The 278th Armoured Cavalry Regiment (Moved from Archive)

[kato13]

Blackrider 11-19-2005, 08:56 AM well here is the light version i did on the 278th...


since the 278th was originally a Tennessee National guard unit and more then a few adventures come out of that area.. i always thouth that it would be a perfect reinforcement for the 194th (the are locals and now the terrain and original local politics and in those hills family ties do run deep ( know this from personal experince)


The State of the 278th (Armored) Cavalry Regiment



Personal: 300 Tanks: 0


After the withdrawal of US Military personal from Europe, a large number of units were stud down. But the Joint Chiefs had a different idea for the 278th. The 194th Mech. Inf. Brigade was in need of reinforcement after taking the city of Memphis, and since the 278th was originally a Tennessee National Guard unit, it seemed perfectly logical to assign the 278th to assist the 194th in the reconstruction of the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). And the remaining elements of the Regiment, (only 200 men at this point) were transported down to the new mouth of the Mississippi River and up the River to Memphis.

The mission given to the regiment would be harder to fulfil, given the state of both the regiment and the conditions in Tennessee. The Regiment in truth was just a mere shadow of it former self when it left Tennessee, even with local recruiting, the Regiment now had only 300 and no vehicles. The Regimental Commanding Officer, Lt. Col. Thomas Marlow, organized the remainder of the Regiment as a Single Squadron and had it converted to an all horse cavalry unit. Making it less reliant on the need for fuel and making it a fast and far ranging strike force. The second problem was the current conditions in the state, the drought, marauder bands, New American guerrillas, along with the EMP damaged electronics of both the dams and the nuclear plants made the task a almost impossible task from the very beginning.

The regiment attempted to follow its orders regardless of the odds. In the early spring of 2000, and the march across Tennessee following the I40, the vanguard of the 278th, C troop, was ambushed attempting to cross the Tennessee River Bridge by a very well organized and well equipped marauder band. (It was later discovered that this was a survivalist group, no associated with NA) The troop gave a good account for itself, taking the bridge and moving on toward Nasville. The Regiment is currently encamped in the suburb o Kingston Springs, sending scouts in the near deserted ruins of Nashville.

The current goals for the 278th are to reach and survey the area around the nuclear research facility in Oak Ridge TN., and report on the possibility of holding and securing the facility. Failing that, they are to fall back and secure and hold Chattanooga and garrison the city


The TOE of the 278th Cavalry Regiment




Headquarters Co.

30 men (staff)

20 men (logistics)

50 horse mounts

20 pack mules


3 Cavalry Troops each with :

50 men

0 horse mounts

10 pack mules

4 60mm mortars (Weapons Plt.)

4 M72 LAW (used very sparingly)



Artillery Battery

50 men

5 81mm Mortars

50 horses

10pack mules

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firewalker 11-19-2005, 12:09 PM 0 horse mounts

10 pack mules

4 60mm mortars (Weapons Plt.)

4 M72 LAW (used very sparingly)


is this right? the cavlry troops have no horse's

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thefusilier 11-19-2005, 12:59 PM Really nice work there. Hope there is more to come.

I think its gotta be a 50, not a 0.

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shrike6 11-19-2005, 03:16 PM You need to fix your timeline. TF 34 doesn't leave Bremerhaven until October of 2000.

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Blackrider 11-20-2005, 08:29 AM your right it was 50 horses and the time setting was a typo was suppose to be spring 2001. minor screwup that i admit to sorry guys

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DeaconR 11-20-2005, 08:58 AM Blackrider if you or anyone else is interested I have a pre-WWII field manual for the use of horses, mules, donkeys, camels, oxen and water buffalo in the army. If you need some info from that I'll gladly make it available.

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Blackrider 11-20-2005, 09:13 AM i thank you for the thought, but i have one of my books back in kentucky being shipped to me... its the cavalry manual for the US Arny for the civil war period. but if it doesnt get here.... ill take you up on your offer



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Abbott Shaull 11-21-2005, 02:49 AM Wondering why the Artillery Battery is outfitted with 81mm Mortar. Why not 120mm mounted on carriages?


Next the weapon platoon of each troop has 4-60mm Mortars. So how many trooper in each Troop is in the weapons Troop and how many other Platoons are in each troop? Just wondering since it seems with the amount of fire-power they are lugging around that they would be considered more of a Horse Artillery Battalion than Cavalry Squadron.


Abbott

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Abbott Shaull 11-21-2005, 03:32 AM Okay, you have them being used to reinforce the 197th Mechanized Brigade which is in Memphis. The 194th Armor Brigade is in Illinois. So what is the use of this new Squadron. Would it become the recon unit of the Brigade, or be used as recon, police, forage, whatever else the Brigade commander decides.


