US Recovery Plan

[chico20854]

As you know, we in (or formerly in) DC are slowly working on fleshing out the v1 canon, using the vast amount of information that has been declassified or otherwise come to light in the 25 or so years since the original timeline was written. We've tried to use canon, whenever possible, as a guide, and worked on how to make canon work with what we know know. We are working on a replacement for/supplement to Howling Wilderness, which we are calling the Survivor's Guide to the USA.

The two big deviations from canon we are basing this work on are the EMP effects of the nuclear exchange and the drought. We feel these variations, while making the situation less grim for the US, reflect a much more realistic interpretation of the information we have now. Briefly, while EMP damage is widespread in the line of sight of both air and ground bursts throughout the US target list, there was no high-altitude EMP strikes against CONUs by the USSR. Likewise, the scale of the nuclear exchange (we are in the range of 400-600 warheads each against the US & USSR, hundreds or probably over 1000 tactical warheads in the active fighting fronts) was not sufficient to induce widespread climate change of the scale described in Howling Wilderness. Both these subjects have come up among this group multiple times in the past, and while no final consensus has been reached we feel that the assumptions we make are not too far from the realm of accepted in here.

While we are quite some ways from having a finished supplement to put out, I thought I could at least release some of what I've been working on the last few months. Accordingly, I give you the first part of the US Recovery Plan. I'll try to release an additional section each week.

Enjoy...

Recovery Plan: America Crawls Back

America's recovery from the Third World War was a long, difficult and violent struggle over a period of decades. The devastation wrought by Soviet nuclear weapons, a breakdown in civil order, foreign invasion, destruction of most of the military's conventional firepower and a three-sided Second Civil War resulted in a United States, by the end of 2000, that bore little resemblance to the world power of just five years before. This is the story of how America began the long climb back from those dark days.

The July 15 JCS Conference

The failure of NATO's spring-summer 2000 offensive in Europe, in which the German Third Army's attempt to clear Warsaw Pact forces from the Baltic coast and drive Pact forces back from the German border ended with the loss of two U.S. infantry divisions (the 5th in the town of Kalisz and the 8th cut off and immobile in Latvia), convinced American military leaders that the war in Europe was un-winnable and in fact that further American military effort in Europe was a pointless waste of lives. The Red Army, disintegrating even as the wrecks burned in Kalisz, no longer posed a threat to Germany, a loyal ally that was overrun with combatants and short on resources to support them. Likewise, organized combat in the Korean peninsula had effectively ceased, with units on all sides occupying small cantonments in the mountains and trying to maintain some semblance of effectiveness and discipline. In the meantime, the U.S. governments, both military and civilian, struggling to maintain security and keep their citizens alive and fed, were unable to repel the foreign invaders and suppress the nefarious New America movement. The considerable U.S. forces remaining overseas could help the governments get America back on its feet.

In the months following the nuclear exchange the Joint Chief of Staff's ability to communicate with (and hence command and control) its subordinate commands deteriorated drastically, from physical damage, lack of electrical power, unavailability spare parts for communications gear, EMP, the continuing war in space and disintegration or rebellion of communications units. Consequently, the Joint Chiefs were forced to cede day to day control of military forces to theater commanders and provide general strategic guidance in bi-monthly conference calls with joint commanders worldwide. Usual participants included CINCEUR, CINCLANT, CINCCENT, CINCPAC and CINCUSFK. Each conference was conducted as a discussion among equals, as the Joint Chiefs were unable to force subordinate commanders to obey their orders - in fact CINCCENT refused to declare his subordination to MILGOV while continuing to coordinate with it and his fellow commanders worldwide (many of which he had worked with for years before and during the war). Unity among U.S. forces in the CENTCOM AOR was all that had allowed CENTCOM to continue to exist, and cooperation with U.S. forces worldwide offered the greatest possibility of some sort of rescue and recovery.

The July 15, 2000 conference call reported on the destruction of the 5th Infantry Division and withdrawal of Third German Army back to its start lines. XI U.S. Corps would remain in place due to lack of fuel, while much of the rest of U.S. Army Europe faced another poor harvest following attacks on its cantonments by counterattacking Pact forces. All the participants agreed that further reinforcement of American forces in Europe was not only impossible but pointless, but also that America's troops were no longer required to secure Germany and Western Europe from a Soviet threat and were too weak to free the occupied areas of Germany and the Netherlands from French occupation. (In addition, CENTCOM received important but unofficial and covert support from the French in the Persian Gulf.)

CENTCOM reported that Soviet forces in Iran, like America's, were unable to undertake offensive action and were in a deteriorating strategic situation as chaos in the Caucasus and Soviet Central Asia precluded reinforcement, resupply or replacement of losses. In the meantime, CENTCOM had control of a small petroleum production and refining capability which allowed it to continue operating military forces across the full spectrum of military operations - a small but operable air force, naval fleet, nuclear strike capability (from bombers operating from bases in the CENTCOM AOR and cruise missiles from the 487th Missile Wing recently recovered from Turkey) and experienced and tough ground troops.

