The "Fulda Gap"

I've recently learned that the core Top Secret piece of our Country's war plans from a generation ago have been declassified.  That makes it now possible for me to relate an incident you might find of interest...

I commented to family members more than 100 days ago that if the invasion of Ukraine lasts more than two weeks, it could go on for five years.  And my training and experience in the Army gave my prediction some legitimacy.

I was stationed in West Germany during the Vietnam era.  I was involved tangentially with those who engaged in war planning, with special emphasis given to a more-than-likely full-scale tank invasion from East Germany.  Across the so-called "Fulda gap."  That's the lowland area through the center of Germany the Soviets would have had to use to achieve a land bridge to the Rhine River.  From which they could attack the rest of the Allied forces, and the rest of Europe.  

Those "allied forces" ... was mainly us.  The poor bastards we had stationed in often knee-deep mud waaay out in the boonies, camped out, sleeping on the ground were the ones who would man our tanks and if necessary, fight back. Everyone got under their desks when these guys got a three-day pass into town after thirty days' in purgatory.  They were to be the "Tip of the Spear."  And based upon their ability to terrorize an entire German city, I'd hate to have been on the receiving end.  

Our tanks were lined up cheek by jowl from north to south at strategic points over an 80 mile area.  All facing east.  Pointed at all the big T-32 and later T-52 and T-54 Tiger tanks from the Soviet Union.  Big, ugly, loud.  What they lacked in sleek design and manufacturing excellence they made up for in sheer bulk and weight.  They were all pointed west.  At us.  And there were thousands of them.  One thing about it, those fun-loving Soviets didn't lack for volume!  That was what we called a "Mexican Standoff."  The only question was, who were the Mexicans?

They had more than 120,000 hardened troops assembled just across the Fulda Gap.  We couldn't sustain that troop level (remember, at the time we had more than 62,000 active-duty soldiers in W. Germany anyway!).  But we had to figure a way to parry their thrust should it come to that.  Should the "balloon go up," so to speak.  In a way that would enable us to "have our cake and eat it too," preferably.  To be ready to meet our enemy on the battlefield without having to pay for a sustained buildup.  To act like we had a wartime stance, without having to pay a wartime price.  Politically, economically or physically.  

And that's why plans were devised for potentially the second biggest troop movement and deployment over the shortest period of time in American history.  

You may be familiar with the C-5M.  That's the current iteration of the biggest cargo plane we've ever built.  And boy, is it enormous!  If you've never seen one up close, you just cannot imagine how yuuuuge it really is.  You could probably put together a pretty fair soccer game in one, together with the bleachers and the hot dog stand.  You may recall the picture of the plane taking off from Afghanistan during Uncle Joe's disastrous surrender while dozens of those poor souls were still hanging on.  That was a C-5M.  It held 845 people that day.  Plus the ones on the wings.  Ahem.  Double its intended maximum capacity.  Well, that was to be our "secret weapon."  And we planned to use them 24 hours-a-day.

Upon word of an impending invasion, and we'd have a few days' advance notice, our troops would amass at one of three American Army bases; Fort Lewis, WA, Fort Riley, KS, or Fort Dix, NJ.  And then they'd be ferried to the C-5's warming up on the tarmac nearby and told to buckle up.  They'd be flown non-stop to Stuttgart, the closest major airport to Germersheim Army Depot.  From whence they'd pick up their rolling stock (jeeps, 2 1/2 ton trucks, tanks, tank retrievers, and, of course, other "party favors" as needed (ahem!).  All polished up and waiting.  For quite possibly the End of the World...

Each of these sky ferries had been prepared by the Communications Zone-Europe (COM-Z) for the job.  Each plane was scheduled to ferry more than 500 combat-ready troops, plus a couple of jeeps or a helicopter.  They'd "kneel down" upon landing, unload, and be fueled-up and sent back to America.  This was to be accomplished in a half-hour or less with the plane leaping back in the air.  With mid-air refueling then performed at least twice by our Air Force friends each way, back and forth.  The C-5A could cruise at nearly 600 mph and at almost 40,000 feet.  We had fewer than 30 C-5's assigned to the Army's effort at the time, but with rotating air crews we planned to keep them all in the air, all around the clock.

Just think about that for a minute...

I'll never forget the first time I got up close and personal to a C-5A.  I walked up to one of its 28 tires, stretched my right arm up above my head as high as I could, stood on my tippy-toes...and still couldn't touch the top.  This plane made me proud to be an American!

And they would never shut off, until either the job was done, or we were done.  At least 96 hours in the air, non-stop, around-the-clock.

We held exercises to prepare for this possible eventuality, called "Carbide Ice," and "Operation Reforger, I and II."  We knew that if we were successful in manning a credible response to Soviet aggression it could well result in a trench warfare reminiscent of World War One.  I can't say much more about that phase of my life, but I can say that you're about to see another trench war unfold in Eastern Ukraine.  Tanks throwing 155m shells at each other from miles away while their soldiers fight hand-to-hand in the streets.  Just like Stalingrad during WWII.  Trust me, it's going to get ugly.  Even uglier than it's already been.

Maybe what the Ukrainians need are a few C-5's.  They sure were a "silver bullet" for us back then...