[chico20854]

June 22, 1998

Nothing official for today. Unofficially,

The thousands of volunteers who have signed up for service with the Mexican Army are being processed, trained and formed into units. Nearly half are sent home for various reasons (health problems, addiction, criminal history or family responsibilities), and the rest are formed into over 80 independent companies of "voluntarios", volunteers. They are given training in basic first aid, marksmanship and small unit tactics; due to a general shortage of modern G3 and FAL rifles most are armed with M1954 bolt-action rifles.

Scout teams from the 40th Infantry Division identify three routes through the Los Angeles area that can, with sufficient troops, be secured for the unit's passage. The command elements of the teams return north to relay the route information to command, establishing observation posts in the Hollywood Hills and other high ground to maintain surveillance over the routes.

The Mexican 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment has transited the Temescal Valley on Interstate 15 into the town of El Cerrito, giving wide berth to the feared glowing remains of March Air force Base, which was nuked by the Soviets in December. The Mexican Marines have pushed the remaining defenders of the North Island naval station into the warren of (nearly entirely empty) ammunition bunkers in the southwest corner of the base, while another Marine detachment secures the western abutment of the Coronado Bridge; sailors defending the other end detonate demolition charges which drop the 1,880-foot long central span into the harbor, blocking the channel. Mexican paratroops have continued their advance north along Interstate 5, clearing the suburban areas between the city and Camp Pendleton of organized resistance. The rear areas in San Diego County are increasingly patrolled by armed Mexican street and criminal gangs allied with the Mexican Army, relieving combat troops for duty fighting the remnant American defenses; additional gang members are active throughout Orange and Los Angeles Counties, attacking small isolated American military units, interdicting supply routes and scouting for enemy troops.

North of Palm Springs the Mexicans adopt a defensive posture while sending small teams of dismounted infantry overland to try to interdict the supply lines supporting 89th (my II) Corps' troops in the Morongo Valley. To the east, the 108th Armored Cavalry Regiment has mostly reformed at Yuma Proving Grounds, Arizona and begins drawing armored vehicles and supplies maintained for units rotating through the base for training. Ammunition and fuel are in short supply.

Brigade Chihuahua resumes its advance as the eastern and northern pincer of 3rd Mexican Army's double envelopment of the garrison of Fort Bliss, leaving the Pecos River behind and turning west into barren desert terrain for Alamogordo and Holloman Air Force Base. The School Brigade launches a combined-arms counterattack across Fort Bliss, with the infantry of the 3rd Battalion, 56th Air Defense Artillery and its attached battery of 12 Diana self-propelled AA guns driving back troops of the Ciudad Juarez Brigade across the parade ground into the southern portions of the cantonment area.

As the reinforced 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment continues its offensive sweep west of San Antonio, Brigade Monterrey launches another series of spoiling attacks to hold down the city's defenders. Adding to the American challenge, Brigade Saltillo has crossed Interstate 37, the highway connecting San Antonio and Corpus Christi, protecting the dead zone between the forces attacking San Antonia and the Coastal Column. That formation's advance on Corpus Christi continues, with forward parties of 2nd Mechanized Brigade's 67th Infantry Regiment probing the defenses of the Chase Field Naval Air Station.

1st Czech Army renews its attacks on I German Korps as it attempts to continue its drive north out of Bayreuth. The fighting is confused as Czech-built T-72s battle the Soviet-built T-72s of the 29th Panzer Division in the dense woods and hills of the border region.

The sailing ship Statsraad Lehmkuh returns to its homeport of Bergen, Norway with its precious cargo of canned beef from Uruguay. After much celebration the task of unloading the ship (it has no cargo handling gear) begins.

A survey of available airfields in the CENTCOM AOR has identified three candidate airfields for CVV-10, the USS Independence air wing, to practice carrier landings. A US Navy SH-3 helicopter is made available to the wing staff to inspect conditions at each of the sites.