Targan, thank you kindly for the vote of confidence.
Raellus, I'm of like mind about the importance of controlling Casa Grande. I haven't figured out what kind of presence to put there, though. I'm leaning towards putting a battalion task force there once the manpower for this sort of thing exists. It might be 1999 before there's much more than a company strong point there, given the need to keep the border between Nogales and Naco fortified at the main crossing points and patrolled throughout the area between.
A powerful presence at Casa Grande acts as an obstacle for any major Mexican Army thrust up I-8 from Yuma and can serve to deter the more aggressive or adventuresome gangs from Phoenix. I'm picturing the same sort of arrangement as Nogales and Bisbee: a complex of rammed earth bunkers, covered communications trenches, covered firing positions for the mortars and (later) the homemade MRL. The lot would be supported by rammed earth/concrete workshops with substantial earth covering. Labor would come from EPW, Mexican refugees, and criminals serving their sentences. Battalions would rotate through the Casa Grande position on a regular basis.
Casa Grande, by the way, would make an excellent base for LRS operating in the Phoenix area. If necessary, a motorized rescue mission could be sent out from Casa Grande and be in southern Phoenix in 90 minutes or so. Motorized insertion into patrol areas would be possible, though obviously this is a risky maneuver.
I agree that a similar strong point would be desirable along I-10 approaching the New Mexico border, although a battalion might not be necessary. The Mexican Army is a lot weaker in that direction. It seems that Tercio Ejercito pretty much gets put on the back burner after the Summer 1998 campaign season.
All of this underscores the main reason why Fort Huachuca does comparatively little to bring much Arizona under control until 2001. Given the need to keep a battalion at Nogales, another one at Bisbee, one at Casa Grande, a small force at or near Douglas, forces patrolling the interior, forces patrolling the border, forces in Tucson, and a reserve at Fort Huachuca itself, there just aren't the rifles to do much elsewhere until 3rd Brigade is trained up and ready to take over some of the jobs being done by 111th Brigade.
Webstral
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