RHODE ISLAND
While the tiny state of Rhode Island was untouched by missiles, it's people had to then fend for themselves in the aftermath of that horrific day. Governor John Notte had placed the National Guard all along the border with in twelve hours after the missiles stopped, and only two after the refugees started arriving. Governor Notte also quickly made a deal with the National Guard 103rd Replacement Battalion stationed in his state. The commander saw quickly that he had to help the Governor if he and his family were to survive. So with three well armed forces under his command--the RI ANG, the 103rd Replacement Battalion, and the RI state police--the Governor was able to pretty much close the borders. Notte new that he needed the military to hold things together, so he worked with them to ensure that he and they were given the lions share of food and supplies. Still, the following harsh winter and the spread of disease took its toll on the population of Rhode Island. Within two years the state was down to less than 200,000 people. The population of the capital city Providence (currently at twenty percent of its pre-war level) presently forms a community which now calls itself the "Isolationists". Practicing what their name implies, the Isolationists have shut themselves off from outside governments and are attempting to become as self-sufficient as possible. The Isolationists claim all of Rhode Island but they only effectively control the parts of Providence and the adjacent area within the border formed by the Providence and Pawtucket Rivers and Scituate Reservoir.
1) NUCLEAR TARGETS
None.
2) ORGANIZED MILITARY FORCES
103rd Replacement Battalion--Providence (1300 men)
3) THE STATE AT LARGE
Providence: Much of Providence itself was ravaged by the disorder and starvation that was a mark of the chaos. Fires have gutted many of the large buildings in the downtown area. The area west of Cranston and east of the reservoir has recently been developed into a series of farming co-ops in an effort to break the city's dependence on fish and outside suppliers. Unfortunately, the city lacks a large body of experience in agriculture and animal husbandry. As a result, the yields are expected to by small. They are opposed by small gangs within Providence itself, and by the various bandit and marauder bands which wander New England. The gangs control the low-rent apartment ghettos and parts of the downtown Providence area, creating a siege situation with the Isolationist defense forces surrounding them. The reason that these gangs have not been wiped out is that Notte's daughter was kidnapped by them in 1963 and he refuses to burn them out until he finds her. Some of the larger gangs are the "Pigs on Wings", the "Killer Sheep", the "Rabid Wolf Lingerie Society", and the "Dogs of War". By late 1964, Notte's grand experiment with isolationism is breaking down. Shortages in power and spare parts have forced him to shut down factories and operations left and right. The is virtually no power left for private consumption. Notte's relationship to the Navy enclave and the UBF is becoming more strained by the hour as he is unable to fill trade orders and his work force becomes restless. The 103rd Replacement Battalion (1300 men) provides the bulk of the security forces for the city.
Newport: Now a CivGov Coast Guard and Navy enclave, which is centered in the compound that was once the domain of the Naval War College and Naval Officer Candidate School, among other important navy institutions. Rear Admiral Nils HoIsgirder is the commandant of the Coast Guard forces here. The Rhode Island Isolationist community to the north in Providence is leery of Holsgirder, and something of an unspoken arrangement exists between them. Providence leaves Newport in peace and facilitates a limited amount of trade with the Isolationist community, while Holsgirder's force is their insurance against any change in the UBF's ambition. Although not large enough to defeat Carlucci, Holsgirder's swabs could deal the UBF a severe, perhaps crippling, blow in a fight to the finish. For now, however, the navy men are active traders with the UBF. The new Coast Guard is a mix of the old and the young. The officers and NCOs are all 40 or more years old; they are reactivated reservists, former academy instructors, and coast guard auxiliary inductees. Most of them (about 200) have seen limited combat. Almost 400 of these new swabs make up the rank and file of the new Coast Guard. The townspeople of Newport (approximately 18,000 of them) are mostly involved in fishing, light industry, and light farming. All people above the age of thirteen are required to attend four hours of militia training every week and two full weeks of intensive training every year (usually during the winter). Enough long arms are available to arm about half these people with something more effective than a .22. Handguns are not prevalent. The Coast Guard itself is armed with M14s and M60 LMGs. A few mortars are available, as are a number of M2HB .50 calibers. Body armor is somewhat rare, most of it being ballistic cloth vests, courtesy of commandeered police stores. Holsgirder wasn't left with much when the navy yanked almost every seaworthy vessel out from under him after the nukings to fight World War III. However, the commandant is a tireless and resourceful worker, and the new flotilla is a direct product of his industry. The primary assets include the medium-endurance cutter Chilula (WMEC-153), the small harbor tug Shackle (WYTL-65609), the inland buoy tender Elderberry (WLI-65401), ten coastal utility craft, the sail training cutter Eagle (WIX-327), the large auxiliary schooner Australia (WIX-999), and twenty various sailed auxiliary sloops. Basically, the tug and buoy tender are both smallish vessels, converted to alcohol, with a top speed of six knots and a complement of 10. The utility craft are models which are produced en masse by Monark boats and have been converted to alcohol; also, they are equivalent to a very small, high-speed cabin cruiser. As well as four merchant ships that sought refugee in Newport when the nukes started to fall. These are a container ship filled with obsolete electronic hardware that was on its way for sale abroad as a part of the Marshall Plan, another freighter with used British Army equipment for sale in New Jersey, and two oil tankers returning from the Persian Gulf loaded with fuel. Air assets, lamentably, are limited to one CH-34 Chactaw helicopter. The helicopter has been retrofitted with M60 MG doorguns. Holsgirder's last avgas is stored in deep vaults, and under no circumstances short of an all-out attack on Newport itself would he let this bird get airborne. It's the ace up his sleeve, and he won't show it unless he has to. The enclave is officially able to use the air assets at Otis AFB on Cape Cod, but they never have had use to waste their fuel and it is dicey whether or not the UBF would let them leave the base anyway. Holsgirder is also working secretly on reopening three oil platforms which once belonged to Texaco off the eastern coast of Nova Scotia. He is also in recent months beginning to salvage the New London navy yards, using the friendly town of Mystic, Connecticut as a staging base.
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