CINCPAC reported that his forces were scattered across the Pacific, mostly immobile due to lack of fuel and incapable of significant military action beyond control of their local area. CINCUSFK, effectively independent from CINCPAC, was watching his subordinate commands disintegrate after years of tough combat, harsh weather and no resupply or support from home. CINCLANT, suffering from cancer throughout his body due to radiation from the strikes on Norfolk, was barely responsive during the conference, although his forces were no longer under his effective control and unable to move or fight. Other commanders in the U.S. were incommunicado, reinforcing the seriousness of their situation.

The strategic situation worldwide, the consensus held, was of continued decline and disintegration if the status quo continued. America's deployed forces, with the exception of CENTCOM, were serving no useful purpose where they were while vitally needed at home. CENTCOM, on the other hand, was still militarily effective and could provide small quantities of oil but was in desperate need of spare parts for its aircraft and ships, high technology munitions and manpower. As a result, the participants in the conference decided to evacuate U.S. troops from Korea and Europe, redeploying the troops either back home to restore order and rebuild or to reinforce CENTCOM in an attempt to secure petroleum to help the recovery effort in the U.S. Operation Omega was born.

[stilleto69]

As always Chico, I love your work and can hardly wait for you guys to publish your next insatllment.

[Ed the Coastie]

Keep going...I love it.

[chico20854]

part 2...

Operation Omega

CENTCOM's naval and air forces went into action to support the other overseas commands. A small convoy, escorted by the frigate USS Jarrett, sailed through the Mediterranean and into the North Sea, where (in order to conceal the worldwide, coordinated nature of Operation Omega) a tanker with a full load of fuel oil was abandoned and subsequently "discovered adrift and abandoned" by a U.S. Navy patrol aircraft operating from northern Germany. The remaining elements of the convoy then sailed throughout the North and Norwegian Seas, recovering and refueling over a dozen modern merchant ships that had been abandoned due to lack of fuel and inviting Americans and other interested Westerners to evacuate Europe for the CENTCOM AOR. Over 6,000 soldiers volunteered to remain overseas and reinforce CENTCOM, while the remainder returned to the U.S. East and Gulf Coasts. German cooperation with the effort was secured by leaving EURCOM's vehicles to the German Army (and their evacuation would have been impossible given the shortage of suitable shipping, time and port facilities). However, CINCEUR ensured that important combat equipment accompanied the evacuated soldiers. All ground vehicles were to be left for the German Army; however heavy weapons (mortars, anti-tank missiles, howitzers, heavy machineguns and rocket launchers, along with their ammunition), classified by the Task Force Bremerhaven Provost Marshall as "military supplies", were collected from arriving troops and loaded aboard one of the evacuation ships (a coastal freighter) that evacuated the Provost Marshall's command of military policemen. A handful of helicopters (all that could be made airworthy with some aviation fuel left aboard the tanker by CENTCOM) also arrived in Bremerhaven; the largest, a CH-47D, was used to evacuate the last of the perimeter guards after the task force had set sail.

As the CENTCOM convoy sailed back through the Mediterranean side expeditions tried to locate stranded Americans and offer them the chance to evacuate either to CENTCOM or (with a pair of ships, recovered from Gibraltar) back to the U.S. Meanwhile, a flurry of C-130 and C-5 flights evacuated the remnants of the U.S. Air Force's 16th Air Force from Turkey, bringing along several F-16 fighters and spare parts for many other aircraft in addition to the nine nuclear-tipped ground launched cruise missiles from the 487th Missile Wing.

U.S. forces in Jugoslavia that had pledged loyalty to CIVGOV declined to evacuate, citing a lack of orders from Omaha. In reality, the military commanders were in favor of accepting the offer but were in fear of their lives from ruthless CIA monitors loyal to Vice President Cabot. U.S. commanders in Jugoslavia were also unsure of their ability to extricate their troops from the myriad cantonments in the mountains of Bosnia and Croatia without cooperation of the numerous feuding local factions. The U.S. Navy task force in Split (formed around the USS John F. Kennedy carrier battle group), Croatia remained in place in solidarity with its Army brothers ashore, although it did accept what limited fuel and logistic support the Omega task force offered as a sign of goodwill.

When completed, the CENTCOM European evacuation effort resulted in a gain of over 12,000 American and allied citizens (some 25 percent of which were civilians).

The winter of 2000-2001 in CENTCOM was spent absorbing the new arrivals, repairing the aircraft and ships that had been used in support of the European phase of Operation Omega and amassing supplies of food and fuel for the next phase of the operation. At the end of February it went into effect, with the CENTCOM fleet, this time reinforced with the USS Belleau Wood, two oil-field support tugs, several tankers and breakbulk dry cargo ships, a cruise liner and a pair of open-decked roll-on/roll-off ships in the convoy, sailing for Asia.

Staying well to sea to avoid pirates, the convoy made its first landfall in Darwin, Australia, where a liaison officer from the Australian Brigade in the CENTCOM AOR was quickly able to secure fresh water, use of port facilities and the airfield outside of town from the local Australian commander in exchange for diesel from CENTCOM (the fleet left a tanker of diesel and aviation fuel in the harbor to support the Australians and the airlift expected from the Far East) and a promise of future visits from the American fleet.

