On this day 25 years ago (Commentary Thread)

[Matt Wiser]

There would be some new production out of Calverton up to the TDM.

I'm also assuming the F-14A to D program goes ahead along with new production Ds. (some of that work was done at NADEP Norfolk)

[chico20854]

January 15, 1997

The British 6th Infantry Division enters China and comes under Chinese command. It is initially assigned counter-insurgency duties in southern China.

unofficially:

The last Polish units are released from lockdown to contain NATO bridgeheads, although some commanders have new "minders" in their headquarters. The first pontoon bridge across the Oder is set up, leading into the Gorlitz bridgehead.

The 130th Tactical Airlift Wing (West Virginia Air National Guard) is brought into Federal service and ordered to deploy to Sacheon, ROK.

The 343rd Tactical Fighter Wing's alert orders, at Eielson AFB, AK, to prepare for deployment to Korea are rescinded; the 343rd is instead ordered to maintain its A-10 tank killers as part of a strategic reserve or for possible deployment to Norway in addition to Korea.

Detachment 2, 99th Strategic Reconnissance Squadron deploys 2 U-2s to Howard AFB, Panama to support SOUTHCOM.

The 202nd Tactical Fighter Squadron (SC ANG) is ordered to Gander, Newfoundland with its F-20As to augment continental air defense.

Interrogation of the Soviet spetsnaz soldier captured in Ciudad Juarez reveals that at least four other Spetsnaz teams arrived in Mexico in December.

The 48th Infantry Brigade, Georgia NG, completes its rotation at the National Training Center at Ft. Irwin, CA and is declared combat ready, while the 3rd Brigade, 26th ID(L) completes Rotation 97-2 at the Joint Readiness Training Center at Ft. Polk, LA and is declared combat ready.

President Tanner signs National Security Directive 97-3, authorizing the detention/internment of Warsaw Pact nationals and setting up a process for detainees/internees to appeal their status with the FBI.

Headquarters, 5th Air Force is ordered to relocate to Kadena AB, Okinawa, to be closer to the Korean Theater of Operations.

Major air battle rages over the East China Sea, as Frontal Aviation's 114th Bomber Regiment (with Su-24 Fencers operating out of China), headed to attack Taiwan, is intercepted by F-15s of the 67th TFS. 12 Su-24s are downed and 13 others damaged, the air raid called off, at the cost of two F-15s, whose crews are rescued by helos from the 31st Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Suadron. The Soviets' diversionary attack against Hokkaido is launched late, leading to another fierce air battle simultaneously over the Sea of Japan as Soviet fighters tangle with elements of the 13th & 14th Tactical Fighter Squadrons. The 39th ARRS rescues 6 downed Soviet aircrew, including the first Soviet female MiG-29 and Su-27 pilots captured in the Pacific.

The 25th US Infantry Division enters combat in Korea, coming to the aid of the embattled 2nd Infantry Division.

Convoy 202.1 meets the eastbound Convoy 402 and its escort force composed of Japanese destroyers and frigates. The American escorts turn around, picking up Convoy 402 while the Japanese guide Convoy 202.1 the rest of the way into Pusan.

The Headquarters, 928th Tactical Airlift Wing (Illinois Air National Guard) is disbanded, its subordinate units assigned to the 440th TAW at Bremen IAP, Germany. The move brings the 440th up to full strength and streamlines command and control of airlifters supporting USAF and NATO operations in northern Germany.

In Cyprus, there are battles on the outskirts of Larnaca as gangs of Turkish youth attempt to enter the city, intent on trouble.

The American attack submarine USS Bluefish takes up station outside the Kerch Strait, the exit to the Sea of Azov.

Convoy 110 attacked by a Soviet submarine 150 miles off the Icelandic coast. Two ships (the Cape Edmont and the Baltic Breeze), carrying half the vehicles of the 278th ACR, are sunk.

The first Lufthansa flight carrying 250 released East German POWs arrives in Frankfurt; the returnees are to be evaluated and reassigned to East German units as loss replacements.

[chico20854]

January 16, 1997

Unrest across the island of Cyprus continues as bands of Greek and Turkish Cypriots travel from their homes to isolated communities of the other group. Police commanders, their forces riven by ethnic unrest, seek military intervention.

