D+23 (1 August, 1987) 0401-0615 Zulu

Wedrzyn, Poland 0405 Zulu (0605 Local) Events were moving faster now. At the Western TVD wartime headquarters, the commanders of artillery and chemical troops arrived and were briefed on their new orders by Marshal Snetkov. After five minutes spent explaining the orders and timeline, as well as the quite lengthy restrictions attached to them, the …

D+23 (1 August, 1987) 0241-0400 Zulu

Moscow, USSR 0240 (0540 Local) General Secretary Romanov’s day started with an informal meeting of the Defense Council members in his Kremlin personal residence. The attendees were gathered in his quite comfortable study awaiting Romanov’s arrival. As they waited, the men exchanged news on the status of the war or relief and recovery operations in …

D+23 (1 August, 1987) 0030-0130 Zulu

Hildesheim, West Germany 1 August, 1987 0030 Zulu (0230 Local) He should’ve left for the rear two hours ago, General Crosbie Saint, US Army reminded himself sourly. The commander of NATO’s Northern Army Group had assured his superiors in Brussels that he would be back at his headquarters by midnight. Now, thirty minutes into the …

A Brief Glance At NATO Battlefield Nuclear Forces D+23 (1 August, 1987)

NATO’s battlefield and theater nuclear weapons in Central Europe were practically untouched by the war. With the exception of a handful of failed Spetznaz and air attacks in the early hours of the conflict, Warsaw Pact forces had deliberately avoided targeting possible deployment areas and airbases containing nuclear weapon storage bunkers. It was planned to …

D+23 Primer Part II

Politics By the start of D+23 the Reagan administration’s strategy was centered on candid and accelerated diplomatic efforts to produce a ceasefire that would lead to formal negotiations. But the White House was sensible enough to realize Soviet leadership might not be persuaded by words alone. Therefore, as diplomatic notes were sent east through neutral …

D+23 Primer Part I

After mulling it over for some time and playing with a few ideas, I’ve decided to just write up D+23 in a narrative form, similar to how D+18 was presented. The focus will be centered on events of the 24-hour period starting at 0000 Hours Zulu Time (Greenwich Meantime) 1 August, 1987 through to 2359 …

Looking Ahead Through June 2022

Summer has finally arrived. The older we become; the faster months and years go by. I’m appreciating this more, and consequently, learning to embrace the reality rather than run from it. I’m not saying that I feel old, mind you. I am just finally becoming wiser. 😊 So here we are on 1 June, 2022. …

Politics of Armageddon: “Millions Will Die…” D+22 (31 July 1987) Part II

The arrival of Western TVD’s commander in Moscow attracted little attention. The Soviet Union was engaged in a war for national survival and the unexpected appearance of a senior field commander in the capital city raised few eyebrows. General Snetkov was more at ease than he’d been on earlier trips to Moscow for the simple …

Politics of Armageddon: “Millions Will Die…” D+22 (31 July 1987) Part I

At 10 AM the Politburo convened again in the same Kremlin conference room it had been meeting in for the duration of the Third World War. This meeting was attended only by full members, to the surprise and alarm of some. Candidate members were not present, and their exclusion was blamed on scheduling conflicts and …

Politics of Armageddon: The Final Time Out D+22 (31 July 1987)

In his mind, President Reagan did not consider his order to move ahead with plans and preparation for the Kola Peninsula offensive to be final. The first US Marine would not come ashore for forty-eight hours. Reagan intended to exhaust every effort in bringing the war to a conclusion before then. The morning’s NSC meeting …