On this day 25 years ago (Commentary Thread)

[Homer]

I wonder what patch the 36th Mech is wearing The RL and historic incarnation of the 36th wears the oeT patch, which the 36th brigade gave up when they folded into the 49th AD in the 90s. With an extant 36th Brigade the oeT patch would probably be claimed. Maybe the army makes a new patch, or maybe they take the interim 36th airborne patch from the 60s, the oestar patch Or maybe the 36th brigade loses their patch when they get folded into the 44th

Patches, etc. seem like small things, but unit identity is a large part of cohesion and combat effectiveness, especially in ARNG organizations or in divisions with storied legacies. Patches are one artifact of that identity.

[chico20854]

May 15, 1997

Nothing official for the day.

The defense rests in the treason trial of Autumn Lotus; the defense counsel attempted to question the legitimacy of evidence collected by the military and its admissibility in court.

map of front lines in Poland
No. 58 Squadron, RAF Regiment seizes the Soviet airfield at Powidz, Poland. The British troops, they are startled to discover, are actually several miles ahead of friendly units in an area that, thankfully has few Pact defenders present to resist the unit's heavily armed (but unarmored) Land Rovers.

Third German Army pauses to reorganize and replenish supplies in preparation for PanzerGruppe Oberdorf's drive.

NATO deep strike aircraft roam along the Warta, Oder and Wisla River valleys seeking out masses of Soviet and Polish vehicles bunched up waiting for river crossings. They are assisted in this hunt by USAF TR-1 and E-8 surveillance aircraft, now orbiting over liberated Polish territory.

The German government begins releasing some territorial security troops from active service, allowing the German economy to partially recover from the withdrawal of most of its adult male workforce. The economy is still, however, struggling from the burdens of repairing battle damage in both East and West, the cutoff of energy supplies from the USSR and worldwide economic turmoil caused by the war.

A SH-60 helicopter from the USS Deyo, part of the escort of Convoy 140, sinks an unidentified Soviet submarine. (Surviving Soviet records list a number of boats that lost contact in mid-May in the North Atlantic.)

The American heavy cruiser Salem and her battle group arrive in Ascension Island in the South Atlantic for a brief stopover to collect mail, discharge a handful of wounded sailors and receive intelligence updates and a consignment of high-priority parts.

In Iran, Rifleman Goreng Nassang further distinguishes himself. Back with his unit (the 1/7th Duke of Edinburgh's Own Gurkha Rifles) outside of Bandar Abbas, he successfully hits a Soviet captain and his radio operator with his trusty GPMG at a range of over 1600 yards.

The two Soviet raiders in the Indian Ocean, the Echo II-class sub K-35 and the destroyer Buliny launch a cruise missile strike on the American base at Diego Garcia. Using targeting data from one of the USSR's last remaining RORSAT (ocean radar recon) satellites, the destroyer dashes towards the American base and launches its five remaining SS-N-22 cruise missiles at the ships in the lagoon. The submarine fires its four SS-N-12 cruise missiles at the airfield, hoping to strike the tank farm, runway and any aircraft parked on the apron. The strike is a success; the American destroyer tender Acadia is struck and sunk, while the tanker Mount Washington is set ablaze, sinking at dusk. The air base is also damaged, with two fuel tanks burst (the fire put out after herculean efforts of the base firefighting team), two P-3s of VP-4, two C-141s of the 172nd Military Airlift Wing (Mississippi Air National Guard) and a KC-135 of the 380th Air Refueling Squadron lost.

The SAS team in Leningrad uses the fake passes and a substantial bribe to obtain access to the nuclear battlecruiser Rossiya, under construction at the Baltic Shipyard. They manage to start a fire belowdecks and escape before the fire brigade can arrive.

[dragoon500ly]

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)

JROTC has Air Force, Army, Navy and Marines. There is no government obligation, BUT, if you enlisted then JROTC would get you Private E-2 and if the officer commanding wrote you a nice letter, then you could get PFC E-3.