Unofficially:

German troops reach the center of Szczecin after Soviet armored vehicles are evacuated by ferry. The remainder of the city's garrison withdraws at night in small boats.

A Czech special operations team (that had slipped across the border on December 28) ambushes the commander of the German IV Territorial Command and kill him, leaving his command temporarily leaderless.

On the Kola Peninsula, the Soviet 6th Armys last resistance collapses and General Dzhidzhilava, who slipped away from his command in a helicopter, is arrested.

The US National Security Council requests that border states activate their State Defense Forces to protect vital war production and mobilization/ deployment sites. The FBI issues a counter-intelligence warning to law enforcement nationwide on the Spetsnaz threat.

The US Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) orders the disbandment of ROTC Cadet Command, the collegiate officer training program. College seniors enrolled in the program had been commissioned in October and were beginning to reach units in the field as new second lieutenants. Juniors were transfered to Officer Candidate Schools established at various sites around the country, to be commissioned after completion of a six-week course. Sophomores were reclassed as infantry corporals or sergeants and fed into the replacement system, while freshmen were sent to basic training as privates first class. Junior cadre (Officers below Lieutenant Colonel, NCOs below Master Sergeant) were also fed into the replacement system, while senior cadre remained on their assigned college campuses, tasked to interview students (senior undergraduates and graduate students) to identify candidates for direct commissioning.

The 31st ARRS rescues four Soviet aircrew downed over the East China Sea, including the first Soviet female Su-24 pilot and navigator captured.

In the Pacific, Convoy 202.1 is attacked by the Soviet submarines B-220 and Komsomolets Tadzhikistan, lurking in shallow waters at slow speed. Three cargo ships and the frigate Noshiro are sunk before the B-220 is located and sunk, the Komsomolets Tadzhikistan slinking away to fight another day.

Over the Norwegian Sea, four F-16s of the 465 TFS intercept a flight of 12 Tu-22 Blinders attempting to launch a cruise missile strike on Keflavik and in 4 minutes managed to down all 12 aircraft, with the loss of only a single F-16.

F-16As of the 89th TFS (AFRES) strike a Soviet supply convoy headed for Varna, Bulgaria.

The submarine USS Bluefish is damaged by mine when it wanders into a minefield protecting Soviet transit lane and begins slow withdrawal from area.

A C-141 aircraft of the 702nd Military Airlift Squadron crashes shortly after takeoff from McGuire AFB, New Jersey. Investigators quickly determine that the crash was caused by fatigue, although it is unclear whether the fatigue was in the structure of the 31-year old aircraft or in the exhausted aircrew or maintentance crews, who had been working nonstop for months with inadequate rest.

[Homer]

Great work, and lots of research. Really enjoying this.

Did you move JRTC to Polk in your history OTL the move out of Chaffee was a combo of a cost cutting measure, aggressive congressional efforts on the part of Louisiana to offset the closure of England AFB (23rd TFW, A-10A) and preserve Louisiana's remaining military bases (NAS NOLA, NSA NOLA, Barksdale, Beauregard, LAAP, and Polk), and space made available by the deactivation of 5th ID. With England AFB presumably staying open (no "peace dividend") and 5th ID filling the cantonment, training areas, and ranges on Fort Polk and Peason Ridge there may not have been the impetus to relocate.

One thing that may have happened with a continuing Soviet threat and military spending under the Strategic Homeport Program is the commissioning of NS Lake Charles in the early 90s. In reality, this project was abandoned in 1991. Unlike the bases in NOLA, NS Lake Charles may have been able to ride out the strikes in 1997, even though Lake Charles itself would burn from the Westlake strike.

Barksdale (2d BW, B-52G) wasn't targeted and was a survivable distance from the strike on Shreveport and Beauregard is expressly mentioned in cannon as surviving. Holding these ports on the Red River of the South may help MILGOV secure a water linkage from LA to enclaves in AR, TN, OH, and OK post 1997.

