Air War on the Central Front D+5 (14 July, 1987) Part II

Outside of the 36th TFW headquarters building two vehicles were waiting when Holland and Glosson emerged. One was a blue Air Force sedan, and the other a jeep packed with five security police troops. Holland got into the back of the sedan while Glosson went over to the jeep and spoke briefly to the NCO …

Air War on the Central Front D+5 (14 July, 1987) Part I

Lieutenant Colonel Michael Holland’s war had yet to begin. He was one of eight Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve officers brought together as an ad-hoc advance party by Tactical Air Command forty-eight hours earlier. On D+3 Holland had been at McGuire Air Force Base working with his squadron to get ready for war …

The Central Front D+5 (14 July, 1987) Part V

The southern region of the Federal Republic of Germany was not spared from the Third World War. Soviet and Warsaw Pact forces streamed across the border here on D+0 as they had in the northern and central areas of the country. Fighting was fierce, casualties heavy, and collateral damage considerable. Lamentably, the fighting in southern …

The Central Front D+5 (14 July, 1987) Part IV

The temporary moratorium placed on offensive operations by Western TVD failed to disrupt Soviet forces in central Germany to the degree as it had the army groups farther north. D+5 was a day of transition for the 8th Guards Army and 1st Guards Tank Army. The indecision surrounding the final destination of 1st GTA had …

The Central Front D+5 (14 July, 1987) Part III

By the early afternoon, General Snetkov was growing less confident about the chances of commencing the attack today. No guidance was forthcoming from CINC-West, though Snetkov was hardly surprised by the communications black hole that had developed between his command post and Western TVD’s wartime headquarters. He was certain that his superior was not willfully …

The Central Front D+5 (14 July, 1987) Part II

CINC-West’s succinct explanation for the hold was wholly unexpected. It spawned a fresh stream of questions in Snetkov’s mind. The general acknowledged the order, and sent off a message of his own to the Western TVD’s wartime headquarters, diffusely requesting the reason why the attack was being postponed. CINC-West’s response was short and direct: ‘Political …

The Central Front D+5 (14 July, 1987) Part I

Not long after 0100 hours CEST, a diplomat at the Soviet consulate in Geneva was hand-delivered a message by a middle-aged, bookish official from the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs. The Swiss official explained that the message came from a West German man claiming to be a representative for a bloc of West German, …

The Southern Flank D+5 (14 July, 1987) Part II

Since their introduction into the conflict, Libya’s air and naval forces had not performed as Colonel Gaddafi promised they would. The expectations of their Soviet allies had been more realistic, but even they were not being met. Libya’s main role in a theater-wide conflict was to close off the central Mediterranean to NATO naval vessels, …

The Southern Flank D+5 (14 July, 1987) Part I

Saratoga’s air wing went back into action in the pre-dawn hours. The morning’s target list included POL facilities and staging areas in southern Bulgaria. CVW-17s airstrikes were not preceded by cruise missile strikes as they had been twenty-four hours earlier. The Los Angeles class attack submarines that had fired most of the TLAMs against targets …

The North Atlantic D+5 (14 July, 1987) Part II

The Red Banner Northern Fleet’s intelligence projection of the NATO convoy picture in the North Atlantic was remarkably accurate in many regards. Convoy 27-1, NATO’s first wartime Atlantic convoy was approaching Le Havre on the morning of D+5 and by mid-afternoon its merchant vessels were starting to disembark material. Behind it, two more convoys were …