Ultradave Posted April 28, 2021 Share Posted April 28, 2021 It's been said somewhere (by either Steve, Elvis or Ben, can't remember which) that they will be in some as yet to be determined later module. Dave 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luigim Posted April 29, 2021 Share Posted April 29, 2021 On 4/27/2021 at 3:16 AM, Vet 0369 said: If the Cold War turned hot in the late 70s or early 80s, I don’t envision many USMC amphibious assaults taking place outside of Norway. The USMC just isn’t large enough. The primary Marine area of operation was defense of Norway. That’s why we trained there starting in 1976. In 2020, the total strength of the USMC was 219,458 Marines. That’s 180,958 Regular Marines and 38,500 Reserve Marines. Those are the numbers allowed by the Congress, who set the manning limits for the U.S. military. To put it all in perspective, of the five largest Marine forces in the world, Russia’s Naval infantry is the largest, followed by the ROK Marines. The USMC is number five in size. Even the Netherlands Korps Mareine (spelling is probably incorrect, but you get the gist) is larger than the USMC. The entire USMC is only about 30,000 larger than the U.S. Army Reserves. People think we’re larger because we do more with fewer.  Yea, though I walk through the Valley of the Shadow of Death, I shall fear no evil, for I’m the meanest S.O.B. in the valley! No way Russia navale infantry Is the First in the world for numbers. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuckdyke Posted April 29, 2021 Share Posted April 29, 2021 7 minutes ago, luigim said: Korps Mareine Korps Mariniers 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BarendJanNL Posted April 29, 2021 Share Posted April 29, 2021 Korps Mariniers is around 2500 men 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arrigo Velicogna Posted April 29, 2021 Share Posted April 29, 2021 3 hours ago, BarendJanNL said: Korps Mariniers is around 2500 men Thanks god someone said that... Anyway to put thing in perspective... today the ROKMC is a around 29,000 men and ladies in 2 divisions, two separate brigades, and one independent battalion plus. It has no organic helicopter or air... Back in the Cold War you had three full USMC active divisions (1st, 2nd, 3rd), the 4th Marine Division (Reserve), each supported by its own active or reserve Marine Air Wing. The 1st Division at Pendleton had as primary mission reinforcement of Korea/Japan or Middle East. 2nd at Lejeune was tasked with European contingency mission (Norway, Denmark, Mediterranean). The 3rd at Okinawa was the primary reinforcing unit for Korea. Several set of Maritime Prepositioned Squadrons were available close to the action to bring heavy equipment and then fly the Marines.   So plenty of scope for amphibious assaults... The Airborne/Air Assault divisions were in the XVIII Corps with the 24th Infantry (Mechanized). They were contingency, and reserve. Now let's me say these were basically valuable assets and non replaceable in the short term. And the XVIII Corps was the only thing that could be moved quickly (the 24th thank to the Algol class fast transports) anywhere in the globe. But once committed... well they were stuck there. Of the proposed spots... Norway and Denmark, basically NATO north, had already the 2nd Marine Division, the allied ACE, the UK 3rd Commando Brigade, and the 9th Light Division assigned. Okay the latter... was more a paper project than anything serious... Norway had also the 29th Infantry (L) assigned. Austria... well this is the least plausible. Why? Austria was a Soviet attack option but not that attractive. First, you can either use the Central Group of Forces or the Southern Group of Forces. But the CGF was supposed to push against southern Germany otherwise you are freeing up a full German and almost a whole US corps... the SGF primary mission was Yugoslavia and then Italy... okay you can divert one of them, but if you do not put pressure on the Italian... You have basically three Italian Corps poised to move into Austria (as in the old VG NATO), if you keep the Italians busy, and use the CGF... well you play into NATO hands anyway. To be blunt, an invasion of Austria would have been a strategic mistake (something that some Soviet planning documents argue), and even if there was an opening there were NATO reserve quick to move. Dropping the 82nd to Austria would have been a waste. Southern front... basically Med... okay good spot and if the Soviet did a mass push on Turkey or even Italy that could have been plausible.  On the other hand you have the Middle East. Oil would have been critical for both sides. With Iran no more the US shield after 1979, Iraq being more or less a Soviet Ally, and Syria being a clear Soviet ally... well the XVIII corps would have been probably either dispatched there quickly or kept has a reserve hand... there is also the question of the 101st Air Assault. While the 82nd could be dployed quickly, but once on the ground it is basically stuck, the 101st had the inverse problem. It needed a strong airlift effort to move (or better using the Algol class fast transports), but once there, as long air superiority could be provided and fuel could be supplied it is muh more mobile, but it is not something that you drop like the 82nd. Just two eurocents from a veteran NATO/WP wargamer... Arrigo 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vet 0369 Posted April 30, 2021 Share Posted April 30, 2021 Well then, I stand corrected and apologize for the misinformation I received and then distributed. Information can vary widely depending on what sources come up on a search. Again, my apologies. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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