here is a piece Flamingo developed on the US Army during the war:
Continued Build-up & Mobilization for War
The US Department of Defense during the Twilight War was composed of five distinct regular military services (and 7 separate reserve components); the Army, Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard, all of which had recent combat and deployment experience in the 2nd Persian Gulf War (1990-1991). As a result of the lessons learned during that conflict, significant changes were made to the relationship between the reserve and active components, to better integrate the two for their wartime missions, and enhance the deployment of regular forces in times of crisis, while the reserve forces mobilized.
The Army
As a result of recent experience, it was decided to eliminate the National Guard round-out brigades in the 6th Infantry (Light), 10th Mountain (Light), and 24th Infantry (Mechanized) Divisions. In place of the National Guard Brigades, each division stood up a regular 3rd maneuver brigade, a process that had been completed by March 1995. Discussions were then underway to further eliminate roundout brigades in the 5th Infantry and 1st Cavalry Divisions, but these were not undertaken due to fiscal considerations, and were put off for consideration by the defense appropriations committee for FY1997 (additionally, at that time there were no vehicles to equip said brigades without depleting the nations war reserve vehicles).
Additionally, each division in the army formed an engineer brigade as part of its organic complement. The divisional engineer brigade was formed by raising an additional combat engineer battalion and an assault bridging company in each division.
The National Guard brigades then released from assignment to regular formations were reclassified as separate brigades. Eventually, several would from the core of new divisions formed after the United States entered the War.
On the whole, modernization continued in the Army Reserve and National Guard. Retirement of the M48 & M60 series continued and these vehicles were placed in war reserve. The M113 family, many having been replaced in the active component, would continue to be utilized by the National Guard and Reserve, with two National Guard Infantry Divisions (28th & 42nd) converting to mechanized divisions with M113s and M60A4s cast off from the regular army (some units received the M60A3, with the intention of upgrading all M60s remaining in the inventory to the A4 standard).
Mobilization
Immediately following the invasion of China by the Soviet Union, the US Secretary of Defense enacted a stop-loss of all active component personnel and received presidential authorization to recall recently discharged personnel (those released from active duty in the preceding 180 days) back into the force. This served to make up personnel shortfalls in active component units, with priority to those assigned to PACOM, which went to a heightened state of alert following the outbreak of the Sino-Soviet War.
Additionally, PACOM deployed I Corps tactical headquarters from Ft. Lewis, WA, to South Korea, orders were given to IX Corps in Japan and III MEF in Okinawa to prepare to move to Korea on order, in response to the war going on nearby in Manchuria and correspondingly heightened tensions along the Korean DMZ.
As the Sino-Soviet War progressed it seemed from the western perspective that the Soviet Union was pursuing the wholesale collapse of the People’s Republic of China. Collapse of the PRC was not something the West was willing to accept as it would likely result in the transfer of enormous amounts of government debt securities (particularly US Government Securities) from the PRC to the USSR. The result of such a transfer could conceivably jeopardize the US (and as a result the whole Western) Economy. Consequently, the National Security Council advised the President of the United States to take the following actions to send a message to the leadership of the Soviet Union:
- A Presidential Call-Up of 200,000 Reservists from all branches of the US military.
- Reactivation of the Selective Service System, with an expansion of the Regular Army to 22 Divisions.
- Deployment of the remainder of I Corps and III MEF to Korea.
- Sales of military equipment to China must be paid by transfer of US Government Securities.
The Chinese, desperate for American military hardware, readily agreed to the transfer of the securities. As a consequence, there was a rapid correction in the Sino-American trade imbalance.
For political reasons, the President could only enact fully the first of the NSC’s recommendations. However, he wasn’t deaf to the need to show the Soviet Union that he would not allow US interests to be threatened. The Team Spirit 96 exercise in 1996 saw huge participation from US Forces (3rd Marine Division and 1 brigade each from 7th Infantry, 25th Infantry, and 82nd Airborne Divisions).
An additional compromise was the submission to Congress of the Reserve Selective Service Act, which would draft men into the reserve components of the military and provide massive education benefits (tuition waivers equivalent to home of record in-state public university tuition, complete student loan forgiveness if mobilized and deployed overseas), with the intention of fully staffing the authorized reserve component. Although it languished in Congress for several months, it was eventually passed in a closed session in April 1996, just prior to the start of the Leipzig uprising.
Finally, beginning in January 1996, the Army Reserve began its first steps towards mobilization, with the redesignation of the numbered Army Reserve Commands into Corps Headquarters. The Corps Headquarters were given direct control of reserve component units within their geographic areas, each corps then reported to their respective numbered armies.
Following the Leipzig Uprising, the US Congress in joint session declared a State of Emergency, allowing for a partial mobilization of US Forces. High priority reservists were recalled, and the USAR training divisions began to activate (to support BCT for the Reserve Draftees and to expand the training base to include facilities formally controlled by the National Guard). Mobilization of reserves now went beyond mobilizing only those forces which prewar planning had previously allotted to PACOM. With things heating up in Central Europe, those forces dedicated to the defense of Germany began to mobilize (some of which were the highest priority and best equipped units in the reserve structure). Advanced elements of CENTCOM also began deploying to bases in Kuwait, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia.
Full mobilization and a reintroduction of the active duty draft were announced on 10 October 1996, with the first inductees reporting 7 December 1996 for training (a publicity stunt, as most of that years available manpower had already been inducted as part of the Reserve Selective Service System and would be released to their units upon completion of initial entry training, and would be mobilized). Those found unfit for federal service were often relegated to the State Defense Force of their home state (the federal government funneled money to the states through FEMA to support the establishment and maintenance of the State Militias as part of the National Emergency Supplemental Funding Act of 1996). All remaining Reserve and National Guard units were brought into Federal Service, along with the State Defense Forces of Hawaii, and Alaska (Federal Law prohibits their induction into the Army, but federal control is allowed provided the units do not deploy outside their home state).
With the entry of the Bundeswehr into the DDR, all forward deployed army units in Europe went on their highest state of alert. 7th Army immediately moved its component units to their General Defense Plan (GDP) positions. Immediately, as prewar planning dictated, an air bridge was established between North America and Europe by activation of the Civil Reserve Air Fleet and CONUS based units dedicated to the defense of Germany were rapidly moved to Europe where they drew pre-positioned equipment and immediately moved into their own GDP positions.
With the November 1996 invasion of Norway by the Soviet Union, American and Soviet forces entered direct combat against each other for the first time. Initially, it was hoped that this direct conflict between the two superpowers could be contained to Scandinavia, however, as the campaign in Norway and its surrounding waters ground on, it escalated as well. After several weeks of intense but localized fighting and repeated demands that the Soviet Forces withdraw from Norwegian territory, the American president had had enough and ordered American forces in Germany forward to assist the Bundeswehr and NVA in ejecting the GSFG and WP forces from the DDR.
On December 10, 1996 the President addressed the nation on national television, confirming that American, British and Canadian troops had entered into combat against Warsaw Pact Troops in both Germany and Norway as a direct result of the Soviet Union’s invasion of Norway. Further he announced the “Total Mobilization of our nation’s strength to repel naked and unprovoked Soviet aggression.”