Next what would be the 278th Regimental Commander reaction when he learns that the army is re-organizing his Regiment into a Squadron which it really should have been. I mean yes he is only Lt Colonel, but the prestige that goes with being Brigade/Regimental Commander to be downgraded...lol


Wouldn't they also be prime to be absorbed by the 1st Cavalry Division as in some of the games out there this Division was sent to Texas with the rest of the III Corps to help out in the fight for Texas? Wouldn't the remains of the 2nd Armored Division be more fitting to be used as reinforcement of both the 194th Armored and 197th Mechanized.



Abbott.

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DeaconR 11-21-2005, 09:51 AM Just to corroborate what Abbott said. However there is another idea you could use for that; both the 194th and 197th are directly attached to the 5th US Army. You could always do the same for the 278th; this would also make it possible for them to receive direction mission orders rather than go through the 197th, which is according to the books decreasing the range of its patrols, while you seem to be suggesting the 278th could with horses and mules be given means to have wider range and be lest dependant upon fuel.


Other than that what you suggested sounds just fine.

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Blackrider 11-21-2005, 10:30 AM :soapbox:

ok here are my attempt to answer all your questions and give you the best quick explinations i could come up with


the reason the 278th was ordered there was for a number of reasons 1.) they were originally a Tennessee National guard unit they would know the areas and people in thier hometimes better then anyone. 2.) the need to regain put the TVA back online (more or less hopeless i know but not all order make sense. and 3) with the extra guides that know the area and ppl better then most of the 197th does..


i dont think it the Joint Chiefs wanted to keep control of the unit... and to makesure it continues to exist. placing them in a area they know well, with the mission to help restore the old way of life would make the mission more personal to the members of the Regiment.


also considering that a number of units declared for the civilian government only AFTER given orders to redploy elsewhere. makes sense that the JC would learn from this lil mistake and placing them in thier home state may make them more loyal (no garentee but was part of the original plan.)


as to the rank of the Co. and so called prestige. on paper the 278th is still listed as a Regiment, so there would be no loss of prestige, but to actualy fuction... it was reorginized as a single squadron, as a number of units how do you fumction as a organized Division, when you started the war with 15,000 and now have a little less then 800???) so you got a full logistics battalion but unless you plug the holes if the infantry battalions. all you got is a bunch of shipping clerks, so you place the extra clerks into the empty spots in the infantry and operate with the smaller logistics and support units, cause you dont need the original numbers that you had before the war.


and yes they would be subordinate to 5th army with transfered to Tennessee,


amd lastly, they have almost know LAWs, or anyother heavy weapons, mortars where the support weapon of choice (according to V1 background anyway) and 81mm mortars are a little lighter on the pack mules then having to lug a 120mm you gotta keep the animal going ya know


well thats the best quick answers i could come up with, and i know you can find more faults with it, but i made it in oless then a hour at work with no sourse books to work from, so considering i think i did ok


(my Cumberland Gap NA stuff is currently on its 5 page so ill post it in the next couple of days.)

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Abbott Shaull 11-21-2005, 04:44 PM I can understand moving them to TN since they are NG from there. I can also seeing many NG units being moved like this. Only makes sense for the Joint Chiefs to try to get some control.


As for the 81mm okay if you plan on using pack. I was just wondering why you didn't use 120mm on carriages.


I still wondering about the 4 60mm Mortars. You realize that in 50 man troop that 1/4 to 1/3 would be used to get these mortars in use. That is if you use 2 man crew or 3 man crew then add an extra for eact mortar to act as mount handler. Either way it works out to 12 or 16 men just for this one Platoon. What was your thought on their stock of ammo per tube when in the field? Then when you consider of the other 24 or 36 trooper you have at least a fourth will be needed as handlers when dismounted further eating away at what you have for active in a firefight.


Realistically 2 60mm would be more than enough firepower and and not take too many away from other duties within your troops. Remember most Cavalry engagement are rarely done from the saddle except for the first contact. The majority of the time they will dismount and fight as foot infantry. The mounts are a tool to get them from one place to another with exhausting the trooper. Remember Cavalry troops have always been issued side arms, sabre, and even lances beside a Carbine.


With them being in TN, I can see them start to recruit or attempt to. Another to remember is some of these NG units will have several troops from other location than the original home state any unit is from. Even within some Brigades there were Battalions/Companies that came from other states. The 107th ACR from the game is perfect example in which the 1-150th Armor Cavalry Squadron in the Regiment is WV NG unit. Once these units are federalized and sent to war they get their replacements as the Army issues them. So granted the unit may have 200 men or so, but maybe as few as 10% are from TN.