The fleet then sailed to Subic Bay, Philippines, where a landing force of U.S. Marines reinforced the remnants of the U.S. Navy base (and adjacent Cubi Point Naval Air Station) against local bandits and warlords. The CENTCOM task force then descended on the bases like locusts, stripping as much of the spare parts, tools, repair facilities and infrastructure from the bases as possible. (For example, the turbines on the power plant were carefully dismounted and towed on trailers down to the piers by a pair of bulldozers, where they were loaded onto LCU landing craft for transfer to the roll-on/roll-off ships.) Meanwhile, CH-53E heavy lift helicopters operating off the Belleau Wood flew inland to Clark Air Force Base. In a five-day operation, they were able to salvage ten complete F-16s, two F-15s, almost 100 tons of spare parts for aircraft, large stockpiles of guided munitions and evacuate 400 U.S. Air Force personnel and 150 civilians and dependents, in addition to dispatching a pair of recovered C-130s, a Boeing 767 and a KC-135 tanker to Darwin for later recovery.

The destroyer USS Ingersoll, in drydock at Subic with torpedo damage, had its hull quickly patched by a crew from one of the oilfield tugs, which began to tow the inoperable vessel to Bahrain and its CENTCOM-controlled ship repair yard. Resistance from local bandits and marauders was light after a flight of Harriers (also operating off the Belleau Wood) flattened a bandit heavy machinegun position with Rockeye cluster bombs. Much of the salvaged material was loaded aboard the dry cargo ships, one of which accompanied the Ingersoll, its deck guns adding to the small flotilla's firepower to deter pirates and other waterborne hazards.

The task force then moved on to the Korean peninsula, where the 8th Army command had been making plans for the evacuation in secret. En route to Korea, the fleet rendezvoused with the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Stennis and its nuclear-powered escort, the cruiser USS Texas. The recovered fighter aircraft and many of the passengers were cross-loaded to the carrier to free up space in the Omega fleet, while aviation fuel transferred from the fleet's tankers allowed Stennis to resume limited flight operations.

Ever since the July 15th conference, 8th Army had been gradually concentrating on the U.S. airbase in Kunsan. Under the guise of planning meetings, supply runs, training classes and medical calls, almost half of the troops which had the means to reach Kunsan (some 6,500 men from I and IX Corps, miscellaneous support units assigned to 8th Army HQ and U.S. Air Force personnel, with another 3,000 civilians and family members) had arrived there by the time the evacuation fleet appeared over the horizon. III MEF and other units along the east coast of the Korean peninsula and southeastern Korea concentrated on Pusan, where the U.S. Navy maintained a significant force built around the USS Des Moines and the remnants of her battle group, with a total force waiting there of 4,500 military personnel (2,200 sailors, 750 marines, 550 soldiers and 1,000 airmen) and 1,500 camp followers. In addition to the waiting personnel, 8th Army command had attempted to stockpile what limited spare parts, vehicles (both operable and not), aircraft and munitions it could at the evacuation ports. The 2nd Infantry Division's 1st Battalion, 72nd Armor, for example, had one of its four operable tanks "Wild Thang" tow its inoperable sister "Terrible Two" to Kunsan for "repair."

With the appearance of the evacuation fleet the Korean military government raised a formal protest, requested that the 8th Army commander rescind the evacuation order, and forbade South Korean government and military personnel from assisting the evacuation in any way. Fighting immediately broke out along the Kunsan perimeter, while Pusan remained quiet under the lowered and very operable guns of the Des Moines. Scattered firefights broke out as U.S. units within 50 miles of the evacuation ports attempted to depart overland. Units farther than 50 miles from the ports were evacuated by the always-busy helicopters operating off the Belleau Wood and Stennis, with cover provided by Harriers and CVW-30, operating from the Stennis. Along the east coast of the peninsula, III MEF units were evacuated by sea, as regiments massed on the seashore. Security units from the fleet went ashore to bolster the defenses, and Kunsan was stripped bare in a manner identical to that used in Subic Bay just a few weeks before. After a few days Korean resistance slacked, but the environment remained tense and hostile. The Des Moines and its escorting destroyer USS John S. McCain were refueled from the last of the tankers accompanying the evacuation fleet. Fortunately, in 1998 7th Air Force had concentrated the remaining 110 operable tactical aircraft (a mix of F-4s, F-16s, A-10s, A-7s and OV-10s) at Kunsan to simplify command and control and logistics. Likewise, the Marine's 1st Marine Aircraft Wing had concentrated at Pusan's airport. These greatly simplified the evacuation of the aircraft - many were rolled onto the roll-on/roll-off ships or lifted aboard ship using dockside cranes. Many of the operable Marine Corps aircraft flew to the Stennis for transportation back to the CENTCOM AOR. After a week of furious activity CINCUSFK was able to report to General Cummings in Colorado Springs that 8th Army, 7th Air Force and their subordinate units had successfully evacuated Korea with losses of less than 300 men and with most of their heavy equipment, aircraft and spares accompanying them. CENTCOM was now stronger by some 5,000 marines, 17,500 soldiers, 15,000 airmen, 2,200 sailors and 10,000 civilians, along with 30 tanks and over 100 aircraft. Conditions on board the evacuation fleet were difficult with such a large number of passengers crammed aboard (the cruise ship, designed for 2,300 passengers, had over 10,000 aboard for the voyage), limited fresh water and monotonous food for the three weeks of creeping along at less than 12 knots to conserve fuel. Many of the evacuees were disheartened to discover that they were being evacuated not to the U.S. but to the Persian Gulf, but all accepted that the Operation Omega fleet was the only way out of Korea and that as members of a military still at war they would serve where ordered.

