Central Front WWIII 1987 Addendum E: CENTAG- V Corps Part I

1st Guards Tank Army’s Ivy League Education Late on D+6  8th Guards Army was handing off the Soviet/Warsaw Pact advance in the Fulda Gap are to 1st Guards Tank Army (1st GTA). After seven days of war 8th Guards was in no condition to continue the Pact drive west towards Frankfurt and the Rhine beyond …

2023-’24 WWIII Central Front Tournament Round 3 Part IV

Round 3 (Part IV) Finally, I have the opportunity to bring this round to a close. Come Round 4, there will be 8 games remaining. The competition will be intense and bracket writeups are certain to be long. I have a lot to say about the titles stepping up to do battle next. Most of …

Memories of World War III: First Battles Part I

On 9 July, 1987 hundreds of thousands of soldiers, sailors, airmen and non-combatants received their baptisms of fire as the Third World War commenced. Over the years the experiences of countless men and women on both sides of the battleline remained unknown. With the advent of social media this began to change as more and …

The Central Front D+21 (30 July, 1987) Part I

By 0100 hours the main components for the first phase of the NORTHAG counterattack were in place. North of Hanover, the Dutch 5th Division was primed and ready to jump off. This division’s attack would hit the forward positions of the Soviet 20th Guards Army just west of Autobahn 7. The first objective was Celle, …

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+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 …

Lariat Advance D-3 (6 July, 1987)

It was just past 0200 hours in the Federal Republic of Germany on 6 July, 1987 when President Reagan began his address to an increasingly anxious nation and world. Despite the early hour, Reagan’s speech was being watched closely by thousands of troops, officers and dependents in US Army kasernes and other US military bases …

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

In the CENTAG area the attacks that commenced the previous day in the V Corps sector had made good progress. CENTAG’s commander General Glenn Otis, US Army, was encouraged by the progress of the current operations. The two V Corps divisions were pressing their attacks west in the direction of Bad Hersfeld and Fulda. Beyond …

The Central Front D+15 (24 July, 1987) Part VI

CENTAG Region D+15 The 4th Infantry Division and 1st Armored Division’s attacks went off as scheduled before dawn and within twenty minutes of one another. Each attack force consisted of a heavy maneuver brigade supported by division-level artillery, along with attack helicopters as well. Early on, both forces met stiff resistance, especially 2nd Brigade/4th Infantry …

The Central Front D+14 (23 July, 1987) Part V

In the northern CENTAG area, the first part of the day saw the continuation of  changes in missions developing for NATO and Warsaw Pact ground forces. It was becoming clear that the Soviet drive on Frankfurt had come to a halt for the time being at least. The 1st Guards Tank Army;s (1st GTA)  forward …