On this day 25 years ago (Commentary Thread)

[chico20854]

December 4, 1996

The US 1st Infantry Division crossed the Inter-German Border in support of its allies. It did not encounter Soviet troops until the 8th.

That's all I have for today but feel free to add, today and going forward!!!!

[chico20854]

December 5, 1996

The USSR delivered an ultimatum to Romania: provide the requested divisions or suffer the consequences.

The US 11th Armored Cavaly Regiment clashes with Soviet troops in East Germany, the first ground combat in Central Europe between US and Soviet troops.

(photo here)
The 1st and 3rd Armored and 8th Infantry Divisions cross the Inner German Border.

[Raellus]

Are you going to update this daily, Chico? That would be absolutely amazing.

-

[chico20854]

Originally Posted by Raellus

Are you going to update this daily, Chico? That would be absolutely amazing.

-

I'll try... some days there isn't much in the v1 canon, so if I get time I'll try to find something from the month to fill in, or add something from one of my historical documents. And if I have a lot of time (aka really boring conference call) I'll see if I can find an image that fits!

[chico20854]

December 6, 1996

The US 1st Armored Division enters combat against Soviet forces in East Germany.

And, unofficially from my Northern Campaign history:

photo
The Soviet Red Banner Northern Fleet sorties, starting the Battle of the Norwegian Sea.

and also unofficial:

In Romania, Securitate secret police arrest over a dozen colonels and lieutenant colonels in the Army and Air Force on suspicion of plotting a pro-Soviet coup. Evidence includes large quantites of cash (US Dollars, German Deutschmarks) seized from a Soviet trucker entering Romania from Jugoslavia and photos of the officers entering a Bucharest restaurant simultaneously with the suspected KGB Rezident, Colonel Oleg Polyansky.

[chico20854]

December 7, 1996

The US 2nd Armored Division, 3rd Infantry Division and 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment engage Soviet troops. The 4th Infantry Division and 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment cross the Inner German Border. Back in the US, the 107th Armored Cavalry Regiment is called into federal service.

[JHart]

Originally Posted by chico20854

The US 1st Infantry Division crossed the Inter-German Border in support of its allies.

It ain't a World War until the Big Red One shows up...

Originally Posted by chico20854

After consultation with King Charles, British troops (initially the 3rd Armored Division and the 5th Inniskilling Dragoon Guards) cross the inter-German border. The Canadian government orders the 4th Mechanized Brigade to join the American and British troops.

and now it's a party!

[chico20854]

Originally Posted by JHart

and now it's a party!

And the party continues...

December 10, 1996

The British 1st and 2nd Armoured Divisions and US 1st Cavalry Division cross the East German frontier; The British 3rd Mech Div & US 8th ID are in combat against Soviet troops. This is the UK's first shots fired in anger in Germany since 1945.

In the North Sea, US Convoy 102 is attacked by a Soviet sub, sinking 3 ships and crippling another; the nuclear guided missile cruiser USS Virginia sinks the sub. (USS Virginia completes 9 more convoys and is damaged twice.)

Unofficially:

A convoy carrying reinforcements for the beleaguered Soviet occupiers of Narvik is destroyed by NATO air and naval forces, dooming the isolated Naval Infantry force.

The Department of the Army in the Pentagon authorizes the establishment of over 200 "Category IV" units - those which a mission need has been identified but peacetime budget and manpower constraints prevent from being formed and sustained. The units range from additional corps headquarters to armored, infantry and Airborne divisions all the way to water purification companies. Formation and equipment of these units will take many months in most cases, and ultimately many never are.

[lordroel]

Nice, keep it up if you can with the updates.

[Ancestor]

This is scratching me where I itch. For me, it always starts around Thanksgiving (or, the day after Thanksgiving, depending who you talk to) and just builds perfectly. This though...wow!

Thanks for doing this!