On their voyage back to the Persian Gulf, the Omega fleet sailed past Japan and Okinawa. The Jarrett diverted into Okinawa to assure the U.S. garrison there (Air Force, Navy, Marine and Army support and aviation units) that they were not forgotten and that they would be receiving support from CENTCOM and evacuated when resources were available.

Operation Omega was officially declared over on May 7, 2001, with the return of the evacuation fleet to the Persian Gulf. It increased the strength of I MEF by almost 50 percent, and XVIII Airborne Corps was transformed as new arrivals equaled the number "old Iran hands". With the influx of spare parts, aircraft and personnel, 9th Air Force tripled the number of aircraft available to become the world's second strongest air force (the French Air Force, of course, was still champion of the skies). The 5th Fleet, in the meantime, had gained an operable aircraft carrier with a nearly full strength air wing (after CVW-20 and the remnants of Independence's CVW-10 were combined), doubled its naval gunfire support capability by reuniting the Des Moines class sisters and strengthened its surface and transport fleets.

[Rainbow Six]

As others have said...this is great stuff...love it...

[chico20854]

The Persian Gulf Region Transformed

The arrival of 8th Army in the CENTCOM AOR was one of the two major changes to the strategic situation in May 2001. The other major change was the Transcaucasian Front's spring offensive and its aftermath.

While information from the Soviet perspective is sketchy, the impression among historians is that the remnants of the Soviet Politburo were exerting pressure on General Suryakin to undertake on offensive and seize one of the Persian Gulf ports. This pressure, combined with a sense of duty as a soldier, convinced General Suryakin to undertake one last offensive. He had received inconclusive and partial intelligence reports about the American withdrawal from Europe and that a similar withdrawal might be occurring from the CENTCOM AOR. He felt that if the Americans were withdrawing an offensive might succeed or that a Soviet offensive might convince General MacLean to follow CINCEUR's lead and withdraw American forces.

The Soviet offensive started at dawn on May 1 (in tribute to workers everywhere) with a desultory artillery barrage on 3rd Army and the IPA's forward outposts along the entire front south and east of Esfahan. The initial assault was by Tudeh troops from the forward garrisons, followed by Soviet motor-rifle troops probing for weaknesses in the NATO lines, to be exploited by concentrations of the few remaining Soviet tanks, supported by the carefully husbanded ground attack aircraft of the Soviet Transcaucasian Air Force. In the Zagros Mountains progress was limited as the Soviet troops faced difficult terrain and deep American and IPA defenses. Limited success was made southeast of Esfahan, enough to convince General Suryakin to concentrate the forces of 45th and First Armies to drive down Highway 7 towards Shiraz. The KGB's 74th Motor Rifle Regiment was identified as a key element of the breakthrough and exploitation force. However, a personal dispute between the commanders of the KGB regiment and the Tudeh brigade in the sector resulted in a firefight that resulted in the deaths of both men and the failure of the effort in that sector. The concentration of tanks waiting for the breakthrough was identified by Pasdaran rebels and bombed by a flight of F-16s equipped with cluster bombs (recently received from stocks in Turkey), ending the possibility of success in that sector. Upon news of the firefight between KGB and Tudeh units, scattered fighting broke out between KGB and Tudeh units throughout Iran. With the failure to break through NATO lines and with chaos in his rear areas, General Suryakin called a halt to the offensive. General Kurdakov, the KGB commander in the theater, was assassinated by a still unidentified hit team (rumors are that it was French, GRU or Israeli supported, but the truth has never emerged) while on his way to relieve General Suryakin.

Front line Soviet commanders began reporting NATO probing attacks, while unusually active American strike aircraft were roaming Soviet rear areas interdicting supply convoys and attacking artillery emplacements. At the same time, a GRU agent reported the arrival of a massive troop convoy (the Omega fleet) in Bandar Abbas. Faced with the failure of his offensive, a CENTCOM much stronger than anticipated and the chaos in the USSR, General Suryakin decided to end the Transcaucasian Front's war.

In their only face to face meeting, General Suryakin and General MacLean met in the village or Lordegan and agreed to the terms of the Transcaucasian Front's withdrawal. Soviet troops would be allowed to leave Iranian territory, with a series of phase lines and deadlines (generally 100 km a week), retaining all equipment and military supplies. NATO troops would remain no less than 5km from Soviet troops to prevent marauders from grabbing control of neutral territory and both armies would be responsible for maintaining order behind their lines. The forces of the Tudeh could evacuate with Soviet forces or remain in place to be dealt with by the Iran Nowin government; however Soviet support of any kind to Tudeh elements remaining behind was forbidden. Likewise, Soviet support to the Pro-Soviet government of Iraq was forbidden. Once Soviet forces were over the prewar Soviet-Iranian border active hostilities between NATO and Soviet forces in the CENTCOM AOR would cease, and General MacLean would encourage what American units he had contact with in Turkey to observe the ceasefire. Of course, if units from either nation crossed the border into Iran, the ceasefire would be void. Finally, the release of prisoners of war held in the areas under Transcaucasian Front and CENTCOM control was arranged.