Just some thoughts.


Abbott.

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firewalker 11-21-2005, 07:35 PM coming back from eureap at lest some of those requites of opportunity will be well Europeans (not even necessarily NATO).


have you given any thought to "war brides", or in a less polite idea some campfolowers. some of the men in the unite might be coming home with a little more than a horse and some gun's.

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Blackrider 11-21-2005, 08:40 PM the 278th was originally a all Tennessee Guard unit, and in my campaigen, the percentage of the Regiment that were originally from Tenn. runs a little higher then 10% more to 40% to 50%, but thats just my opinion


as to the problem of the 60mm mortars, just cut thier numbers in half if you want to use it, no headaches needed :banghead:


as to the european member of the regiment, you could imagine the culture shock of fimding themselves surrounded by hillbillies and rednecks. (please no refernces to that movie deliverance!!!! )


as to the camp followers, i had not thought of it and think its a great idea, and great for background, imagine some member of the regiment making it home to mom and dad after being returned, and has a wife and 3 kids behind them..."mom dad meet the wife and your grandkids"

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Blackrider 11-21-2005, 09:02 PM made some minor corrections, and here is the short background and TOE again. ohh and the reason for the 81mm instead of the 120mm or even the 4.2" mortar on carriages. how many of you have been to tennessee and seen that dirt back roads, that red leak and be a b#$% to get a normal truck thru

i know got my car stuck in it once and the towtruck that was suppost to get me out got stuck itself..)


:blueflag:


The State of the 278th (Armored) Cavalry Regiment



Personal: 300 Tanks: 0



After the withdrawal of US Military personal from Europe, a large number of units were stud down. But the Joint Chiefs had a different idea for the 278th. The 194th Mech. Inf. Brigade was in need of reinforcement after taking the city of Memphis, and since the 278th was originally a Tennessee National Guard unit, it seemed perfectly logical to assign the 278th to assist the 197th in the reconstruction of the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). And the remaining elements of the Regiment, (only 200 men at this point) were transported down to the new mouth of the Mississippi River and up the River to Memphis, and came under the control of the 5th Army.


The mission given to the regiment would be harder to fulfil, given the state of both the regiment and the conditions in Tennessee. The Regiment in truth was just a mere shadow of it former self when it left Tennessee, even with local recruiting, the Regiment now had only 300 and no vehicles. The Regimental Commanding Officer, Lt. Col. Thomas Marlow, organized the remainder of the Regiment as a Single Squadron and had it converted to an all horse cavalry unit. Making it less reliant on the need for fuel and making it a fast and far ranging strike force. The second problem was the current conditions in the state, the drought, marauder bands, New American guerrillas, along with the EMP damaged electronics of both the dams and the nuclear plants made the task an almost impossible task from the very beginning.


The regiment attempted to follow its orders regardless of the odds. In the early spring of 2001, and the march across Tennessee following the I40, the vanguard of the 278th, C troop, was ambushed attempting to cross the Tennessee River Bridge by a very well organized and well equipped marauder band. (It was later discovered that this was a survivalist group, no associated with NA) The troop gave a good account for itself, taking the bridge and moving on toward Nashville. The Regiment is currently encamped in the suburb of Kingston Springs, sending scouts in the near deserted ruins of Nashville.


The current goals for the 278th are to reach and survey the area around the nuclear research facility in Oak Ridge TN., and report on the possibility of holding and securing the facility. Failing that, they are to fall back and secure and hold Chattanooga and garrison the city. hopping to use the rail hub there as a link in a new logistics base to the east coast.


The TOE of the 278th Cavalry Regiment


Headquarters Co.

30 men (staff)

20 men (logistics)

50 horse mounts

20 pack mules


3 Cavalry Troops each with :

50 men

50 horse mounts

10 pack mules

2 60mm mortars (Weapons Platoon)

4 M72 LAW (used very sparingly)


Artillery Battery

50 men

4 81mm Mortars (broke down and on the pack mules for transport)

50 horses

10 pack mules

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[Apache6]

IRL, At least up to 1993, the Tennessee State Highway patrol maintained several M-20 Armored Cars (WW II era 6 x 6) for high threat missions to support SWAT and hostage situations...

These vehicles were re-engined around 1985 to use modern/common Ford truck engines and they were modified to use the then current 5 ton truck tires.

In game, I think it would be cool for two of these (one equipped with a M2 HMG, one with a Mk-19) to be available to the 278th Armored Cav Regiment.

[Olefin]

I could see them being requipped with those vehicles once they get back from Europe and also doing what they did in Europe as well after they arrived minus most of their vehicles - i.e. gun trucks, bank armored cars, Peacekeepers, etc. to get back to strength