My one request is please don't leave out the NG Division near and dear to my heart, 35ID, the Santa Fe Division. Per the US Army Vehicle Guide, we'd been in federal service since August, convoyed over in November, and entered combat in Northern Germany in "early December." Hoping to see a shout out to Truman's Own soon!

[chico20854]

Thanks for the positive feedback folks! I'm still pulling together sources, but for today I have:

December 11, 1996

The US 3rd Armored Division and 4th Infantry Division engage Soviet troops in East Germany.

Unofficial:

CENTAG intelligence officers evaluating indications of Czech and Soviet troop mobilization across the border decide that the additional troops are likely to be committed in southern East Germany. To counter the threat, the CENTAG commander authorizes the deployment of two US Army Nationale Guard units, the 35th Infantry Division (KY, NE and KY NGs) and the 116th Armored Cavalry Regiment into East Germany, via the famed Fulda Gap. The 116th had been in Germany since early in the year, part of a demonstration of resolve in light of the Sino-Soviet conflict as well as evaluating National Guard readiness and the performance of female soldiers in combat units. The 35th had recently arrived in Germany, one of the first REFORGER deployments that did not rely on POMCUS prepositioned equipment stockpiles.

In other deployments, the 187th Infantry Brigade reported its deployment to Iceland complete. The US Army Reserve brigade took up positions defending the Keflavik air base, Reykjavik and various communications, logistics and radar sites around the island.

RAF Tornado aircraft from Nos. 25, 45 and 617 Squadrons performed Operation Redburn, striking the Soviet naval aviation bases in the Kola Peninsula and naval targets in Murmansk. The Soviets lose 10 Backfire bombers to the British as well as a pair of MiG-25s that pursued the raiders into neutral Sweden and were shot down by the Swedes.

The worldwide hunt for Warsaw Pact shipping continued, with the capture of the Soviet cargo ship Donetsk Komsomolets 450 miles east of Santos, Brazil by a British frigate racing north, its mission patrolling the Falklands hastily canceled in favor of convoy escort duty in the North Atlantic. The South Atlantic duty would be assumed by a smaller patrol ship, the Admiralty risking that Argentine forces would be too disorganized to take advantage of the situation.

[chico20854]

Originally Posted by Ancestor

Also, thanks for drilling down on the convoys...one of my grandfathers was an Army paratrooper in WW II, but the one I was closer to was a gunner's mate on a destroyer escort. The latter was a second generation German-American (still spoke German at home) from Kansas who had never seen the ocean. The paratrooper didn't talk much about his experiences, the gunner's mate did. They both saw some pretty bad stuff, I just think they were different personality types that dealt with things in different ways. At any rate, looking forward to hearing about the third naval convoy war and again, thanks for doing this!

Santa Fe!

Ancestor

I'm somewhat of a sealift nerd, so much more to come!

For a minor fix, check out my Illustrated History of the Third World War from a few years ago.

[Ancestor]

Originally Posted by chico20854

I'm somewhat of a sealift nerd, so much more to come!

For a minor fix, check out my Illustrated History of the Third World War from a few years ago.

Awesome! I will check that out, thank you!

[lordroel]

Originally Posted by chico20854

I'm somewhat of a sealift nerd, so much more to come!

For a minor fix, check out my Illustrated History of the Third World War from a few years ago.

Great work, will check it out.

[chico20854]

December 17, 1996

Soviet ground forces fail to link up with Naval infantry and paratroops in Narvik, who are forced to break out overland or be destroyed.

unofficially:

The Department of the Army authorizes the establishment of another 150 Category IV units.

The Czechoslovakian 24th Motor-Rifle Division called up and deployed to the Austrian border, where it started several months training and organizing.

Troops of I British Corps link up with 6th Airmobile Brigade, inserted by helicopter two days prior.

