Norfolk Status: Going Home Time Frame

[Legbreaker]

Originally Posted by Olefin

Considering they brought them there when they could have sent them to the bases they have in New Jersey there had to be troops and facilities there that could support feeding and housing that many troops, let alone getting them re-organized back into fighting units.

Not necessarily.
When a force is sent overseas, they don't expect to have food and lodging ready and waiting for them do they?
It's possible TF34 included the logistical support they'd need for a month or so, although my guess is there was at least some sort of support already in place, otherwise they'd have probably landed somewhere less irradiated.
It's also worth noting from the mission orders:

Upon arrival Norfolk, selected units will remain in service, and the remainder stood down for muster out.

Sounds to me like the majority would be demobilised and sent on their merry way. Of course how many is completely up to individual interpretation.

Originally Posted by Olefin

Most likely were logistic units of various types along with military police units to keep order as well.

These are probably the most likely to remain active the longest.

Originally Posted by Olefin

... 43,000 troops would go a long way towards giving them a power base again in the Mid-Atlantic and Southern states.

Except as we know 43,000 were not kept in service. This issue has been discussed in quite a bit of depth in other threads.

Originally Posted by Olefin

As for glow in the dark - if Warsaw is habitable and crops can be grown there after how many nukes it took then Norfolk definitely is as well - I don't see there being any lasting radiation in the area - especially with an airburst instead of a ground explosion.

Yes, but the main reason people were living in Warsaw was the radiation - it scared other, more predatory types away. Also those who remained generally had a pre-nuke attachment to the area.

Originally Posted by Olefin

Also keep in mind just how big the area is around Norfolk and that we don't know the exact ground zero for the nuke - depending on where it went off there could be a lot of facilities that are still very useable.

Very true.
Take a look at the nuke effects map I linked to earlier in the thread and you can see the likely damage areas. Outside those areas there's still quite a few useful facilities, although it's likely many people would have fled in the immediate period after the nukes from fear of fallout and follow up strikes. Some may have filtered back if food, etc supplies could be guaranteed, but most would probably either die of starvation, disease, radiation, exposure, marauders, etc, or have resettled in a better area.

Originally Posted by Olefin

on the other hand if it went off over the Air Station then the naval base Is untouched - either way one single detonation is going to leave a lot of overall base area useable

Another reason why multiple warheads are more plausible than a single one. What Soviet commander would leave half of the home port for the Atlantic fleet still intact?