Over the next three and a half months, a constant stream of vehicles flowed north through the Iranian countryside. IPA units took the lead in following the Soviet units, while American troops provided what logistic support they could and hunted down bands of marauders and deserters. The KGB Motor Rifle Regiments, bereft of the leadership of General Kurdakov and distrustful of the Red Army, retreated to Central Asia or Afghanistan to fight with "loyal" units there against the enemies of the Soviet Union. Most Tudeh units and supporters withdrew, some with the Soviet forces falling back on Baku, some to Central Asia or Afghanistan. In a few scattered Tudeh units the commanders were overthrown and reconciliation with the IPA accepted. Three Tudeh brigades attempted to form a nascent communist regime in the city of Tabriz prior to the Soviet withdrawal, but General Suryakin and his men followed the terms of the agreement with CENTCOM, providing no support to the Tudeh. Tabriz was retaken by PA troops after a short firefight scattered the demoralized Tudeh supporters, while the Tudeh politburo fled in a helicopter to Baku.

Elsewhere in the region, there were changes in the strategic situation. On May 15, General MacLean was summoned to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where the Saudi king congratulated him on his defeat of the Soviet Transcaucasian Front. In the subsequent discussion, the king also offered that with the Soviet threat gone he no longer felt the need for CENTCOM troops to be stationed in his kingdom and requested that all American military personnel be out of Saudi Arabia within one month. The French government, in return for priority of oil shipments, would provide for the security of the Saudi monarchy. The United States would still be able to purchase oil surplus to French and Saudi needs on a commercial basis, and American and other Western civilians working in the Saudi oil fields were guaranteed the protection of the Saudi state. Shocked, General MacLean remained calm and successfully negotiated a period of six months to effectuate the withdrawal and secured overflight rights for American aircraft for five years. Over the next several weeks General MacLean and Ambassador Thayer toured the capitals of other GCC nations (Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates) and secured American access to those nations' (except for Kuwait, under French protection and with French troops occupying Kuwait City) facilities and markets. Meanwhile, American troops outside Iran remained in their garrisons in other areas of the CENTCOM AOR (Aden, Yemen, Diego Garcia and Mombassa, Kenya).

Negotiations were also opened with the Iran Nowin government on the American role and presence in Iran. The Iran Nowin government realized the challenge it faced in securing and rebuilding its war-torn country and unifying its divided, war-weary, depleted and impoverished society. Providing security for the entire country would require the full effort of the IPA, and at some point the Pasdaran would present its demands for compensation for its allegiance in the struggle against the Soviets. A continuing American military presence would be essential to ensuring stability in Iran.

General MacLean decided that the disposition of what was now America's greatest military force required consultation worldwide and convened another commander's conference call. During the call, all the joint commanders agreed that CENTCOM in its current situation was a priceless asset that needed to be harnessed to rebuild the United States. Its position in the oilfields of the Persian Gulf, even if not in Saudi Arabia, its functioning military structure, operational combat aircraft and fleet and transport network provided many of the tools that the U.S. needed to rebuild, if used wisely. It was decided that CENTCOM would remain in Iran, splitting its efforts between helping the Iran Nowin government rebuild and sending petroleum back to America.

CENTCOM offered to remain in Iran, securing and rebuilding the area that had been under NATO control prior to the Soviet withdrawal. In exchange, the United States would receive half of all industrial and oil production in that zone and one third of all agricultural production. CENTCOM would be available to assist the Iran Nowin government in other areas, and if American reconstruction aid in the reconquered areas was needed it would be made available in exchange for half of its production. The Iran Nowin government generally accepted the terms, although the city of Shiraz was excluded from the American Zone. (While the Iran Nowin government relocated to Tehran as soon as the city was evacuated by Soviet troops, much of the civil bureaucracy remained in Shiraz until Tehran was sufficiently rebuilt to support it.)

[kato13]

Fantastic work. Again some thoughts also really help my morrow thinking.

Renamed the thread "US Recovery Plan" as I am adding this thread to the "Important threads" section of the new member thread and the new name is a little less cryptic.

[chico20854]

III Corps in the Mid-Atlantic

III Corps, consisting of the 1st Cavalry Brigade, 2nd Armored Brigade, 4th Infantry Brigade, 304th Civil Affairs Brigade and 8th Naval Construction Regiment, returned from Europe to the Mid-Atlantic States. The Corps HQ, along with CINCEUR, his headquarters and III Corps' 2nd Armored and 4th Infantry Brigades arrived in the Hampton Roads area in November 2000 and were appalled at what they found. CINCLANT and his entire command were living in an area that was still radioactive from the Soviet nuclear attacks on the area (a total of 16 warheads yielding 4 MT scattered from Camp Peary in the west to Norfolk in the east) and all were slowly dying of radiation sickness. CINCLANT had moved his command to the Little Creek amphibious base and nearby Oceana Naval Air Station and Fort Story, but the damage had already been done. Food and fuel were critically short when CINCEUR and his command arrived, and CINCLANT's medical condition was so poor that the enclave was often effectively leaderless. CINCLANT's subordinate officers were suffering from the same dire medical conditions, leaving none fit to take command in CINCLANT's stead. Worse than the physical illness in CINCLANT's command, however, was the mental defeat and lack of hope displayed by the sailors, soldiers and airmen in the Hampton Roads enclave - many of whom seemed to exist each day solely to better prepare to die. Their low morale and hopelessness threatened to spread to the European veterans, all of whom were shocked and depressed by the condition of their homeland for which they had fought and strove to return to through all the hard battles across Europe.