The US 3rd Air Force launches Operation Dreamscape - a co-ordinated multi-squadron SEAD (Suppression of Enemy Air Defense) strike, with F-111s of the 366th Tactical Fighter Wing hitting SA-5 SAM sites and air defense command centers in Poland. F-22s of the 32nd Tactical Fighter Squadron provided cover and succeeded in shooting down a Sovet A-50 AWACS that attempted to take over fighter control from the damaged and destroyed ground control stations.

NATO forces launch a counter-attack in Norway. Dubbed Operation Reindeer, the offensive had the goal of evicting 6th Army from Norwegian territory. The 37th MRD had disintegrated and the 109th and 111th MRDs were in headlong flight, with the remnants of the 36th Air Assault Brigade struggling to maintain a rear guard. Norwegian, Canadian and British troops launched the initial attacks, using a hammer-and-anvil technique, inserting strong mobile forces behind the Soviet rear guards and smashing them with artillery, close air support and frontal assaults. The steep and restricted terrain slowed the initial attacks just as effectively as it had slowed the Soviet offensive weeks before, but the weakness of Soviet troops allowed steady progress.

The American cargo ship USNS 2nd LT John P. Bobo called at the Sicilian port of Augusta and loaded vehicles and equipment of the 487th Tactical Missile Wing for evacuation.

photo
The last holdouts of isolated 8th Guards Army break out of encirclement in the Thuringer Wald, reaching the relative safety of Pact front lines south of Leipzig, slicing through NATO's southern supply lines.

NATO commissions a new air base, at Mosjøen, Norway, 215 miles/350 km south of Narvik, the culmination of two months of concentrated effort by US Navy Seebees, Norwegian civilian construction companies and a small legion of Swedish volunteers (in reality the Swedish 12th Division’s engineer battalion in civilian clothes).

Aircraft from the the air wing of the USS John F. Kenendy (which was damaged by a Soviet mine earlier in the month), operating from Gibraltar, strike Soviet naval facilities in Algeria.

The 134th MRD, a mobilization-only division from the Turkestan MD, is called up for service in Afghanistan.

[chico20854]

December 18, 1996

The war widens in scope: The Soviet 7th Guards Army advanced into northwestern Iran, and encountered fanatical resistance from the Pasdaran militia. The Soviets countered this by using chemical weapons on a massive scale as they had in China.

unofficial:

The 196th Field Artillery Brigade (TN National Guard) activated at Ft Campbell, KY. The 106th Tac Recon Sqn (AL Air National Guard) is declared fully operational.

photo
The RAF stationed No. 169 Squadron’s Harrier jets at Evenes, Norway, just 19 miles/30 km from the center of Narvik, where they were able to launch sortie after sortie against the surrounded elite Soviet troops, quickly returning to the air base for rearming; the squadron generated 186 sorties in a 12-hour period today.

Fires abord the Forrestal are extinguished by 1800; over 40% of the ships compartments have been damaged. USN and civilian salvage tugs begin the tow to the nearest friendly port, Bodo.

The US destroyer Arthur W. Radford is sunk by torpedo from the Soviet Victor II submarine K-476 20nm off Norway.

The 385th Guards Assault Gun Regiment, a mobilization-only regiment from the Kiev Military District, is hastily called into service to serve in the invasion of Romania, staffed with peasants and factory workers that had served in artillery or tank units over a decade prior, led by officers seconded from its parent 17th GTD.

Convoy 105 attacked south of Iceland by the Victor I submarine K-438. The US-flag Cape Carthage and Swedish-flag Tor Hollandia are sunk. The K-438 is damaged by an escort helicopter but limps off to the north.

[chico20854]

December 19, 1996

The war widens even further in scope...
photo
The US 2nd Infantry Division is engaged against North Korean commando units. During the night the North Korean People’s Army launches a massive artillery barrage on Seoul and the DMZ, accompanied by commando attacks throughout the peninsula and raids by its obsolescent air force.

unofficial:

As a result of the sinking of the Tor Hollandia the prior day, the Swedish government prohibits Swedish-flag vessels from carrying military supplies or participating in convoys, on pain of loss of registration and revocation of captain's licenses. Several shipowners immediately file to reflag their vessels in Panama, while others order their ships to head to the nearest port to unload any offending cargo.