[chico20854]

JROTC has Air Force, Army, Navy and Marines. There is no government obligation, BUT, if you enlisted then JROTC would get you Private E-2 and if the officer commanding wrote you a nice letter, then you could get PFC E-3.

ROTC (the Senior, Collegiate program) was disbanded on January 16, 1997. Junion ROTC (for high school students), you are correct, has no government obligation and in fact high school students are largely too young to enlist (as the school year goes on more of the senior class will turn 18; 17-year olds can enlist with their parent's permission but cannot be deployed outside the US). The cadre for JROTC is almost entirely retirees (my JROTC regiment had a single active-duty Staff Sergeant or Sergeant First Class and a half-dozen or more retired Sergeants Major), so on mobilization I could see the active-duty NCO being pulled into the replacement system; as the war goes on maybe the younger retirees (who remain legally members of the military eligible for recall) will get pulled as well. Administrative and logistic support was from local Senior ROTC units; to the extent those tasks were performed by active duty soldiers (vs civilian employees) they would be degraded.

Post-TDM the situation may change, as JROTC units represent an in-place, organized military force, granted one composed largely of 14-17 year olds with no equipment, field gear or combat training. (The JROTC syllabus consisted of leadership, map reading, public speaking, first aid and drill and ceremony.) In the summer of 1997 (spoiler alert!) the California state government forms two disaaster relief regiments from the California Cadet Corps, a state-sponsored JROTC-like organization. One of these units ends up defending Naval Weapons Station Seal Beach through 1998 and then is assigned rear area security in support of the Army in the Mexican campaign. I have a handful of other cadet-type organizations used by state governments as part of or supplements to the various state defense forces.

[Homer]

Would JROTC remain as a citizenship/character building program or would it become more focused on fitness and common task skills once conscription was instituted and it became clear this wasnt going to be a quick war (summer 97 curriculum change) I could see no weapons training (maybe weaponeer or .22), but more PT, NBC skills, AFV ID, etc.

[pmulcahy11b]

JROTC has Air Force, Army, Navy and Marines. There is no government obligation, BUT, if you enlisted then JROTC would get you Private E-2 and if the officer commanding wrote you a nice letter, then you could get PFC E-3.

If you go into ROTC in college, completion of the JROTC program will allow you to enter ROTC as a sophomore cadet instead of a freshman cadet. You're out of phase, but most ROTC cadets are.

[pmulcahy11b]

ROTC (the Senior, Collegiate program) was disbanded on January 16, 1997.

I assume you mean for T2K purposes. The actual ROTC program still exists. I was just on their page; I had to check when I read your post.

[pmulcahy11b]

May 15, 1997


In Iran, Rifleman Goreng Nassang further distinguishes himself. Back with his unit (the 1/7th Duke of Edinburgh's Own Gurkha Rifles) outside of Bandar Abbas, he successfully hits a Soviet captain and his radio operator with his trusty GPMG at a range of over 1600 yards.

That made me smile. In ROTC, the National Guard, and on active duty, I sometimes used the M60 as an ad hoc sniper rifle. It's ROF is so slow that it's easy to squeeze off single shots accurately.

[chico20854]

I'm having tech issues. I'll be back up on Thursday...

[dragoon500ly]

Would JROTC remain as a citizenship/character building program or would it become more focused on fitness and common task skills once conscription was instituted and it became clear this wasnt going to be a quick war (summer 97 curriculum change) I could see no weapons training (maybe weaponeer or .22), but more PT, NBC skills, AFV ID, etc.

When I was in Air Force JROTC (mid-70s), it was a point to advise the parents that JROTC was not a 'boot camp' and there was absolutely no service obligation. Several years later, my son joins Army JROTC (2019) and I was shocked that they had the kids doing rifle drill, marksmanship training, and PT. And this was after the Lieutenant Colonel commanding, promised no military boot camp...

