Timerover51
SOC-14 5K
Has anyone adapted Twilight 2000 to War Plan Dropshot, drawn up in 1949 assuming a war with the Soviet Union in 1957?
The other thing would be that the Army division in 1957 was the Pentomic division of 5 infantry battle groups, roughly the size of an oversized battalion. I have the structure for the divisions in the 1959 FM 101-10 Staff Officers' Field Manual-Organization, Technical,and Logistical Data. I am not sure how such a division would have performed in combat.
(I think it was called ROAD though I forget what that acronym stood for).
I have some references at home about the origins of TRADOC and the transition from the pentomic division back to the triangular structure (I think it was called ROAD though I forget what that acronym stood for).
I don't have much depth but recall that the CSA at the time thought the pentomic structure was the worst idea ever and made the transition to something he thought workable a top priority.
I read up on it a little because I thought it kind of funny how similar current BCT structures are to the pentomic structure. I think the main fault then was that C3I architecture was not up to the task of enabling C2 for such a flexible structure.
If you are interested in digging into the topic, I can dig some books out tonight and give you the titles and maybe scan some text from them to send by email. These are old DA and CMH pubs so I don't think there are copyright problems with sharing.
Mike
Greetings Mike, do not worry about digging out your books. I have some of that already, as I hit the CMH and the Combined Arms Research Library Digital Library quite a bit.
Right now, I have enough projects on both the front and back burners that working on Dropshot is going to have to be in 2018. It does make for an interesting alternative scenario.
Suggestion/caution: Don't make the mistake that the originator of the Twilight:1964 materials did. He took the published T2K setting materials and projected them on to the T'64 scenario. America then was a completely foreign country compared to America now, or in 2007 (the rough date when the T'64 work was first done), or in 1987-1992 (rough midpoint for the original T2K setting work). Get to know that America as a foreign country before you apply the effects of Dropshot to it.
As I grew up during that period, I am well aware of that fact. I can remember the nuclear attack drills at school during the Cuban Missile Crisis.
According Wikipedia: Reorganization Objective Army Division (from Pentomic entry).
Greetings Mike, do not worry about digging out your books. I have some of that already, as I hit the CMH and the Combined Arms Research Library Digital Library quite a bit.
Right now, I have enough projects on both the front and back burners that working on Dropshot is going to have to be in 2018. It does make for an interesting alternative scenario.
Another thing to factor into the equation would be as to whether or not the US would have been so upset about the UK and France taking the Suez Canal Zone back from Nasser's nationalization of it. Given the massive arms shipments to Egypt in 1955 and 1956, I suspect that having the Canal Zone under the control of NATO would have been a major desire. The possibility for a war to break out then between NATO and the Warsaw Pact was not negligible as 1956 was also the year of the Hungarian Uprising. The US was also supplying surplus F-84 Thunderjets to Yugoslavia, so Yugoslavia would not be part of the USSR forces. About the same time, you had the US draw a line for Red China at Quemoy and Matsu as well.
A scenario based on Dropshot would definitely not look like the later scenarios in Twilight 2000.
I can't find the pub about the ROAD transformation yet. It is probably in one of the boxes in the garage. I've run out of shelves...
But I did find a couple that might be useful, even if just tangentially.
1. TRADOC Historical Study Series: The Army's Training Revolution 1973-1990 by Anne W. Chapman. The first chapter covers initiatives started by GEN DePuy when he was TRADOC CG focusing on the transformation from a army intending to mobilize draftees to an all-volunteer standing army. Gives insights into what the army was like before 1973.
2. Jedburgh Team Operations in Support of the 12th Army Group, August 1944 by S J Lewis published by the Combat Studies Institute (should be available through CARL). I know much about the evolution of Special Operations and this pamphlet gives good insight into how SOF would have operated in support of a war against the Soviets in the 50s or early 60s.
3. Soviet Operational Deception: The Red Cloak by LTC Richard N. Armstrong also published by CSI. Only 56 pages with a ton of insight into how the Soviet Army operated in WWII and would have operated soon after.
I'll keep looking for the ROAD reference over this coming weekend.
Mike
The 1959 Edition of FM 101-10 has the basic TO&E for the Airborne, Armored, and Infantry Divisions, along with weapons breakdown and ammunition load-outs. I believe that I got that from the CARL. I will have to see if I can find any FM on the rifle company organization on archvie.org. They do have the FM giving the organization of the infantry units from company to division during the Korean War period. Assuming an extended period of heightened tensions, some of the divisions might not switch over, so there is the possibility of two different divisional types. I do not think that the National Guard units were reorganized, but that needs to be checked.
I will start working on a timeline of World tension. Then there is the possibility given the Berlin Blockade and the Korean War for the balloon to go up in 1950, in which case, you are looking at World War 2 plus 5 years. Not that much difference in the Army units, except for tanks, but a lot of difference for the Air Force and Navy, with the introduction of the jet aircraft.
The World would also be a lot different, as the de-colonization of the UK and France would not really have started. The other factor would be that there would be a lot fewer strategic nuclear weapons around. The USSR would be in a world of hurt with respect to mounting attacks on the Continental US.