[Thermodyne]

Yep, I’ve seen that a few times. It was once held in high esteem, but today is just seen as the beginning of computerized war planning. Also, the gamers did not have access to the full capabilities of their assets, not having the needed clearances.

At the time of the games, US capabilities were not very good with conventional forces. The draw down from SEA and the lowering of standards needed to support that war were still having a dramatic effect on the military. All of the services were also deeply involved in a shift to electronics; this can be seen in how the games were run. Also, the damage done by one particular secretary of state had cost us a generation of fighters, strike aircraft and MBT’s. Depending on which administration was in office, we would have gone nuclear at the first opportunity, or written off SEA and Europe at the first opportunity. It was not until the Regan administration that the military was given the freedom to become the dominate organization that it is today.

Lucky for us that intentions were overestimated on both sides. We now know that the Soviets were more concerned about us invading their satellite states, and had few if any designs on Europe. During that period, the only place were we resolved to defending was the Middle East. I doubt that many of you know how close it came to happening in 73. I can remember standing on a large base here looking at thousands of blue helmets lined up on the parking lots. Fresh paint drying in the sun. At the time it never dawned in me that the men were already gone, the base was all but empty. It was a little ruse for the recon sats. I would assume that the intent was to make someone think that US forces were going somewhere with a UN mandate. Fact is, the unit in question was already gone, and if needed would have been in theater somewhat sooner than expected. I have since learned that the Soviets had an airborne division on the tarmac too. The Soviets were making blatant threats to intervene on behalf of the Syrians and Egyptians. And had the Israelis been able to exploit their crossing with an advance on Cairo, I think the Soviets would have intervened just to salve the pride of their administration. That would have been a dangerous situation. The superpowers would have been forward based on the wrong side of the front lines, and this would have been a real bad situation for Israel and Egypt.