So...with an increasingly deteriorating international situation, I can see efforts to use JROTC as a 'prelude' to basic training, and with the outbreak of war (for the U.S.) maybe even a quick NCO academy to get Corporals at least.

[chico20854]

May 16, 1997

As forward elements of the 24th Infantry Division move into the Bandar-e Khomeyni-Khorramshahr area, the 82nd Airborne begins withdrawing to Saudi Arabia. As the 1st Brigade, 24th Infantry is moving into its' positions, the Soviets strike back. A battle group built around the 217th (my 337th) Guards Airborne Regiment and several Tudeh guerrilla companies launch attacks in the Ramshir-Shadegan area. The 1st of the 24th use their firepower well. The attacks are beaten back. The Soviets, however, are able to withdraw in good order.

German Third Army commits seven divisions to the capture of Silesia. They face three battered Pact divisions - the Polish 12th Tank and 2nd Motor-Rifle and the Soviet 35th (my 93rd) Guards Motor-Rifle, and various workers militia and ZOMO riot police battalions.

Unofficially,

The tanker Suwanee is delivered in Baltimore, Maryland and put into naval service.

The jury reaches a guilty verdict in the treason trial of Autumn Lotus, who provided transportation, food and shelter to a Soviet Spetsnaz team operating in New Mexico.

US Forces Korea launch a co-ordinated air campaign against North Korea. Recent POW interrogations have revealed that the North Korean People's Army has largely expended its stocks of food, fuel and ammunition at the front and that great efforts are required to keep the troops supplied. Some supplies are coming from further north, while others are being provided by the DPRK's Soviet sponsor. Consequently, USFK implements an all-out interdiction campaign designed to halt the North Korean transportation system. The 320th Bpmb Wing's B-52s hit Pyongyang, jamming the remaining air defense radars while the bombers attack the capital's rail yards. US Navy aircraft from the Kitty Hawk and Nimitz carrier battle groups (and conventionally-armed Tomahawk cruise missiles fired from some of the escorts) pound other targets in the city, while the F-111s of the 27th Tactical Fighter Wing and the Stennis and Abraham Lincoln battle groups pound Wonsan on the east coast.

The 631st Field Artillery Brigade (Mississippi National Guard) arrives at the Oakland Port of Embarkation for transit to Korea.

III German Korps links up with the amphibious lodgment and isolates Kolobrzeg on the Baltic Coast.

Anti-Soviet partisans on the Kola rescue the pilot of a USMC F/A-18 fighter-bomber who was shot down attacking air defense sites south of Murmansk.

Convoy 140 arrives off the southwest coast of the UK, having taken a more southerly route to avoid Soviet submarines that had ravaged Convoy 136 a few weeks prior. The escort carrier Shangri La departs the convoy, joining the westbound Convoy 143.

The "Rumble in the Jungle" erupts in Colombia when Colombian national police commandos, accompanied by American advisors of the 8th Special Forces Group, launch a helicopter assault on the guerilla-controlled hamlet of El Moral (east of Cali), carried by American UH-1s of the 3rd Battalion, 228th Aviation. The town conceals the headquarters of the ELM-L, a splinter group of the larger ELM marxist guerrilla group. The battle that follows is fierce, with two helicopters and a A-7 attack jet of the 156th Tactical Fighter Group (Puerto Rico Air National Guard) shot down by SA-7s, likely supplied by Cuba, making their first appearance in Colombia. By sundown the police and their American allies have gained control of the town but find themselves under siege by hundreds of guerillas and armed peasants and townspeople.

