Operation Proud Lion: T2K in Kenya

[Raellus]

Originally Posted by HorseSoldier

For a single brigade, especially without the full-up suite RSTA assets available these days and limited airlift, just securing the Kenyan border against random marauders spilling over from the Sudan (and Ethiopia, Somalia, Tanzania, and Uganda) would be a serious trick. Don't really need major invasions to have the 173rd and the Kenyan military stretched to the limit with the whole continent sliding into chaos.

OK. But in mid-'97, when the 173rd deployed (according to Frey), adequate airlift and fuel for the brigade's aircraft was available and the Kenyan military is no slouch. If it's simply a matter of assisting the Kenyans in counter-insurgency operations, elements of the 5th SFG would probably be adequate. A reinforced BCT is overkill, especially considering the need for such a unit elsewhere. With the U.S. engaged in full-scale conventional warfare in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia, an entire Airborne BCT could be put to use almost anywhere else BUT Kenya. IMO, a conventional Tanzanian invasion makes the commitment of the 173rd in Kenya a much more justifiable investment. Once they're there, the breakdown of the world's transportation networks following the TDM and the continued presence of large numbers of marauders on Kenya's frontiers explains the BCT's continued presence there.

Thanks, though, for the lead on the 5th SFG. I'll have to take a look at my RDF sourcebook. I could definitely use them in my scenario.

[HorseSoldier]

It's a brief reference in the text of RDF about 5th SFG having teams working with Masai tribesmen, if I remember right. As noted, it would be 3rd Group if they still got reactivated in 1990, which would possibly have happened in the Twilight timeline as well. I'm pretty sure the reactivation was planned as part of the Reagan-era plus up of the US military before the walls came down, even if it post-dated that by a year or so.

[Raellus]

Originally Posted by HorseSoldier

It's a brief reference in the text of RDF about 5th SFG having teams working with Masai tribesmen, if I remember right. As noted, it would be 3rd Group if they still got reactivated in 1990, which would possibly have happened in the Twilight timeline as well. I'm pretty sure the reactivation was planned as part of the Reagan-era plus up of the US military before the walls came down, even if it post-dated that by a year or so.

You've got a good memory. This is all that the RDF sourcebook has to say on the subject:

"SOCCENT: Last (but certainly not the least) of CENTCOM's component commands is Special Operations Command Central Command (SOCCENT).

Its Special Forces A Teams are in action from Iran to Kenya and work with such ethnic/racial groups as the Kurdish hill tribes of southwestern Iran and the Masai warriors of Kenya." (RDF Sourcebook, p.18)

[HorseSoldier]

Stuck in my head because I always wondered what they were doing in Africa during the middle of WW3, since v1.0 did not mention anything about the war in that part of the world.

[StainlessSteelCynic]

Okay so the water angle isn't as workable but how about the reason the 173rd is there is because the Kenyans are refining oil that is actually supplied from Egypt?
The 173rd is deployed there to collect some fuel being refined by the Kenyans in exchange for whatever. They find they don't have the capacity to transport the fuel so end up having to wait around and by that time, it's the end of the war in Europe and they are left to their own devices.

[Raellus]

Originally Posted by StainlessSteelCynic

Okay so the water angle isn't as workable but how about the reason the 173rd is there is because the Kenyans are refining oil that is actually supplied from Egypt?
The 173rd is deployed there to collect some fuel being refined by the Kenyans in exchange for whatever. They find they don't have the capacity to transport the fuel so end up having to wait around and by that time, it's the end of the war in Europe and they are left to their own devices.

If that works for you, go with it. I put a lot of thought, research, and work into my version of events so I'm going to stick with it.