WISHFUL THINKING AND NUCLEAR, BIOLOGICAL AND CHEMICAL ATTACK

One of the false assumptions in the Post-Cold War era is that a nuclear attack on the U.S. has become less likely. Across the continental U.S., bases have been closed to "cash-in" (Budget cuts making the U.S. military a "straw giant" again) on this so-called "Peace dividend" resulting in highly lucrative targets for a terrorist to wipe out a large chunk of U.S. power projection capability with Nuclear, Biological, Chemical (NBC) weapons. Another term for NBC attack popular these days is "Weapons of Mass Destruction or (WMD). Regardless of how you term these potential attacks, U.S. non-chalance is the modern day equivalent of parking planes in rows before a "Pearl Harbor" has to stop. No more base closings. Those that remain, need to tighten security by a closed access posture to deter mechanized terrorist attack using the personally owned vehicle (POV) with a conventional or WMD explosive. U.S. Army Units can solve George Wilson's problem of attacks on U.S. Soldiers here in the United States by issuing a field protective mask, MOPP suit, overboots, gloves etc., to each Soldier who would carry these items in his (Personally Owned Vehicle--POV)car trunk. If attacked the serviceman would be able to get to his duty assignment safely. Each Soldier's family should have food, water and emergency supplies in a sealed room, like the Israeli do to protect against nuclear, biological and chemical attacks. This will free the Soldier of worry so that he/she can do their job. A lot of people whine about our vulunerability when all it would take would be units to issue out the necessary gear that is collecting dust in supply room as Standard Operating Procedure (SOP).

This MOPP gear should be in the car trunk of every Soldier for instant protection in event of attack

To deter NBC attack on bases that remain, a large buffer area around our bases needs to purchased and cleared of civilian structures to weaken the dispersion blast/effect of a possible hand emplaced NBC device. Next, U.S. equipment and weapons must be buried deep into underground facilities in order to evade destruction from either local terrorist NBC attack possibly using a "backpack nuke" device or long-range missile attack.


"Suitcase" nuclear bomb on display at U.S. Senate Hearings
As soon as theater ballistic missile defenses become available, they should be placed at key U.S. military bases to defend against a rogue element in the former Soviet Union or Red China launching an ICBM attack. ALL U.S. servicemen should have NBC protective garments in their povs and have a sealed room at home so they can make it to their units in event of an NBC attack. How can we be "Minutemen" if we are not ready NOW to go in minutes?

U.S. air forces must be ready to rapidly disperse their airplanes on warning to small non-military airports to evade attack or severe weather storms. All of the things that were routine during the Cold War must be still trained for and available today. Lt. General Francis Tucker's book "The Pattern of War" USMCRP 1989, has much insight on how today's air-mobile forces must be dispersed/hardened to survive NBC attacks and then dominate the battlefield. The best way to defeat U.S. forces is to not let them get to the battlefield. Today's serviceman wants all the urban comforts of home nearby his military duty station -- being packed close in to major urban areas that are hard to keep free of close-in attack agents or are easy targets from space for long-range missile attack has made him at risk to catastrophic destruction. The modern battlefiled is NOW not after a a formal declaration of war between nation-states. It is time to wake-up and realize the true Pattern of War that exists today and get ready for it, not what we wish it to be.

FEEDBACK!

E-mail 1st TSG (A)

When this zero-cost proposal was sent to a major military magazine editor in 1997 to sound the alarm, look what kind of defeatist non-sense (BS) was sent back:

"I appreciate your comments. There is definitely a role for the National Guard in domestic preparedness issues, but what that role will be is as yet undefined. As you are probably well aware, there have been 10 Rapid Assessment and Initial Detection (RAID) teams established by the National Guard Bureau to help serve as a domestic response capability in the event of a WMD attack. Many believe, however, that this will not be nearly enough to mitigate the effects of a mass attack. Your idea of a sealed room makes sense and has been mentioned during various planning meetings, but it has been deemed by the powers that be as something that is too politically sensitive to mention. Those opposed to the idea fear that instituting such a program on a large scale would remind people of the "bomb shelter days" of the Cold War. Our civilian political leadership wants to avoid such a scenario due to the increase cost, both political and financial, that would be involved. In short, they don't want to deal with the possibility of creating a national emergency regarding WMD. It's fine to tell people that the Iraqi's have nerve agents, but almost no one outside of the emergency response community wants to be told that terrorists could use such a weapon on main street, U.S.A. As such, I personally believe that nothing significant will be done to prepare the nation until people start dying. It's a rather cynical view, but it is one that is probably accurate."

UPDATE 2001: we now have 3,000 plus dead in NYC and Washington D.C., hope this editor is happy. Let's see if he gets off his ass and starts printing the public preparedness articles we need (I doubt it).

RETURN TO U.S. ARMY AIRBORNE EQUIPMENT SHOP outside frame