[chico20854]

May 17, 1997

Nothing official for the day. Unofficially,

American and Allied planners face growing shortages as simultaneous offensives occur around the world. Prewar stockpiles have largely been depleted, and while Western industrial production is turning out ever increasing amounts of war materiel it is not enough to offset the voracious appetite of global war. Shipping is in short supply with three major convoys at sea moving troops and months of Soviet commerce raiding. Logistics planners try to better manage the supplies they have - substituting when possible and allocating scarce resources to the most pressing needs. One policy change US planners implement regards MREs, where supplies are rapidly dwindling as troops in the field consume them and other users want them to add to emergency stockpiles. The new policy limits MREs to one per day for troops beyond the rear of brigades in action and prohibits further transfer of MREs into CONUS stockpiles. Trainees in the US will be issued prepackaged perishable foods. In response, FEMA buys up the remainder of the year's production from the country's three biggest suppliers of dehydrated camping food as well as massive quantities of canned food. Similar changes occur in many other areas of supply.

Engineers at the US Army TACOM complete the design of a SS-23 guidance radar jamming system that can be truck mounted. After testing against SS-23s transferred from the NVA at White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico, the system is ordered into emergency mass production.

The 196th Infantry Brigade is formed at Fort Ord, California as part of the wartime expansion of the Army, assigned a mix of draftees, recalled reservists and retirees and a smattering of reassigned active-duty NCOs, including the entire peacetime Army recruiting command staff on the West Coast who are medically fit for deployment. Due to the demands of the war the oeChargers Brigade does not receive its complete complement of specialist troops and is issued WW II-era howitzers and converted civilian vehicles for training purposes.

The 214th Field Artillery Brigade at Fort Sill, Oklahoma is stood down from alert, informed by the Joint Chiefs that it will remain in CONUS as part of a small strategic reserve, especially since the deployment of additional Pershing II missiles to Europe could be seen as escalatory.

US Forces Korea's air campaign against North Korean transportation infrastructure continues with more F-111, B-52 and naval strikes on Pyongyang and Wonsan. NSA signals interception teams record a call between Kim Jong Il and Soviet General Secretary Sauronski in which the North Korean leader begs for modern Soviet air defense missiles and PVO interceptors to cover his nation; Sauronski rebuffs the North Korean, explaining (accurately) that he has none to spare and refusing to divert PVO forces from defending the USSR.

The lead squadrons of the US 1st Cavalry Division enter Szczecinek.

The Luftwaffe 4th Luftjaeger Regiment is formed as the threat to airbases in West Germany (from Spetsnaz or saboteur attack or Warsaw Pact air raids) recedes. The regiment is tasked with providing security for NATO supply convoys and logistics sites in Poland as NATO advances towards the Soviet border.

Troops of the Hungarian Sopron Border Guard District detain a group of eight men crossing into Hungary from Austria. (The border is one of only two Warsaw Pact borders that is not seeing war; the other is the Soviet-Finnish broder). Hidden within the group's cars are several M-16 rifles, explosives, detanators and sophisticated communications equipment. They do not identify themselves and are not heard from again in the West. (The group was a CIA paramilitary team attempting to infiltrate into the USSR via Hungary; the Department of Defense thought the plan was foolish and denied the CIA's request for assistance.)

Behind the screen maintained by the Kings Guard in northern Norway, the Norwegian 8th Brigade and the S,r-Norge Mechanized Brigade move into the area around Karasjok, forming a division-sized force.

Ships from Convoy 140 arrive in Bremen, Hamburg and Bremerhaven, Germany and begin unloading the 36th Infantry Division (Mechanized), the 107th ACR and 44th AD as well as thousands of tons of ammunition and supplies. The massive escort force allowed the convoy to arrive unscathed, despite the numerous objections of US Navy Admirals to their vaunted carrier forces being "wasted escorting a bunch of merchant tubs wallowing along at 7 knots".

POWs in the hastily established POW camp outside Bushehr riot, demanding better rations and an end to the overcrowding. The rioters nearly overwhelm the MPs guarding the camp's perimeter, saved only by the arrival of an Iranian infantry battalion. Over 300 POWs are killed in the disorder. The 24th Infantry Division and 14th Armored Cavalry Regiment (Light) pursue the retreating Soviet and Tudeh forces, advancing 5 km towards Ramshir and Shadegan. In Leningrad the fire aboard the battlecruiser Rossiya, lit by a British SAS team two nights before, is extinguished.

