5 Primary Factors That Contributed To The Soviet/WP Defeat On The Central Front INTRO

Military historians love to debate the reasons why major armies were soundly defeated on the fields of battle throughout history. The Central Front in 1987 is no exception. For thirty-plus years historians have conducted research and presented an endless number of theories to explain in great detail just how and why the Soviet Union and …

The Central Front Mobilization Race Part III

On 28 June, 1987 the Soviet general secretary informed the Ministry of Defense that Zapad ’87 was to commence on the first of July. A final decision on the date hostilities were to commence was not mentioned. Senior Soviet generals suspected Zapad would transition directly into a broader mobilization and from there to war. Marshal …

The Central Front Mobilization Race Part II

In the early June, 1987 senior Soviet military leaders were being queried daily by the new leadership in the Kremlin about theater mobilization procedures. Specifically, General Secretary Romanov was most interested in the amount of time that the vaunted Soviet military would need to prepare for a conventional conflict in Europe. Chief of the General …

The Central Front Mobilization Race Part I

Mobilization has played a key role in war planning for centuries. Only in the later half of the 19th Century, with the advent of railroads and industrialization, did it take on a new importance and standing. In Europe during the years leading up to World War I, Mobilization was transformed into nothing less than an …

The Central Front: Command And Control On The Nuclear Battlefield D+24 (2 August, 1987) Part II

NATO’s retaliation for the nuclear attack against I NL Corps came in the form of two nuclear warheads targeted at two separate targets and delivered by a pair of US Army Pershing II medium-range ballistic missiles. The first and more valuable target was the Group Soviet Forces Germany’s wartime forward command bunker outside Stendal. This …

The Central Front: Command And Control On The Nuclear Battlefield D+24 (2 August, 1987) Part I

In the battlefield nuclear exchanges that took place early on D+24, command and control elements and links were among the earliest casualties in both the NATO and Soviet formations that were targeted. This occurrence was anything but a surprise. Both sides had anticipated and prepared for the eventuality. Contingency plans for combat operations in a …

West Berlin D+25 (3 August, 1987)

On the morning of 3 August, 1987, as dawn broke across the eastern sky, few residents of West Berlin were aware that a temporary ceasefire was now in place across Europe. NATO and Warsaw Pact military forces were no longer engaged in combat with one another. Or that US and Soviet governments had agreed to …

Galvin and Snetkov Come Together D+25 (3 August, 1987) Part II

Salzglitter, FRG 0703 Zulu (0903 Local) The Soviet Mi-17 flared and landed. The pilot powered down the engines. Once they ceased turning, Marshal Snetkov disembarked from the helicopter with three aides in tow. They moved while under the watchful eyes of an Apache helicopter. SACEUR and own two aides walked out from the trees and …

Galvin and Snetkov Come Together D+25 (3 August, 1987) Part I

Salzglitter, FRG 0655 Zulu (0855 Local) *Author’s Note: This post will require two parts so I thought I’d post Part I early. Second part will be up tomorrow night or sometime on Friday. * General Jack Galvin, US Army stood just inside of a tree line bordering a large tract of farmland that had been …

The Central Front D+22 (31 July 1987) Part III (Bravo)

Dusk fell upon the Central Front, bringing with it the first notes of a precarious pause on the North German Plain. Artillery rumbled sporadically in the distance, but nowhere near as concentrated as it had been earlier in the afternoon. The crack of tank cannons firing and small arms fire popped up periodically as well, …