Quote:
Originally Posted by Canadian Army
I hope you put in some Arizona Rangers in the story!
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Absolutely! I'm thinking of starting the Rangers as an adjunct to the various municipal and county law enforcement departments in SAMAD, then having them evolve. If a few of the key players are horsemen and experienced outdoorsmen, they can offer the forces that be in southeastern Arizona some expertise on tracking and riding in the unique conditions of the area. Once the law enforcement situation comes under control, the Arizona Rangers might cooperate with the surviving Border Patrol agents to teach the light infantry and new cavalry units of 111th Brigade to wage a low-intensity war of infiltration and small unit actions along the Mexican border. The Rangers thus might become mounted trackers and combatants who in turn help give rise to a proper cavalry formation within the 111th. I'm still pondering the pros and cons of developing the local Rangers in different directions. I'm quite fond of the idea of local volunteers with the requisite skills teaching the Army the skills needed to wage the particular type of warfare that has come to southern Arizona.
After the conclusion of the high-intensity fighting of mid-1998 in Arizona,
Sonora Army gets a new commander who is under orders to keep the pressure on the Americans in preparation for a renewed offensive sometime in early 1999. The new commander doesn't have the resources to launch a new offensive, given the correlation of forces and the need to maintain order in Sonora. However, he initiates a campaign of infiltration, raids, sabotage, placement of booby traps, murder, etc. to inflict a steady stream of casualties on the Americans and chip away at American morale. In this setting, the American infantry needs to develop a different skillset than large formation fighting in setpiece battles. The rudiments of small unit tactics are there because the MI troops have been engaged in security missions throughout southern Arizona since the Exchange. Nevertheless, refinement and mastery are required. I'm thinking of using the Rangers as a sort of central collection point for at least some of these skills by combining the pre-war local Rangers with the Border Patrol, post-Exchange volunteers, the ceremonial cavalry unit of Fort Huachuca, and selected others who will be able to help put horsemanship, tracking, marksmanship, and related skills into a package. Admittedly, the law enforcement aspect of the Rangers fades into the background if I go this route.
On the other hand, I could keep the local Arizona Rangers as an adjunct to local law enforcement. But that doesn't seem very exciting, does it? Shouldn't Rangers evoke exciting images, given that we are in a fictional realm?
Webstral