The 479th Field Artillery Brigade (USAR) declared combat ready at Ft Carson, CO.

With supplies dwindling and no hope of relief, the commander of the Soviet units in Narvik ordered his remaining troops to disperse and seek their own way back to Soviet territory, an epic trek of nearly 460 miles/750 km across Lapland (including neutral Swedish and Finnish territory) in the middle of winter. He himself, unwilling to return to the USSR for the inevitable show trial and equally unwilling to be paraded in front of TV cameras as a NATO prisoner, shot himself in his brigade’s basement headquarters. Few of his subordinates were successful in escaping back to Soviet territory; nearly 300 were interned by Swedish border police, several small groups were intercepted by Finnish troops patrolling Lapland, and untold numbers froze to death in the wilderness.

The USS Forrestal is docked at Bodo while specialists from the shipyard in Norfolk are flown in to assess damage.

Teams from the 8th, 9th and 10th Spetsnaz Brigades cross the Romanian frontier in predawn hours. Several engage in firefights with alert Patriotic Guard, Border Guard and Army troops.

Iranian Shia leaders declare Soviet Communism forbidden to Moslems and call on all the faithful to wage Jihad against the USSR. This call is less powerful than it would have been 10 years earlier, before Iranian society had tired of religious rule. Nonetheless, the Pasdaran militia sees a surge of eager young volunteers, while the IPA also sees a smaller increase in recruiting.

[Davesdewas]

I love the smell of napalm in the morning. You know, one time we had a hill bombed, for 12 hours. When it was all over, I walked up. We didn't find one of 'em, not one stinkin' body. The smell, you know that gasoline smell, the whole hill. Smelled like... victory. Someday this war's gonna end...

hellodear.in

tea tv

[chico20854]

May 30, 1997

Nothing official for today!

The peace talks in New Delhi have an added sense of urgency and seriousness following the cruise missile attack on Maine but make no progress.

The Victory ship Occidental Victory and freighter Leslie Lykes complete their reactivations in Oakland, California and move to the adjacent Army terminal to load cargo for Korea.

The junior members of the "5th Squad" gang at Fort Lee, Virginia have their Article 15 non judicial punishment proceedings concluded. Most are found guilty of assorted minor offenses. The men are washed out of their training courses at the base and cycled into various infantry and artillery training courses around the US, sending each soldier to a different base to complete their training before being sent to combat.

In McKeesport, Pennsylvania, a working-class suburb of Pittsburgh, the twins Randall and Rodney Cutler begin 36 hours of drunken partying in preparation for their upcoming induction into the military on June 1. They procure four cases of Iron City beer (known as 'Arns) and several cans of spray paint. The 25 year-olds are accompanied by their latest girlfriends and their buddies to "enjoy their last few hours of freedom."

The US 36th Infantry Division (Mechanized), in Bremerhaven and loading on railcars for transport to southern Germany, is diverted to Frankfurt-Oder to deal with the Soviet air assault force.

The US 2nd Armored Division, relieved in Northern Poland, is withdrawn to Germany for rest and reconstruction.

For internal security duties, the Polish command commits ORMO militia troops, ZOMO anti-riot troops, three WOW brigades and three WOW regiments, as well as activating OTK units in most cities. These units are under the command of the Polish government, rather than the Warsaw Pact high command, and they are, to the extent possible, kept out of the front lines since they lack heavy weapons and modern anti-tank systems. The call up of these units further slows the already strained Polish war economy, but with NATO troops occupying the western third of the country and a rival government claiming sovereignty over the entirety, the Polish government feels it is more important to maintain control.