The "Rumble in the Jungle" continues, with American and Colombian transport planes dropping supplies to the surrounded troops. At sundown another air assault is launched, delivering two companies of Colombian Army infantry, equipped with heavy machineguns and moertars. Throughout the day, as the battle rages, the government troops are supported by further waves of American attack aircraft, moving fast and low to avoid guerilla MANPADS.

On the other side of the world, a Pakistani Army patrol clashes with Indian border guards along the disputed border west of Srinagar. India claims the Pakistanis were on Indian territory and that the patrol was escorting Muslim rebels into the disputed region of Kashmir, which both nations claim.

[chico20854]

May 18, 1997

Nationwide conscription begins in Canada. Initially, there are some "card burning" rallies held by people opposing Canadian involvement in the war in Europe and by those resisting conscription.

Unofficially,

Outside Fort Lee, Virginia, MPs are called to a low-budget hotel in the early morning to break up a rowdy gathering of trainees. When the MPs arrive there are over 25 soldiers (mostly privates but including one staff sergeant and a lone, female, second lieutenant), ample alchohol, cocaine and six unregistered firearms. All the soldiers are brought to the base confinement facility.

The final major secret transfer of precious objects out of London takes place under the careful watch of the 2nd Battalion, Scots Guards. This final consignment includes the second copy of the Magna Carta kept at the British Library.

A third day of airstrikes on North Korean transportation sites continues. The USAF long-range aircraft are supplemented by F-16s of the 16th Tactical Fighter Squadron, 432nd Tactical Fighter Wing, forward deployed to Kangnung Air Base, Korea; the F-16s carry precision-guided munitions to target bridges and tunnels along the rail lines approaching the DMZ, while ROKAF and USAF A-10s search roads and rail lines for convoys and trains to attack.

VII German Korps advances on Walcz and Piła while III German Korps, assisted by more amphibious landings (often in battalion size), takes Koszalin and Slupsk. The Soviet 3rd Shock Army, battered by a month of intense action and at less than 25 percent strength, is withdrawn to the Kaliningrad oblast for rest and reconstruction.

As the Polish Free Congress discovers the challenges of governing recaptured territory, 7th US Army offers the assistance of the 42nd Military Police Group (Customs) in battling smuggling and black market activity.

The contractors hired by the German government complete their first job, emergency repairs to the railroad bridge over the Oder at Krosno Odrzańskie, which had been damaged by RAF Tornadoes in January.

Logistic difficulties slow the American counterattack in Iran as the limited reserves of ammunition and spare parts in Saudi Arabia are depleted. CENTCOM's limited transportation resources for moving things across the Persian Gulf are nearly fully committed to sustain the forces that have already been moved to Iran, leaving the US Marine's 1st Division, the 434th Field Artillery Brigade and many of XVIII Airborne Corps' support units stranded in Saudi Arabia.

In Leningrad, the British SAS team launches what will turn out to be its final attack. They infiltrate the Vostochnaya electrical substation and attack the control center. The subsequent damage to the control center severely disrupts the life of the city, cutting off power to 40 percent of the city, shutting down much of the metro system and the main water treatment plant as well as massive portions of the city's industry.

In Colombia, the battle of El Moral comes to an end as the guerrillas, battered by mortar fire and two days of nearly nonstop air attack, melt away into the jungle. They take their dead and wounded with them, leaving the government forces in control of the town and its hostile population. Government losses approach 150 dead and over 300 wounded.

[chico20854]

May 19, 1997

NATO airstrikes destroy the road and rail bridges across the Raba River in Bochnia, 40 km south of Krakow.

Unofficially,

The Freedom-class cargo ship Tehran Freedom is delivered in Portland, Oregon.

