially,

SACEUR staff brief NORTHAG and CENTAG staff on the political directive to liberate Poland from Soviet occupation. They discuss some concepts of operation and begin planning the offensive. It is assigned the code name Operation Advent Crown.

In Framingham, Massachusetts, a small ceremony marks the delivery of the first LAV-25 from the former GM automotive plant, the culmination of a reactivation process that took 15 months. Unfortunately, the Chinese People's Liberation Army, for which the plant was reopened, will not receive any of the factory's production, which instead is directed to US Army and Marine forces fighting around the world.

The 329th Engineer Group (US Army Reserve) is declared combat ready at its mobilization station of Camp Edwards, Massachusetts and begins moving its equipment to Boston to load for Germany.

Senior leaders of MI5 meet covertly with PIRA leadership in Londonderry, expressing that HM Government would take extreme measures in the event of sectarian violence during the ongoing war in Europe.

Frontal Aviation tries a new approach to operations over the front line on the German border. Over a period of three hours in the predawn hours it dispatches trickles of bombers and fighter-bombers in ones and twos at low level; the move forces NATO interceptors to either let the raiders through (possibly being engaged by SAMs) or divert from their patrol stations, requiring the dispatch of additional ready aircraft to take up the station. The Soviets hoped that the supply of ready aircraft would be depleted after five or more sorties, but unfortunately they were not, and 17 aircraft were lost overnight for minimal damage to targets in Germany.

The Soviet raider Buliny attacks the US transport ship Hattiesburg Victory (built in World War II but delivered too late to serve, a veteran of the Korean and Vietnam wars) in the South Atlantic.

A Soviet submarine sinks the Panamanian freighter Manley Appledore, exporting timber from Finland, as it exits the English Channel. A second Whiskey-class submarine arrives in the North Sea and begins laying mines.

The 46th Brigade, 38th Infantry Division arrives in Bremen, Germany with Convoy 124.

The 194th Engineer Brigade (Tennessee National Guard) begins loading its vehicles and heavy equipment aboard ships in Charleston, South Carolina for transit to CENTCOM.

Turkish troops launch a series of attacks against Greek troops in Thrace, seeking a weak point that can be exploited. Greek artillery fire breaks up the attacks before they can make any significant gains.

Meanwhile, the front in Bulgaria has become static as both sides lack the offensive power to advance. First World War-style trench systems are being dug across the mountains and hills to shelter from artillery fire.

Chinese commanders have built up a reserve of over 100,000 reasonably trained light infantry, drawn from throughout China and begin moving them into Manchuria.

American leadership orders the dispatch of the USS Independence and her battle group to 5th Fleet in the CENTCOM AOR to augment 9th Air Force and resume offensive naval operations against the Soviets and their allies in the Indian Ocean.

[chico20854]

Do the Des Moines class get any upgrades in T2k (phalanx, chaff, upgraded electronics, etc) or get reactivated as is

I would expect that they would get a miniature version of the upgrade that the Iowa class received in the 80s. Phalanx, electronics, chaff, landing some of the secondary batteries for Harpoon and maybe a helicopter. There were various proposals made in the 80s, which is probably what inspired GDW. Newport News, I recall, had a turret explosion before she was laid up in the 70s, so her reactivation took longer and might have been less extensive. She was used as a training ship from the summer of 96 in my world and was only thrown into action as the raider hunt got intense.

[shrike6]

I would expect that they would get a miniature version of the upgrade that the Iowa class received in the 80s. Phalanx, electronics, chaff, landing some of the secondary batteries for Harpoon and maybe a helicopter. There were various proposals made in the 80s, which is probably what inspired GDW. Newport News, I recall, had a turret explosion before she was laid up in the 70s, so her reactivation took longer and might have been less extensive. She was used as a training ship from the summer of 96 in my world and was only thrown into action as the raider hunt got intense.

That brings up another question for me, whats the status of the Iowa Did the turret explosion in 89 happen If so was it fixed

[Matt Wiser]

In my Red Dawn TL, both Salem and Des Moines got Harpoons, CIWS, updated electronics, the "fem mods" (accommodation for female crew), and so on. No Tomahawks.

[stilleto69]

In my T2K Universe, I am of the same mind set as Matt, the only difference in my universe was they were scheduled to receive Tomahawks (i.e. late '97 as part of an eventual upgrade), but circumstances "the war" completely changed that plan.

Also in my TL, the Iowa was repaired at great cost, but was used as a jobs program to revitalize the Long Beach Naval Shipyard (i.e. more federal spending, etc.)

[Homer]

Wow, that's some pretty cool stuff. It would be interesting to work a modernized Des Moines class into a Harpoon scenario! Pretty sure if they had the appropriate escorts to deal with missiles, the self loading 8" would work a treat on a raider or a surface target.

[chico20854]

March 10, 1997

The Headquarters and the 157th Infantry Brigade (Mechanized) of the US 43rd Infantry Division (US Army Reserve) arrives in Europe.

Unofficially,

The Freedom ship Puerto Rico Freedom is delivered in Galveston, Texas.

A group of eight 1950s-era destroyers and fifiteen trawlers sortie from Petropavlovsk into the North Pacific, scattering after storming past the American SSN guarding the harbor exit, the USS Pasadena, which sinks one of the trawlers in the mass of ships rushing past.

Equipment and vehicles of the 2nd Brigade, 9th Infantry Division (Light Motorized) arrive at the port of Seattle, Washington to load for Saudi Arabia.

The East German 9th Panzer Division is re-named the 29th Panzer Division.

A Soviet submarine attacks the Marshall Islands-flag container ship Merkur Rivera in the North Atlantic. The ship is left listing and dead in the water, but the arrival of a British Nimrod maritime patrol aircraft forces the attacker to slink away before it can finish off the hapless freighter.

The Soviet Sierra II-class SSN K-336 sinks the American nuclear missile submarine USS Maine off Kings Bay, Georgia. Under command of Captain First Rank Sergei Babenko, the K-336 escapes, sinking the USCG cutter Valiant during the escape. The attack on an American "boomer" raises alarms throughout the chain of command, afraid that it is the opening move of a general campaign to neutralize America's most secure second strike capability.

3rd Brigade, 24th ID is deployed in defensive positions along the coast of the Persian Gulf to protect the region from possible Soviet spoiling attacks on CENTCOM's staging areas in Eastern Saudi Arabia as additional units flow into the theatre.

The Soviet Ministry of Agriculture authorizes the release of one quarter of land farmed by collective and state farms from central control to individual farmers. While not publicized, the move transforms Soviet agriculture, more than compensating for the loss of production from the callup of tens of thousands of young, strong healthy young men for military service.

[chico20854]

In my T2K Universe, I am of the same mind set as Matt, the only difference in my universe was they were scheduled to receive Tomahawks (i.e. late '97 as part of an eventual upgrade), but circumstances "the war" completely changed that plan.

Also in my TL, the Iowa was repaired at great cost, but was used as a jobs program to revitalize the Long Beach Naval Shipyard (i.e. more federal spending, etc.)

That's generally what I had in mind as well.