Western TVD command commits the Soviet 230th Rear Area Security Division to securing the bridge crossings over the lower Wisła while the KGB converts its Border Guard Brigades on the Polish border to KGB Motor-Rifle Regiments, operating on both sides of the border against “anti-Soviet terrorists and criminals”. On the NATO side, the unified German government authorizes the deployment of border guard and territorial troop units in areas loyal to the Free Polish Congress. This action coincides with the effective cessation of pro-Soviet guerilla activity in the former East Germany, to a level that the civil police authorities, local militias and military units’ internal guard forces can suppress without outside assistance.

General Diedrichs, commander of the German First Army, after consulting with SACEUR following the Battle of Chojnice, decides to continue to advance east, peeling off I German Korps to guard the army’s northern flank against another counterattack from the Soviets to the north. V US and II British Corps move east, the British through Konin, Koło, and Kutno and the Americans through Kalisz, Sieradz and bypassing Łódź to the south.

A single TLAM (Tomahawk Land Attack Missile) is launched by the battleship Iowa in the Baltic Sea at the Soviet Jēkabpils Air Base in Latvia. The strike is in retaliation for the previous day's attack on Bangor International Airport, Maine, and it destroys the base' control tower and main maintenance hangar.

In the fighting in Bulgaria, 26th Army (a composite force of Red Army and Bulgarian soldiers, Bulgarian internal troops and sailors and the Soviet Black Sea Fleet's 810th Naval Infantry Brigade) finally overwhelms the Turkish XV Corps defenders, with several Turkish units abandoning their positions after over a week of nonstop artillery and infantry attack. In southeastern Romania, 14th Guards Army's drive on Foscani is slowed by repeated attacks and ambushes in its rear area by members of the Romanian Patriotic Guard, forcing the Soviets to divert significant combat power to securing its supply lines.

The USS Salem battle group arrives in the Arabian Sea, remaining out of sight of land.

There is further unrest in the POW camp outside Ganaveh, Iran when the supply of cigarettes for the prisoners runs low. Military authorities had not planned for the number of smokes consumed by their Soviet charges (who were excited to be able to get ahold of "premier" Western cigarettes rather than the inferior Soviet ones they were used to) and had diverted supplies for sale to American troops. This diversion was halted when the Third Army Command Sergeant Major went to the PX trailer and couldn't buy any cigarettes. The guard force at the camp demonstrated the rapid fire capability of their new shotguns but the prisoners were seething about the reduction in their nicotine supply.

The Echo II-class cruise missile sub K-35 arrives at a remote Indonesian port facility, secretly owned by the GRU following its attack on Diego Garcia. The crew is granted three days of liberty on the tropical island, their first time ashore since departing Polyarnyy in December. When they return to the boat the job of restocking her for her next patrol will commence.

Venezuela dispatches another round of tankers to Soviet allies in the Third World. The Miguel Hidalgo is dispatched to Nicarauga and the Jose Felix Ribas departs for Angola carrying loads of crude oil. This maintains Venezuela's self declared neutrality, offsetting the daily shipments of crude to NATO-controlled refineries in Aruba, St Croix and the US Gulf Coast.

The pressure on the rebels in Khabarovsk increases under the weight of the full 173rd (my 192nd) Motor-Rifle Division and KGB and MVD loyalist troops. (Additional MVD riot control troops have arrived to augment the 65th Training Regiment.) Isolated surrenders of rebel individuals and small units and dwindling ammunition, food and water stocks begin to sap the mutineer's fighting strength as the perimeter shrinks.

[chico20854]

December 16, 1996

nothing official today, but unofficially:

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gains 7% following the prior day's conventional cruise missile attack on RAF bases in the UK. Investors are optimistic that the war will remain conventional and that the challenges facing the German war economy (struggling between the callup of a significant portion of the working-age male population, war damage and the cutoff of Soviet natural gas supplies) will present growth opportunities for American companies.

A shipment of M40 106mm recoilless rifles and several hundred rounds of training ammunition are reported missing in transit between the Anniston Army Depot in Alabama and Camp Blanding, Florida.