Elsewhere in the Mid-Atlantic region, the 78th Infantry Division, U.S. Coast Guard's Cape May station and New Jersey state government's enclave in southern New Jersey was reinforced by the returning 1st Cavalry Brigade and some of the Task Force 34 vessels - the flagship USS John Hancock and three nuclear powered attack submarines, the USS Helena, USS Louisville and USS Atlanta, which anchored south of New York City at the U.S. Naval Weapons Station Earle. Upon arrival, the 1st Cavalry Brigade assumed security responsibilities from 1st Brigade, 78th Infantry Division, which was able to return to its normal wartime mission of conducting initial entry training (basic combat and advanced individual training) for new draftees, conscripted from the schools, refugee camps and checkpoints of the South Jersey enclave. The new draftees were assigned to other units of the 78th to bring it back to full strength, with subsequent trainees to fill other units up. In addition to the 1st Brigade, 78th Infantry Division, Fort Dix also contained the U.S. Military Academy (West Point), which conducted a two-year program focusing on civil engineering. The troopers of the 1st Cavalry, in turn, patrolled the northern border of the enclave, New Jersey Route 33, which had been transformed into a fortified zone with wide fields of fire and protective walls made of abandoned cars.

The crewmen of the submarines augmented the civilian nuclear workers who operated the Oyster Creek plant and provided a major portion of the reactor technicians who restarted the reactors of the Hope Creek/Salem power plant on the Delaware River in March 2001. In addition, the nuclear technicians established a nuclear reactor and power plant training school at Oyster Creek to supply areas under Milgov control with safe, trained and somewhat experienced plant operators to assist in the nationwide recovery effort. Soldiers of the enclave also worked on repairing damage suffered during the war and conducting company-level training. Sailors from the submarines' departments other than engineering were assigned technical jobs ashore commensurate with their individual skills. Electricians, for example, were assigned to the 21st Naval Mobile Construction (SeeBee) Battalion to rewire EMP-damaged electrical systems, while torpedo maintainers repaired small engines, and the unluckiest (and least skilled) sailors were assigned to stand guard on the anchored submarines and drive wagons between farms, factories and Milgov-controlled warehouses.

The assignment was a good one for both the soldiers and sailors that were sent to the New Jersey enclave. Southern New Jersey, sealed by the Pine Barrens and the line of military bases across the state to the north and the Delaware River to the west, had not received the refugee flow from the New York and Philadelphia metropolitan areas that prewar planners had feared. The availability of electrical power from the Oyster Bay power plant (which had been shut down during the nuclear exchange as a precaution but restarted in late spring 1998), the agricultural surplus from South Jersey farms, and the security provided by the state and federal armed forces meant that life in the New Jersey enclave in the winter of 2000-2001 was much more comfortable than almost anywhere else in North America.

Back in Norfolk, tensions between CINCEUR and CINCLANT were building. Milgov wanted the two commands and staffs to combine and supervise the operations of First, Fifth and Seventh Armies in a coordinated manner. When the task of joining staffs arose, CINCLANT, claiming superior local knowledge, insisted that "his people" be placed in all the senior positions, with a deputy from EURCOM. EURCOM, looking at the sad state of Milgov operations in the eastern U.S. and the poor physical and mental condition of the CINCLANT staff, thought that some fresh thinking and eager hands would be able to solve some of the vexing problems that the nation faced, and that the CINCLANT staff could use the rest to see to their health. Discussions over the winter gradually became more heated (not only over the staff assignments) and reached a head in late February 2001. A confrontation occurred between CONCLANT and CINCEUR during the planning session for the March 1, 2001 JCS conference call and the military police were called in. CINCLANT directed the MP's to arrest CINCEUR for insubordination, and the MP's (one of the few organizations which had successfully integrated) declined, citing a lack of clear evidence of a crime. While CINCLANT raged, CINCEUR left the headquarters building, went to the docks and boarded one of the TF 34 vessels still in Norfolk. He sailed to Cape May, and within a week the remaining European veterans (and the MPs from CINCLANT) had also departed the Norfolk enclave and moved to New Jersey, the last ship being cursed personally by CINCLANT as the final passengers boarded.

In Colorado Springs General Cummings was faced with the question of what to do with his squabbling subordinates. Practically, there was little he could do to support or punish subordinate commanders other than to alter the amount of supplies coming from CENTCOM, which in the winter of 2000-2001 was almost nothing. Therefore, he took the most practical course of action and redefined the commands and areas of responsibility of CINCLANT and CINCEUR. CINCEUR retained command over III, V and VII Corps, TF 34 and the naval vessels evacuated from Europe. He also was given command of 1st and 5th Armies and the naval forces based in Mobile and the New Jersey enclave. CINCLANT retained command of all forces in the Norfolk enclave. CINCEUR was responsible for the area north of the Potomac River/mouth of the Chesapeake Bay and the area west of the Appalachians (starting at the remains of Pensacola). CINCLANT retained responsibility for restoring order to Virginia, the Carolinas, Georgia and Florida. While not formally censuring CINCLANT, General Cummings instead gave CINCLANT an impossible job - to restore Milgov control to an area rife with Civgov and New America supporters with a minuscule amount of troops and equipment to do so. General Cummings had in other cases simply withdrawn support from subordinates who refused to follow orders, as the commander of the Coast Guard First District had done. As time went on the situations of these orphan commands became direr until they either ceased to exist as organized military units or began to follow the orders emanating from Colorado Springs.