With the end of the school year, the governor of Texas orders the Texas A&M University Corps of Cadets to active duty, splitting its remaining membership (those contracted to ROTC have already been deployed) into two regiments. The 3rd Regiment (unofficially known as oethe 1st Aggies) leaves its College Station home to augment the Border Patrol in guarding the Mexican border, operating out of a ranch on the outskirts of Eagle Pass and from Laughlin Air Force Base near Del Rio. The regiments cadets are armed with a hodgepodge of M16s from Air Force and National Guard stocks, M14s and M1s from the State Guard, shotguns from the factory in Eagle Pass and civilian weapons owned by the units members or donated by alumni. Its sister regiment, the 5th Texas Regiment, is assigned "special missions" from the governors office.

The MP investigators at Fort Lee, Virginia discover that the party they broke up the night before was a gathering of the "5th Squad", a gang formed by trainees at the base, mostly attending the fuel handler advanced individual training course. The exclusively African-American gang had started out as a harmless social organization but over several months had evolved into a criminal organization, moving drugs onto the base. Witness interviews revealed that the weekly graduation parties (to celebrate the graduation of the members of the training company's senior platoon) frequently involved assault, rape and drug abuse. The investigators forward their finding to the JAG and to the Army Criminal Investigation Command.

The B-52s of the 320th Bomb Wing shift to northeastern North Korea, alarming Soviet air defense commanders in the Vladivostok area. The bombers instead hit transportation and industrial facilities in Chongjin, North Korea's third largest city. 7th Air Force withdraws its remaining A-10 force from the interdiction effort over North Korea, alarmed at the loss of five of the increasingly hard to replace aircraft in the first day's operation to North Korean anti-aircraft artillery fire.

The Poznan airport is captured by panzergrenadiers and the factory floor of the BMP-2 plant is torn apart by artillery and mortar fire. The German commander offers to permit the garrison to surrender before the artillery turns its guns on the old city. The garrison commander stalls for time, allowing the bridges over the Warta and the switches and repair shops in the citys railyards to be demolished, before accepting the offer.

To the north of Poznan, the Polish 10th Border Guard Brigade, its commander killed in a partisan attack, declares in favor of the government in exile, the largest unit to date to declare for NATO.

The American heavy cruiser Des Moines completes 45 days of post-commissioning workups at Naval Station Mayport, Florida and is ordered to the Pacific. It will be assigned an escort force from the Pacific Fleet when it completes its transit of the Panama Canal.

The CIA station chief in Pakistan meets with a group of Afghan Mujahadin leaders who are demanding the resumption of American weapons shipments, which have been curtailed because of the war. The CIA officer explains that the worldwide war has prevented him from being able to obtain additional Stinger missiles, Soviet-caliber small arms and ammunition and explosives. He reinterates the CIA's continued financial support of the Afghan rebels and the provision of small numbers of Lee-Enfield rifles and ammunition, and the departure of most of the Soviet 40th Army to fight in Iran, leaving only small garrisons to hold the cities. The guerrilla leaders reject his call for the resistance to shut down the Afghan road network to the Soviets and their DRA allies.

Authorities from naval headquarters in Moscow judge the hulk of the battlecruiser Rossiya a total loss, fit only for scrap. The KGB finally obtains the location of the SAS safehouse in Leningrad and calls in the Alfa Group commando team.

Additional clashes break out along the Indian-Pakistani border in Kashmir. There are three separate firefights between patrols and artillery duels disturbing the night. Leaders of both nations are silent, resisting calls both to de-escalate the tensions and hawkish calls to respond with overwhelming force to force the other side to back down.

[cawest]

one of the things that might happen is a throwback to the ACW. Officers will be offered the idea that they buy their own sidearms as long as it is a the "right" set of calibers. maybe after it does so well that senior NCOs will get the same offer. there are a lot of small shops that can make AR platforms or 1911 clones and the like.