Soviet troops of the 28th Army and their Vietnamese allies launch an assault on the Chinese-Vietnamese border. While ostensibly a drive on Kunming, the tank-heavy Soviet force is ill-suited for the steep terrain and STAVKA is content with the offensive tying down Chinese troops and presenting the PLA command with war on multiple fronts.

ROK troops in central Korea engage in firefights with unknown assailants, suspected to be North Korean commandos.

The Czechoslovakian 4th Tank Division is deployed to the Czech-East German border, held in reserve to exploit a Pact breakthrough (that never came).

The Soviet 107th MRD is orderd into the field in Latvia and northern Lithuania to counter American green berets and the Baltic nationalists that they had armed, equipped and advised.

The 485th Tactical Missile Wing officially activates its headquarters at Butzweilerhof Air Base in Germany; its GLCM cruise missiles were all evacuated from their peacetime base at Florennes, Belgium.

F-16s of the 119th Fighter Interceptor Squadron, 177th Fighter Interceptor Wing shoot down four Long-Range Aviation Tu-22M Backfire bombers that attempted a trans-polar strike on the fighter's home base of Thule, Greenland. To their east, F-16s of the 465th Tactical Fighter Squadron intercepted a flight of Su-24s over the Norwegian Sea, shooting down four of the attackers.

X Corps HQ (FWD) takes command of US Army troops in Norway.

The US carrier Forrestal is severaly damaged by a Soviet combined-arms strike while operating in a "bastion" in Vestfjord off the Norwegian Sea. Damage control teams struggle to contain fires lit by multiple missile strikes. Meanwhile, the Aegis cruiser USS San Jacinto is struck by multiple submarine-launched SS-N-7 Sizzler anti-radar missiles; the damaged cruiser is towed south for repair.

The 252nd MRD is formed in Nikolaev, Ukraine by discharge of nearly completely trained students of the 92nd Guards Training Motor-Rifle Division.

[chico20854]

December 22, 1996

Despite the Soviet invasion of Iran, low availability of shipping due to war in Europe and Korea results in the decision to delay the deployment of CENTCOM until after first of the year.

Unofficial:

The Iranian Air Force 33rd Tactical Fighter Squadron receives its last F-20 Tigershark from the converted business jet plant in Savannah, Georgia and flies it to Pensacola to begin a month of training on the new aircraft before returning home and the war raging over its homeland.

The nuclear-powered cruiser Long Beach, on a detached forward air defense/communications relay sortie in the Norwegian Sea is located by a squadron of Osa-class Soviet missile boats (hiding among icebergs in the Arctic night) and sunk.

The Soviet destroyer Udaloy sinks the damaged American attack submarine USS Providence and in turn is sunk by the submarine USS Montpelier, which was attempting toescorts the damaged boat.

The air base in Keflavik, Iceland is struck by 10 SS-N-19 Shipwreck cruise missiles (with fuel-air explosive warheads) fired by the Oscar-II cruise missile submarine K-141.

Poor weather over the Norwegian Sea hampers naval flight operations.

Convoy 105 arrives in the German ports of Bremen and Bremerhaven, less two ships sunk on the 18th. (The ships are divided between ports to avoid overloading port facilities and speed discharge). The convoy is carrying trailing elements of the 5th Infantry Division, replacement vehicles, ammunition, spare parts and troops and equipment for corps and army-level support units, mainly US Army Reserve.

Seoul is subjected to particularly heavy artillery bombardment, while ROKAF and USAF fighters break up a North Korean air raid on the city. Air Force commanders come under increasing pressure to reallocate close air support aircraft from supporting troops in contact to seeking out and striking North Korean hardened artillery firing points.


B-52s launch a second raid on Soviet shipping and bases in Conakry, Guinea, striking targets which had survived the earlier raid. Anti-American riots follow the attacks, ironically in which 2 Soviets are killed but no Westerners.

