Memories Of World War III: The Road To War Part II

The Road to War 1 May-6 July, 1987 Brigadier General Jack Ryder, US Army (Ret.)- “With Gorbachev gone, everyone started to get nervous again. The future was unpredictable now that there was a hardliner in power over there again. But Romanov was hardline enough to make Andropov and Chernenko appear tame in comparison. April became …

Memories Of World War III: The Road To War Part I

In the eyes of most prominent military historians, the road to the Third World War was a one-way thoroughfare opened to traffic on 28 April,1987 with the coup in Moscow. Grigory Romanov’s hypersonic ascent to power left the world stunned and numb with shock. In the blink of an eye, the warming relationship between the …

The Central Front D+16 (25 July, 1987) Part VII

In southern Germany, Warsaw Pact ground operations continued to lose steam on D+16. While fresh NATO divisions continued arrive and join the battle, Pact forces were nowhere near as fortunate. Soviet and Czech reserve combat formations were almost entirely committed. To expound matters even more, fuel and ammunition was not making its way forward as …

The Central Front D+9 (18 July, 1987) Part IV

Southern Germany Timeline  D+6 to D+9 D+6 -The northern prong of the Warsaw Pact effort through Bavaria remains directed at Nuremberg. The advance dries up almost completely and with the decisive fighting going on up north, the prospect of significant reinforcement is remote. Nor is there the chance of a secondary advance coming south out …

REFORGER Activated D-4 (5 July, 1987) **

In the hours before President Reagan’s address to the nation at 8 PM Eastern Time on 5 July, 1987, Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger was laying the foundation needed to move the US military onto a war footing. In the National Security Council  meeting late that afternoon Reagan decided that with the current crisis now …