With the coming of spring in South Jersey, CINCEUR was faced with the problem of a larger force to feed than he had planned. The added electrical power from the Hope Creek/Salem nuclear power plants was a boon to the enclave, but would not solve the food problem his Reconstruction Tsar predicted. As a consequence, CINCEUR decided to regain control of the fertile agricultural area of the Delmarva Peninsula. The 2nd Armored Brigade was ferried across the mouth of the Delaware River, using the pre-war Cape May ferries, to southern Delaware. Simultaneously, the 1st Battalion (Infantry) of the 4th Infantry Division was ferried into the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal, where one rifle company secured each of the four bridges and began patrolling the local areas along the south bank of the canal and inland. Over the next two months the remainder of the 4th Infantry Brigade was ferried across and, in cooperation with the 2nd Armored Brigade, had swept as far south as U.S. Highway 50. Planting was started within the area swept by Milgov, and patrols extended farther south, only occasionally encountering resistance from bandits or locals unhappy to see the government return or fearful of seizure of their land or crops. (In many cases, local farmer's last interaction with the government was when FEMA forced farmers to hand over crops to and host families fleeing from Washington, Baltimore and Philadelphia.) While III Corps commander wanted to further extend his area of control on the Delmarva Peninsula he did not yet have sufficient forces to adequately patrol the entire area. The town of Salisbury, Maryland had hosted tens of thousands of refugees from Baltimore and Washington, DC in its many hotels and in the dormitories of Salisbury State University. Soon their welcome wore out and the refugees were forced to seize food from the local farmers by force. A vicious gang, formed by hard-core inner-city gang members, soon became the only protectors of the refugees and the only force strong enough to seize the food needed them. Their brutal reign, in which the farmers were enslaved to provide a steady food supply, was only interrupted by periodic raids against or by rival gangs operating from the pre-war resort towns of Rehobeth and Bethany, Delaware and Ocean City, Maryland, which also had been used to relocate refugees from the Washington and Baltimore area. Milgov was unable to free the Eisenhower battle group and stockpiles of fuel and munitions to III Corps until after the fall harvest, and the gangs were too strong to take on without air support. In addition, the III Corps commander was tasked to carry out a delicate but special mission.

Colorado Springs wanted III Corps to investigate the recovery of the Federal Reserve's gold stockpile from New York and the related actions of a renegade Special Operations force under the command of the wealthy and mad Major Anthony Po. One of the scandals that had erupted in Norfolk during the winter was the discovery of the mass murders, torture and other crimes committed by the special operations force and the complicity of CINCLANT's special operations command in not halting or even reporting those crimes. Major Po was declared a renegade and wanted criminal and a price was placed on his head. Given the state of the area north of the New Jersey enclave and the strength of Major Po's force, direct military action was not initiated against him; instead independent bounty hunters were sent after him and DIA teams were tasked, among other things, to locate him so an air strike could be called in on his position. Finally, what limited support Major Po and his command had been receiving from Milgov was stopped, although suspicions remained that elements of CINCLANT's J-2 (Intelligence) staff continued covert support for Major Po and possibly even warned him of operations against him.

Major Po's command split upon word of Milgov's declaration. A little more than half of the group, under the command of Major Po's XO, LtCdr Tadeusz Jones, deserted the major and returned to Milgov lines outside Lakehurst Naval Air Station. After several bloody encounters between the remnant's of Po's command, the renegade major was forced to flee west towards Scranton, Pennsylvania, pursued by an A-team from 3rd Company, 10th Special Forces Group, a lone assassin from the CIA and two separate teams of independent pursuers. He evaded his pursuers during a severe thunderstorm and arrived at one of his family's country residences in the Adirondacks. Having lost nearly all his gear in the evasion effort, he was almost defenseless when he encountered a patrol from the refugee camp that had been set up on his family's land (with their consent) while he was overseas. During the subsequent altercation (which saw Major Po kill three militiamen in hand-to-hand combat) he was shot and killed by a young refugee girl named Britney Spears. When the .30-06 Springfield went off in her hands, Miss Spears was heard to remark "Oops! I did it again!" (This was Miss Spear's second kill).

Commander Jones' detachment reported that Major Po had discovered the location of the gold reserves but had not recovered them. The commander of the 78th Division (now reporting to III Corps) advised CINCEUR of the difficulties of operating in Manhattan (as one of the survivors of the 78th's evacuation in 1998) and the massive logistics challenge involved with recovering nearly 80 tons of gold, even if the various armed factions operating in New York could be dealt with. With the knowledge that nobody else was capable of recovering the gold and that Major Po's team had eliminated the only people in New York that knew of the gold's location, III Corps decided to defer the recovery effort.