US troops from the 193rd Infantry Brigade seize the Bulgarian-flag Smolyan as it transits the Panama Canal. It is the last Warsaw Pact ship to enter the canal.

[chico20854]

December 23, 1996

NATO offers full membership to Jugoslavia and Romania, which they accept.

photo
A Jugoslav expeditionary force of three divisions and five brigades arrives at the front outside of Timisoara, Romania. The force, composed of units from central Serbia under the command of the 37th Corps, is placed under command of the hard-pressed Romanian 4th Army.

The Siege of Berlin is broken when the Bundeswehr 3rd Panzer Division is the first NATO unit to enter the city. Battle continues to rage in and around the battered city.

Taking advantage of the devastation wrought upon the Polish Air Force (which has been largely swept from the skies), US and British strike aircraft hit the oil fields and refineries near Uscie Solne (east of Krakow) in an attempt to hamper Polish military operations and defense industry operations.

US Green Berets increase their support of Eritrean and Tigrayan rebels as Cuban troops focus on evacuating, leaving a few dozen overburdened Soviet advisors to support the Ethiopian regime.

Unofficial:

AFRICOM and CENTCOM agree to the reassignment of the Horn of Africa from CENTCOM to AFRICOM, reflecting the demands being placed on CENTCOM's few troops in the region as a result of the Soviet invasion of Iran. 5th Special Forces Group B-teams in the Horn of Africa are reassigned to 3rd Special Forces Group, while the 2nd Battalion, 3rd SF Group is redesignated 2nd Battalion, 5th SF Group and deployed by air from Ft Bragg, NC to Oman. This allows the Green Berets embedded with local guerillas and friendly militaries to continue working alongside those allies without a disruptive change of personnel.

photo
The 185th Tactical Fighter Group (Iowa Air Nationa Guard)'s force of A-16 attack aircraft is declared fully operational. The 111th Fighter Interceptor Squadron (Texas Air National Guard) is ordered to Loring AFB, ME to bolster the northeastern USA's air defenses after an assessment that Cuba was, in fact, complying with its stated intention of remaining neutral and that therefore it was a reasonable risk to dilute Texas' air defenses.

Peace activists outside RAF Upper Heyford are caught by MI-5 radio-direction finding unit broadcasting takeoff and landing notifications for F-111 strikes from the base. A series of arrests begin.

USAF Europe launhces Operation Speed Bump, which has USAF F-117s strike bridges across the Wisla River in Poland being used to tranport Soviet reinforcements to the front.

The USAF orders the 112th Tactical Fighter Group (Pennsylvania Air National Guard) and its 24 A-7 strike aircraft to prepare to deploy to Jugoslavia as reinforcements.

The war in space heats up, when MAJ Amy "Buns" Nakamura becomes the first female ace of the war after shooting down two Soviet RORSATs with ASAT missiles.

The squadrons that were part of the air wings assigned the USS Forrestal and USS George Washington are disbanded following the loss of their carriers. The remaining aircraft and aircrew, which had been operating from bases near Trondheim in central Norway, are reassigned to other squadrons fighting in the waning clashes in the Norwegian Sea, while surviving headquarters, maintenance and administrative personnel are flown home to the US for reassignment or to rebuild selected squadrons. US Naval Aviation losses in the Norwegian Sea exceed 50 percent overall.

[Raellus]

Originally Posted by chico20854

The war in space heats up, when MAJ Amy "Buns" Nakamura becomes the first female ace of the war after shooting down two Soviet RORSATs with ASAT missiles.

Is this a nod to Red Storm Rising? IIRC, the ASAT firing F-15 pilot in the book is a woman (I can't remember her name, though).

-

[chico20854]

Originally Posted by Raellus

Is this a nod to Red Storm Rising? IIRC, the ASAT firing F-15 pilot in the book is a woman (I can't remember her name, though).

