BTR in Nevada

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The 278th Armored Cavalry Regiment (ACR), a predominantly Tennessee National Guard unit, was deployed to Europe in January, 1997. Although the fighting in Germany had entered a lull with NATO forces having reached their declared stop-line at the Oder River and along the East German-Czechoslovak border, the Kremlin was not ready for peace. Soviet maritime aircraft, submarines, and surface combatants that had survived the Battle of the Norwegian Sea continued to attack convoys crossing the Atlantic from North America to Europe. The convoy carrying the equipment of 278th ACR took heavy losses while in the mid-Atlantic. The remaining equipment of the 278th ACR was consolidated upon arrival in the Netherlands and used to equip a single squadron of the regiment. The regiment temporarily was sidelined to await the arrival of replacement materiel.

In early February, Pact forces in western Czechoslovakia attacked NATO forces in southern Germany. The attackers were Soviet and Czechoslovak. The defenders were mostly Dutch. SOUTHAG, under Dutch command since mid-December, gave ground in a bitterly-fought contest that took the Soviets by surprise. The Soviet leadership had intended to inflict such losses on the Dutch Army that the Netherlands would follow France and Belgium out of the war. Instead, the resolve and skill of the Dutch troops as they waged their fighting withdrawal sapped the Pact offensive of its strength. The arrival of German and American reinforcements enabled SOUTHAG to switch to the counteroffensive; within fourteen days, Pact forces had been pushed back to their start lines.

Despite the satisfactory outcome of the February campaign, SACEUR recalled more than a few hair-raising moments. 278th ACR had sat on the sidelines of the fighting, champing at the bit to enter the fray. SACEUR decided that rebuilding 278th to fighting strength took priority. His chief of staff observed that the USAF Security Forces (SF) maintained a large park of light armored fighting vehicles (LAFV) at its air bases throughout Western Europe. Much to the chagrin of the Air Chief in Europe, SACEUR requisitioned enough LAFV to bring 278th ACR up to strength. The Air Force would have to shuffle its remaining vehicles among its air bases until replacements arrived in-theater.

In Korea and in the Gulf, fighting had seriously depleted the numbers of AFV in US Army formations. In both theaters, the senior leadership adopted the practice of appropriating USAF SF vehicles for use in the Army. The USAF deployed replacement LAFV from its bases in CONUS, promising the CONUS security squadrons that they would be re-equipped as soon as possible. However, by January 1997 the demand for armored cars like the V-150 had far outpaced production. Anxious to meet the needs of Third World clients in the climate of superpower confrontation, the Department of Defense moved the resupply of USAF SF in CONUS to the bottom of the priority list.

At the same time, NATO leaders were dealing with the enormous quantities of captured Warsaw Pact materiel. Even before the Pact offensive in southern Germany, the NATO nations had captured thousands of MBT and tens of thousands of lighter AFV, along with artillery, multiple rocket launchers, trucks, and other military end items. The action in February underscored the desirability of moving at least some of this hardware out of Germany. The PRC, which was building for an all-out offensive in late Summer 1997, expressed an interest in acquiring some of the Pact gear NATO had captured. Some Western-aligned Third World nations, like Pakistan and Egypt, were also interested in acquiring some of the NATO haul. Accordingly, the materiel captured between October and January was divided between the NATO countries for use, disposal, or refurbishing for resale as each nation saw fit. It was universally agreed that captured Pact fighting vehicles would not be used by NATO combat forces, as chances for friendly fire incidents were simply too great.

From late January onward, NATO-controlled sealift vessels making the westward trip across the Atlantic bore captured Pact AFV to CONUS. Some vehicles would go to US arms manufacturers for refit. Others would go for testing by the US military. Still others were set aside for use at the National Training Center at Ft. Irwin, despite the fact that the Army had rejected using captured Iraqi vehicles for training following Operation Desert Storm in 1991. Among the interested parties were the USAF SF who were operating either with much-reduced numbers of LAFV or entirely without LAFV.

A small commission of USAF SF officers and NCOs conducted a study of the Pact vehicles available to determine whether a suitable replacement for their LAFV could be found. Quickly, the Air Force team decided that the BTR-80A combined the characteristics of light armor, good mobility, troop and equipment capacity, and reliability. A pilot program was established for the purpose of testing a slightly refitted version of the BTR-80A. The BTR-80A2 would receive a 25mm autocannon in place of its 30mm gun, and the coaxial 7.62mm MG would be replaced by the same 7.62mm MG used on many US Army vehicles. The Soviet-manufactured diesel engine would be replaced by a commercial US engine. Among the handful of USAF bases participating in the program was Nellis AFB in Nevada.

Nellis employed a substantial number of BTR-80A2 in November, 1997. When the Las Vegas area fell apart during the ’97-’98 winter, Air Force security personnel widely used their BTR in an effort to keep a lid on violence. A number of these vehicles were still operating in June, 1998 when the surviving personnel of Nellis AFB and all other military facilities in Nevada were ordered to move their entire base of operations to California in support of 6th US Army. A new warlord calling himself Shogun managed to acquire several of these vehicles, crews, and mechanics during the move from Nellis to Sacramento and afterwards. These vehicles figured into the fighting between 46th Infantry Division and the Shogun’s forces in late 1998 as the 46th moved through northern Nevada en route from Colorado Springs to Sacramento.

As of April, 2001 three BTR-80A2 are still operable and serving in the Gunryo, the army of the Shogun. Now called dragons, these fighting vehicles serve as light tanks for the Shogun’s motorized force.

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