III Corps also expanded a short distance north in New Jersey with the coming of spring 2001. In the east, the 1st Cavalry Brigade widened the safe corridor between the Route 33 line and the Naval Weapons Station Earl annex on Lower New York Bay, where the larger units of the TF 34 fleet were anchored. In the west, the troopers of the 1st Cav occupied the town of Princeton and the university. In September 2001 classes resumed at Princeton with the integration of the surviving faculties of Princeton, Rutgers, West Point, the US Naval Academy and other colleges and universities in New Jersey. The Combined Corps of Cadets (the combined West Point and Naval Academy student formation) moved to Princeton from Fort Dix and provided additional security to the town's State Defense Force detachment. The curriculum initially was limited - engineering, education, and the sciences, with the entire Combined Corps of Cadets enrolled in civil, mechanical or electrical engineering.

The Physics Department at Princeton, however, performed an absolutely revolutionary task - supporting the work of the Russian defector scientists, Doctors Alexi and Tanya Popovich, in their effort to complete development of a nuclear fusion reactor, simple to construct with relatively low technology, using a room-temperature superconductor that is also easily made under primitive conditions. Milgov assigned a 2-star general to coordinate Milgov's efforts to support the Popovich's efforts (under the code name the Philadelphia Engineer Support Detachment or Philadelphia Project, in tribute to the Manhattan Project of the 1940s). The Philadelphia Project enjoyed nearly endless (for post-war America) resources and called on dozens of small units (usually composed of 5-12 returned European veterans) to perform special, secret missions to retrieve items, documents or people needed by the Popovich's effort. It would take several years to bring the first prototype reactor online, but the benefits proved, in time, to be absolutely revolutionary to all of human history.

Long term, III Corps had several goals. First, Milgov demanded that absolute priority be directed to the Philadelphia Project, even as it was kept under the strictest secrecy. Second, the remainder of the Delmarva Peninsula needed to be brought under Milgov control. To do this, the gangs had to be defeated and the refugees screened for useful skills and protected from retaliation from the locals. The expansion to the southern end of the peninsula would have to be handled with some finesse, as the Norfolk enclave maintained much of its food growing capacity in farms on the southern end of the peninsula. The effort to restore control over the entire Delmarva Peninsula would be eased by establishing regular overland communications to southern New Jersey through the ruins of Wilmington and/or Philadelphia. The areas brought under Milgov control would need to have infrastructure restored (power, light, water, communications, local government, transportation and food distribution) and the ruined cities of Wilmington and Philadelphia salvaged for useful materials. Another long-term goal was to return to New York City and conduct a census, salvage useful materials, and recover the gold before starting full-blown recovery efforts. Finally, to increase the food supplies available to III Corps it was deemed necessary to expand into eastern Pennsylvania, eventually to the Alleghenies, incorporating the rich farmland and non-mechanized farming skills of the Amish of Lancaster County and bringing online the Limerick, Peach Bottom and Three Mile Island nuclear power plants and clearing a route to the Civgov enclave in Frederick, Maryland and the coal fields of northeastern Pennsylvania.

[stilleto69]

As always Chico, excellant work. And kudos to you and the DC Group for giving us such fine work.

I especially like the Britney Spears part - LMFAO!

[chico20854]

Originally Posted by stilleto69

I especially like the Britney Spears part - LMFAO!

Everyone loves a star!!

[Rainbow Six]

Very, very well done...I really can't stress enough how awesome I find the DC Group's work...thanks to you all for sharing it.

[Webstral]

First and foremost, I love the tone of optimism. You guys assume a can-do approach on the part of the troops being evacuated from Europe that I find appropriate, if not entirely keeping with the general tone of Twilight: 2000. Still, I'm far more a Postman type than a Road Warrior type. As an historical precedent, morale in the Wehrmacht on the Eastern Front began to increase after February 1942 simply because the German soldiers still alive were in fact still alive. They had taken the worst the Russians could dish out on their own turf. By the same token, although the Europe veterans find the US in tough shape, at least they are home. If good leaders can be found, the soldiers will follow.

Reorganizations are not as easy as they sound. The idea of reorganizing thousands of men while underway across the Atlantic is unrealistic. (That's a euphemism.) The US Army required a year to reorganize only some of its triangular divisions into square formations. This, by the way, is how my National Guard brigade got to take its vacation in Baghdad. Granted, corners can be cut, etc. However, taking formations that have fallen apart along the road to Bremen and turning them back into fighting forces involves a lot more than informing troops in the hold of a ship that they are now in C Company, X Battalion, Y Brigade. We might think that it should be that simple, but soldiers just aren't that way.

Nevertheless, provided the Omega force can be fed once they disembark, they can be reorganized into proper fighting formations. Heavy equipment will have to be redistributed, drills and ceremony practiced. Yes, drill and ceremony. Soldiers who have been through what the Europe veterans have been through and who are being reorganized on the western side of the Atlantic badly need the organic experience of rebuilding companies, then battalions, through such timeless activities as drill and ceremony. Commanders that fail to recognize such basic needs on the part of their troops are failing to counter the understandable anxieties of returning to a shattered homeland and the tendency of war-weary troops to desert are asking for trouble. Commanders are going to need to see their reorganized troops and be seen by their reorganized troops. All of this takes more time than anyone thinks it ought to take.

Mind, I'm not criticizing. Again, I love the optimistic tone of the work. I do believe the timetables need to be adjusted somewhat to allow tens of thousands of Europe veterans to adjust to the realities of the reorganization and rebuild trust in the new formations. Intact formations struggle with getting off the boat and right to work. In 2001, the Omega guys are going to need a bit of time to get sorted.

Very enjoyable reading, DC Group!

Webstral