-

Yes, it is. One of my unofficial sources is a draft USAF Vehicle Guide that Stilleto69 is working on and has generously shared with me. He has a couple operations in there that seem to have been borrowed from RSR, including the female F-15 ace and the TLAM strikes on airfields in the Kola.

[stilleto69]

Originally Posted by chico20854

Yes, it is. One of my unofficial sources is a draft USAF Vehicle Guide that Stilleto69 is working on and has generously shared with me. He has a couple operations in there that seem to have been borrowed from RSR, including the female F-15 ace and the TLAM strikes on airfields in the Kola.

You're absolutely correct. Couldn't help it. RSR is one of my all-time favorites, plus who else to borrow from, but the undisputed master of techno-thrillers IMHO.

[chico20854]

December 24, 1996

British and American forces reach the outskirts of Berlin, and the British 1st Corps relieves the besieged NATO forces there after a week of bitter street fighting, the Second Battle of Berlin.

SACLANT orders the withdrawal of Strike Fleet Atlantic from the Norwegian Sea, marking the end of the Battle of the Norwegian Sea. Scattered Soviet commerce raiders break out and raise havoc in North Atlantic convoy lanes.

The Turkish 1st Army launches an offensive against a thin Bulgarian covering force (composed of border guards backed by a single mobilization only MRD, the rest of 3rd Army forcing its way across the Danube) in Thrace.

Unofficial:

The British government authorizes the arrest of hundreds of anti-war activists and communist sympathizers following the prior days arrest at RAF Upper Heyford. Internment camps are established in rural Scotland, Wales and Northwest England.

North Korean troops continue their fierce attacks, supported by massed artillery and rocket fire. South Korean divisions on the front line hold, although reserves of replacement troops and artillery ammunition are being depleted at a rapid pace.

The last American troops are withdrawn from Italy. Only US Marine guards at the embassy remain.

The Chinese 29th Group Army renews its attack north of Beijing, its ranks replenished with three new divisions raised in Hunan province.

The Soviet 28th Army's attack into southern China is called off after getting bogged down 15 km into Chinese territory. The USSR's Vietnamese allies declined to provide additional troops and were concerned about their transportation system's ability to continue to support the offensive.

For the first time in over 40 years, NORAD does not publicize incoming flying objects coming from the North Pole. Instead, missile-armed American and Canadian interceptors await any southbound traffic.

[Homer]

Do the Des Moines class get any upgrades in T2k (phalanx, chaff, upgraded electronics, etc?) or get reactivated as is?

[chico20854]

Originally Posted by Homer

Do the Des Moines class get any upgrades in T2k (phalanx, chaff, upgraded electronics, etc?) or get reactivated as is?

I would expect that they would get a miniature version of the upgrade that the Iowa class received in the 80s. Phalanx, electronics, chaff, landing some of the secondary batteries for Harpoon and maybe a helicopter. There were various proposals made in the 80s, which is probably what inspired GDW. Newport News, I recall, had a turret explosion before she was laid up in the 70s, so her reactivation took longer and might have been less extensive. She was used as a training ship from the summer of 96 in my world and was only thrown into action as the raider hunt got intense.

[shrike6]

Originally Posted by chico20854

I would expect that they would get a miniature version of the upgrade that the Iowa class received in the 80s. Phalanx, electronics, chaff, landing some of the secondary batteries for Harpoon and maybe a helicopter. There were various proposals made in the 80s, which is probably what inspired GDW. Newport News, I recall, had a turret explosion before she was laid up in the 70s, so her reactivation took longer and might have been less extensive. She was used as a training ship from the summer of 96 in my world and was only thrown into action as the raider hunt got intense.

That brings up another question for me, whats the status of the Iowa? Did the turret explosion in 89 happen? If so was it fixed?

[Matt Wiser]

In my Red Dawn TL, both Salem and Des Moines got Harpoons, CIWS, updated electronics, the "fem mods" (accommodation for female crew), and so on. No Tomahawks.