[cawest]

i knew about the A-37 but just found this about the T-38

https://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/Visit/Museum-Exhibits/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/196733/northrop-at-38b-talon/

[pmulcahy11b]

The correct assignment of ROTC Cadets in wartime emergency is actually as follows:

Seniors are directly commissioned as 2nd Lieutenants, into the Regular Army or the Reserve Forces with an open-ended contract. (It's essentially a pre-emptive stop-loss contract.) Juniors are sent directly to Officer Basic Course (not Officer Candidate School, after which you'd go to Officer Basic Course); what they branched (Junior ROTC Cadets are normally told which branch they will be serving in the Army in the middle of the year) is immaterial. Though TRADOC would look at their previous training, in the end the new 2LTs would go where they were needed. Sophomores (who are not under contract to the government yet) who are at the top third of the class would be offered OCS; the second third would be offered enlistments at the starting rank of sergeant (E-5); the bottom third of the class and the entirety of the Freshmen Class who had completed at least one semester of ROTC would be offered enlistments at Corporal or Specialist (E-4; whether they are Corporals or Specialists depends on the needs of the receiving units). The rest may enlist normally or are cut loose; if they enlist, they enter as Privates First Class (E-3).

Of course, it's the US Army, so everything has to be made unnecessarily complicated, even during a wartime emergency.

[chico20854]

The correct assignment of ROTC Cadets in wartime emergency is actually as follows:

Seniors are directly commissioned as 2nd Lieutenants, into the Regular Army or the Reserve Forces with an open-ended contract. (It's essentially a pre-emptive stop-loss contract.) Juniors are sent directly to Officer Basic Course (not Officer Candidate School, after which you'd go to Officer Basic Course); what they branched (Junior ROTC Cadets are normally told which branch they will be serving in the Army in the middle of the year) is immaterial. Though TRADOC would look at their previous training, in the end the new 2LTs would go where they were needed. Sophomores (who are not under contract to the government yet) who are at the top third of the class would be offered OCS; the second third would be offered enlistments at the starting rank of sergeant (E-5); the bottom third of the class and the entirety of the Freshmen Class who had completed at least one semester of ROTC would be offered enlistments at Corporal or Specialist (E-4; whether they are Corporals or Specialists depends on the needs of the receiving units). The rest may enlist normally or are cut loose; if they enlist, they enter as Privates First Class (E-3).

Of course, it's the US Army, so everything has to be made unnecessarily complicated, even during a wartime emergency.

Thanks for the clarification! That's what I get for quickly going through a summary that's a couple years old itself...

[chico20854]

January 17, 1997

Czech and Soviet troops launch an attack against the German covering force in Bavaria, attempting to divert forces from Polish border.

Cypriot Army units leave their barracks and attempt to restore order.

Unofficial:

The Freedom ship New Jersey Freedom is delivered in Galveston, TX while its sister the Delaware Freedom is delivered from Pascagoula, MS.

At Ft. Stewart, GA the 118th Field Artillery Brigade (Georgia National Guard) is certified unready for deployment by evaluators.

The US submarine USS Tunny arrives in port in San Diego to load a Dry Deck Shelter, a specialized structure to transport Seal Delivery Vehicles.

Convoy 202.1 arrives in Pusan, losing an additional ship (the Taiwanese-flag Wan Hai 203) to a mine in the shipping channel. The Idaho Freedom has completed its first voyage and moves to a berth to unload its cargo of munitions.

In the Northwestern USSR, the 69th Naval Infantry Brigade is formed from personnel of the Litsa naval base complex

The frigate USS McDonnell (FF-1043) is sunk by missile launched by an Echo II SSGN.

A month after being struck by Soviet anti-radar missiles, the Aegis cruiser USS San Jacinto, stabilized in Scapa Flow, begins a tow back to shipyard in US.

British garrisons in Cyprus close their gates to all visitors and offer refuge to their local employees and their families.

The 32nd GMRD, a Category C division from the Moscow Military District, is ordered to mobilize, while the 96th MRD in the Volga Military District is upgraded to Category B, receiving an influx of equipment and men although not slated for imminent deployment.

[chico20854]

Great work, and lots of research. Really enjoying this.

Did you move JRTC to Polk in your history OTL the move out of Chaffee was a combo of a cost cutting measure, aggressive congressional efforts on the part of Louisiana to offset the closure of England AFB (23rd TFW, A-10A) and preserve Louisianas remaining military bases (NAS NOLA, NSA NOLA, Barksdale, Beauregard, LAAP, and Polk), and space made available by the deactivation of 5th ID. With England AFB presumably staying open (no oepeace dividend) and 5th ID filling the cantonment, training areas, and ranges on Fort Polk and Peason Ridge there may not have been the impetus to relocate.

