5 Primary Factors That Contributed To The Soviet/WP Defeat On The Central Front: Operation Dark Comet Part II

NATO’s objectives for Operation Dark Comet were met and exceeded on a number of levels. Soviet command bunkers were struck and by all accounts destroyed completely. The three most powerful Soviet army groups on the Central Front had been decapitated. As a result of the F-117s handiwork, the Soviet Front and Theater commanders then found …

WWIII In Numbers (Entry #2)

WWIII In Numbers Entry #2 14- Senior Soviet generals who were relieved of command and arrested between 9 July and 4 August, 1987. Three TVD commanders, two fleet commanders, three TVD deputies and four senior Soviet Air Force generals. All were executed with the exception of Marshal Ogarkov (Western TVD commander-in-chief) who was simply forced …

Today’s Friend, Tomorrow’s Enemy D+24 And Beyond: Poland

After forty-plus years of submission to Moscow, Eastern Europe decoupled from the Soviet orbit in the aftermath of World War III. The wounds and trauma inflicted on the satellite states from 9 July through early August, 1987 served as a spark on the powder keg Eastern Europe had become in the previous decade. In retrospect …

The Central Front Mobilization Race Part III

On 28 June, 1987 the Soviet general secretary informed the Ministry of Defense that Zapad ’87 was to commence on the first of July. A final decision on the date hostilities were to commence was not mentioned. Senior Soviet generals suspected Zapad would transition directly into a broader mobilization and from there to war. Marshal …

The Central Front Mobilization Race Part II

In the early June, 1987 senior Soviet military leaders were being queried daily by the new leadership in the Kremlin about theater mobilization procedures. Specifically, General Secretary Romanov was most interested in the amount of time that the vaunted Soviet military would need to prepare for a conventional conflict in Europe. Chief of the General …

Poland On The Last Day D+24 (2 August, 1987) Part II

D+24 continued on and the air of impending doom circulated around Poland. With the vast number of Soviet airbases, supply depots, headquarters and other military bases on Polish soil, an overwhelming majority of Poles expected their country to be next. News of additional nuclear explosions in the GDR and West Germany enhanced the panic. Shelters …

Galvin and Snetkov Come Together D+25 (3 August, 1987) Part II

Salzglitter, FRG 0703 Zulu (0903 Local) The Soviet Mi-17 flared and landed. The pilot powered down the engines. Once they ceased turning, Marshal Snetkov disembarked from the helicopter with three aides in tow. They moved while under the watchful eyes of an Apache helicopter. SACEUR and own two aides walked out from the trees and …

Galvin and Snetkov Come Together D+25 (3 August, 1987) Part I

Salzglitter, FRG 0655 Zulu (0855 Local) *Author’s Note: This post will require two parts so I thought I’d post Part I early. Second part will be up tomorrow night or sometime on Friday. * General Jack Galvin, US Army stood just inside of a tree line bordering a large tract of farmland that had been …

A Look Ahead Through Mid-September

I hope everyone on this side of the Atlantic had an enjoyable Labor Day weekend. And to our friends elsewhere, I hope your weekend and Monday were adequate. 😊 The summer is over and it is back to the grind for everyone, work or school in most cases. I thought it would be useful to …

Uncertain Times Ahead D+24 (2 August, 1987) 2200-2359 Zulu

2205 Zulu- In Moscow consolidation efforts continued in the shadows of major emergency services and civil defense operations in the vicinity of what remained of the Kremlin and Lubyanka. Even the consolidation efforts were limited and dependent upon radiological readings. At the present time the areas giving off the highest readings were predictably those around …