Operation Proud Lion: T2K in Kenya

[HorseSoldier]

Direct Soviet deployment of combat troops in Africa pre-Twilight War would seem to violate some unspoken Cold War agreement (and that's what Cubans are for). With the war with China ongoing and (IIRC) ongoing COIN in Afghanistan it seems overstretch -- especially with the USSR hitting up the rest of the WP for China front forces. First order of business would be cutting non-priority commitments in places that don't matter (same thing makes me question GDWe's parking Soviet units in Vietnam).

[Raellus]

Originally Posted by HorseSoldier

Direct Soviet deployment of combat troops in Africa pre-Twilight War would seem to violate some unspoken Cold War agreement (and that's what Cubans are for). With the war with China ongoing and (IIRC) ongoing COIN in Afghanistan it seems overstretch -- especially with the USSR hitting up the rest of the WP for China front forces. First order of business would be cutting non-priority commitments in places that don't matter (same thing makes me question GDWe's parking Soviet units in Vietnam).

This was what I was getting at. I agree with your assessment regarding deployment of Soviet troops to Africa. The factors weighing against such a deployment are similar for the U.S. military and that's why I came up with the Tanzanian invasion. I'm hoping Jason can shed some more light on the D.C. group's decision to place Soviet troops in a strategically irrelevant (relatively speaking) African region.

As for Vietnam, I'm not very familiar with that piece of canon but I'm assuming that the Soviet reasoning for doing so would have had something to do with opening a second front against China, as well as defending the Soviet naval installations there.

[Jason Weiser]

The Soviets decided to post the unit there mainly to prop up the Mengitsu government, and have a unit handy to protect the Soviet Naval anchorages in Ethiopia, and across the Red Sea in Aden in case NATO became involved in the larger mess vis a vis China. We could say a company backed up the Naval Infantry Garrison on Aden and some other elements were sent down to reinforce Soccotra and the rest was busy both providing security to the anchorages in Eritrea and various Primus resupply points up and down the coast. Trouble was? None of that lasted long, and as NATO air and naval power squeezed the Soviet navy and merchant marine out of the area, and the US took Aden and Yemen, and the other anchorages were bombed into rubble, the unit soon found itself sucked into the civil war. By the time things with Tanzania got nasty, the unit was too busy to do more than a few raids into Kenya to help the Tanzanians.

[Raellus]

That makes sense, Jason. It was a pre-war (at least, pre European war) move and they just kind of got stuck there when the balloon went up. Is that right?

[Jason Weiser]

Correct.

[Raellus]

Recondo School

In early 1998, with the 173rd BCT isolated from the rest of the U.S. armed forces and its constituent infantry battalions widely spread around the country and responsible for large and environmentally diverse areas of operation, it quickly became apparent that the Brigade's authorized reconnaissance unit, A Troop, 1/91st Cavalry, could not be everywhere at once. In order to locate and monitor the various hostile forces* operating in their respective areas of operation, each battalion needed a dedicated, long-range reconnaissance unit of its own.

*Most of these hostile forces operated as relatively small, mobile bands, using classic guerilla tactics.

The Brigade's commander, a late-war Vietnam veteran and former Ranger, decided to create a training course for long range reconnaissance patrollers modeled on the Vietnam War-era U.S. Army Recondo school. The course would focus on long range patrolling and scouting skills, tracking, field-craft, and SERE.

The cadre for the school was formed by a small group of experienced Special Forces soldiers familiar with Kenya and its people. A diverse group of men was assembled to lend local and topical knowledge and expertise to the course. This group included a Rhodesian expatriate and former Selous Scout with extensive experience in long range patrolling in the African bush and an Israeli citizen and ex-Sayeret Maktal commando who "retired" to Kenya after a stint as an independent security consultant at the refinery facilities in Mombasa. Several Kenyan soldiers, game wardens, and indigenous, semi-nomadic hunters were also brought in to share their experience with the students (and instructors) and the British SAS mobility troop operating against Somali bandits and Junudullah insurgents in the northeast of the country routinely rotated personnel (often convalescing wounded) through the course as "guest instructors".

Graduates of the Recondo school formed long range reconnaissance patrol (LRRP) platoons in each of the Brigade's airborne infantry battalions. Additional allied personnel cycled through the school in small batches and returned to their parent line companies in order to share their newly acquired patrolling skills.

[HorseSoldier]

I like it, and think you're on a plausible track splitting things between LRRP stuff and basic combat tracking for line units.