One thing that may have happened with a continuing Soviet threat and military spending under the Strategic Homeport Program is the commissioning of NS Lake Charles in the early 90s. In reality, this project was abandoned in 1991. Unlike the bases in NOLA, NS Lake Charles may have been able to ride out the strikes in 1997, even though Lake Charles itself would burn from the Westlake strike.

Barksdale (2d BW, B-52G) wasnt targeted and was a survivable distance from the strike on Shreveport and Beauregard is expressly mentioned in cannon as surviving. Holding these ports on the Red River of the South may help MILGOV secure a water linkage from LA to enclaves in AR, TN, OH, and OK post 1997.

I'm glad people are enjoying this!

I actually had JRTC's running at both posts, with Polk being the primary prewar JRTC and Chaffee a war-emergency expansion, staffed by a National Guard Regional Training Institute as cadre. This was mirrored by the addition of two additional NTCs, at Yakima Training Center in Washington and Yuma Training Grounds in Arizona. These expansions allow nearly every reserve component brigade to get a rotation at one of the training centers before deploying, a lesson I imagine the Army may have learned from the Desert Shield mobilizations of roundout brigades.

Louisiana is going to be interesting! Between the strikes, Ft Polk, Barksdale and other military bases, the strategic waterway of the Mississippi, the hurriccane that swept through in 1998, the Strategic Petroleum Reserve sites and petroleum industry there's a lot going on!

[cawest]

Thanks for the clarification! That's what I get for quickly going through a summary that's a couple years old itself...

what about JROTC in high schools. each school would have a NCO and officers but larger schools would have many of both. also each school would have one services. (Army, Navy, Air Forces. don't know about the rest)

[chico20854]

i knew about the A-37 but just found this about the T-38

https://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/Vi...-at-38b-talon/

Thanks, I didn't know about that either! I'll have to write them in upcoming updates.

The British planned on their Hawk trainers serving as backup emergency interceptors (armed with Sidewinders), and the USN is soon (in the timeline) going to be fielding scout-bombing squadrons for raider hunting in lower-threat areas flying T-2 Buckeyes, T-45s and TA-4s.

[Homer]

Why do I see more and more mine strikes in NATO and allied ports

All the Pact trawlers and merchant ships could likely have left them once hostilities looked imminent. That'll require a major clearance effort in multiple theaters.

On other notes, there are unstruck wells, gas works, small refineries and pipelines in OK, NE Texas, Louisiana (Krotz Springs is pretty big) and Southern Arkansas (El Dorado). Nowhere near enough to make a dent in prewar demand, but enough (once EMP effects and any war or looting damage is fixed) to supply fuel to MILGOV forces in OK and the ARKLATEX, in addition to providing natural gas for cooking, power plants, etc. Depending on how rosy you want things to look...

[cawest]

Thanks, I didn't know about that either! I'll have to write them in upcoming updates.

The British planned on their Hawk trainers serving as backup emergency interceptors (armed with Sidewinders), and the USN is soon (in the timeline) going to be fielding scout-bombing squadrons for raider hunting in lower-threat areas flying T-2 Buckeyes, T-45s and TA-4s.

the Cessna O-2 or Cessna 336 or 337. maybe put a wooden flight deck on a cargo ship for them to use.

HAS

Armament
Guns: SUU-11/A Minigun Pod
Hardpoints: Four MAU-3A bomb racks
Rockets: LAU-59/A Rocket Launcher, MA-2/A Rocket Launcher
Bombs: SUU-14/A Bomblet Dispenser


just found this about a learjet.... just think if it held weapons. https://www.saab.com/products/aerial-target-services

[pmulcahy11b]

Thanks for the clarification! That's what I get for quickly going through a summary that's a couple years old itself...

I used to be an ROTC cadet at the University of Texas at San Antonio. No I did not receive a commission. That's a story in of itself...

[Homer]

the Cessna O-2 or Cessna 336 or 337. maybe put a wooden flight deck on a cargo ship for them to use.

The Rhodesian Air Force used armed 337s with an overwing mounted 7.62mm MG arrangement, rockets, and bombs/dispensers pretty successfully. I believe they were able to forward base them near operational areas for quick turnarounds.

Another option for an ad hoc light attack aircraft that's around in large numbers are crop dusters. They've got a lot of lift capacity, are mechanically fairly simple, and can land on rough fields.