The Central Front D+19 (28 July, 1987) Part III

1300- President Reagan places a call to SACEUR and gives the American general the green light to prepare and launch the anticipated counter-offensive. He warns SACEUR that NATO forces are not to cross the Inner-German or Czech border under any circumstances unless Reagan orders otherwise. “Your mission is to push the Russians out of West …

The Central Front D+19 (28 July, 1987) Part II

Author’s Note: CENTAG is coming first because my laptop went south on Friday and it took over 36 hours to get it reset and all my files recovered. Need some extra time to gather my CENTAG and NORTHAG timelines and notes up from the wreckage. As a result, this entry will be short, unfortunately. 😊 …

The Central Front D+19 (28 July, 1987) Part I

The opening hours of D+19 in Germany were marked by a series of small unit engagements along the length of the front. As the morning went on, the size and scope of the battles rose. Contact and engagements of company and battalion size broke out in sectors where the lines had been rather stationary, such …

The Central Front D+18 1830-2359 Zulu 27 July, 1987 Part II

The order to temporarily stop offensive operations took time to circulate. In some instances, units were in heavy contact when the halt order arrived. Without being given a sufficient explanation of the reasons for the order, unit commanders began to disentangle their forces from the enemy, pull them back, establish a hasty defense and then …

The Central Front D+18 1830-2359 Zulu 27 July, 1987 Part I

The new commander-in-chief of the Western TVD, General Boris Snetkov, received official word of the nuclear exchange five minutes before the destruction of both Novaya Zemlya and Gorky. This was essentially the extent of the news from Moscow. The absence of information left Snetkov’s head filled with a hopelessly long list of questions. Foremost was …

The Central Front D+17 (26 July, 1987) Part VII

Brainstorming and informal planning for a potential CENTAG offensive option continued on. Many of CENTAG’s war plans assumed an offensive from the army group’s region would be directed north or northwest to blunt a major Soviet attack or breakthrough on the North German Plain. An embodiment of the cavalry coming to the rescue, so to …

The Central Front D+17 (26 July, 1987) Part VI

It was 0315 in the morning. The commander of NATO’s Central Army Group (CENTAG) General Glenn Otis, US Army, received a call at his field headquarters from Brussels. The voice on the other end was the familiar nasal, New England-accented voice belonging to SACEUR. “Glenn, I want to let you know what’s going on up …

The Central Front D+17 (26 July, 1987) Part V Charlie

Late in the evening, General John Galvin, the Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR) received word that the first troops from 1st Cavalry Division were over the Leine. The news invigorated SACEUR’s deputies, as well as his staff. After two and a half weeks spent playing round-the-clock defense, NATO had possession of the ball. NORTHAG’s new …

The Central Front D+17 (26 July, 1987) Part V Bravo

The Commander-In-Chief of the Western TVD, Marshal Nikolai Ogarkov was relieved of his duties at 1600 hours, CEST. It was to be another hour before General Snetkov learned of the news. A KGB officer arrived from Western TVD’s wartime command post in Poland to personally deliver the news of Ogarkov’s removal. The officer also informed …

The Central Front D+17 (26 July, 1987) Part V Alpha

Disorientation continued to hamper Soviet commanders into the afternoon. From the divisional level straight up to the theater commander, there was no clear picture of the situation developing along the Leine or to its west. Fragments of information made their way to headquarters and then somehow ended up either being exaggerated and passed along or, …