Memories Of The Road Once Taken…

Waaay back in 1976, I was stationed in New Jersey and thought I was going to be transferred to a post in California.  (Instead, I got stationed in Germany.)  One of the guys in my company had a Kawasaki 900 motorcycle and he was going to be stationed in New York (State), so he didn’t think he’d be able to ride it enough to justify continued ownership.
To make a long story short, I took it off his hands…  And then road it across the continent!
I was trying to make it across as quickly as possible and was hoping for three thousand mile days of travel.  The first day, I traveled from east New Jersey to about an hour west of Chicago in 17 hours.  I guess the roads were a lot slower / worse then because Google Maps says it’s only about 830 miles and a 12 hour drive.  I’d left at dawn and stopped after 9pm.  My memory says my odometer put it just over 1,100 miles.
The next day was smooth sailing across the farming central states to North Platte, NE.  I recall it being about 600 miles, but Google says it’s closer to 750.  The third day I only got a couple of hundred miles (Cheyenne, WY) before hitting a bitter cold front.  Although I’d only been on the road a few hours, I called it a day and got some sleep.
I awoke to find I was caught in an overnight freeze which turned into a snowstorm.  Because I was traveling in May / June, I was sorely unprepared for the extreme cold and nearly died from the wind-chill and the icy slush constantly being thrown on me by the passing 18-wheelers.  I had picked up a cheap “rain suit” at a roadside gas station, but it was next to worthless as it was not meant to stop ice-rain and wind-chill.
I ended up getting rescued by a guy driving from PA to CA.  He saw me standing on the side of the highway trying to flag SOMEONE down.  My hands were practically frozen solid and he had no ties to tow my bike so we ended up turning around and going to the first available stop to buy some rope, then returning for my bike.  We ended up securing my bike to his open trunk and we proceeded from there.
As it happens, the storm caused a blackout across much of that part of the state (WY).  When we started to run low on gas, we pulled into a gas station but there was no power to run the pumps.  The attendant said the next station was only 30 minutes further down the highway, and it might be on the other side of the power outage.  As there was nowhere to stay or keep warm, we decided to risk it.  We bought a small length of hose – just in case.  Of course we ran out of gas and had to use the hose to siphon gas from my bike to his car.  We did and managed to (finally) get to a working gas station.
When we parted ways, he thanked me for saving his life.  I asked what he meant and he said if he hadn’t stopped for me he would have been stuck out in the middle of nowhere out of gas and probably froze to death waiting for someone to help / rescue him.  I said (the equivalent of):  “What goes around, comes around…  You saved me.  I saved you.”  We shook hands and wished each other good luck on the remainder of our trips.
The rest of the ride (to San Francisco) was pretty uneventful – beautiful, but without anymore life threatening events anyway.  I did break my speedometer flat-lining across the Utah Salt Flats, but that’s a story for another day…
Two more things:  I had a matching color scheme, full-wrap around, Bell Star helmet AND (disclaimer:) the above image is not my “actual” bike.  It is simply and image of the bike I did have and which I found online.  I make no claim to ownership of the image or the bike in it.
I sold the bike / helmet after less than 90 days of ownership when I received my orders to report to Germany.  After my experience crossing the country in the middle of the year, I had no intention of tempting a full winter (or two) on a bike in Germany.
.
On This Day In:
2022	Full Of It
2021	I’m Still Learning To Play
	What Are You Looking For?
2020	All You Can
2019	No Wall And Not One Dollar
	‘Cause It Makes Me Scratch
2018	Mirror, Mirror
2017	Keep On Keeping On
2016	Reflections
2015	Is It Time Yet?
2014	Ask Any Follower
2013	Cornered Or Surrounded?
2012	Escape
2011	Achievement
	Not Unreasonable Enough

Read Full Post »

Refreshing My Look Ahead (Back)

[Another LONG post…  You’ve been warned!  (LoL)    —    KMAB]
The Third World War:  August 1985  (1978©)   —   book review
This review is for the fictional portrayal (as a “future history”) of a “realistic” invasion of NATO allied European countries by the Warsaw Pact in August of 1985.  The book was “written” primarily (et al) by (Ret.) British General John W. Hackett in consultation with a number of experts gathered to discuss how such an invasion might occur, what might lead up to it and what might be the end-of-war results.  The “advisors” were listed as:  John Barraclough (Air Chief Marshal), Kenneth Hunt (Brigadier), Ian McGeoch (Vice-Admiral), Norman Macrae (a deputy editor at “The Economist“), John Strawson (Major-General), and, Bernard Burrows (British Diplomatic Service).
The book was a best-seller in England back in 1978.  It was published in the U.S. in early 1979 as a hardback and then released as a paperback in 1980.  I initially read the paperback version.  I believe it was shortly after I was released from the Active Reserves, but my memory isn’t that precise anymore.  In any case, this review is of a re-reading of the book after my reading of “2034: A Novel of the Next World War” earlier this year.  (review here:  A Novel War).  The author of that book, (ret) Admiral James Stavridis, cited this book as a primary inspiration for his work.  This prompted my re-interest in the original…
During my (almost) two years in the Reserves I was assigned to a unit which tested and evaluated the readiness of National Guard units from California, Arizona and New Mexico.  The officers would establish “war-game” scenarios for the Guard officers and I (as an NCO) would embed with the line units to evaluate actual field performance.  We were artillery evaluators, so I watched Guard batteries fire cannons / howitzers, but I gained an understanding of scenario development and large scale tactical war-gaming.  This led to a post-service interest in military style board games which carried on for most of the ’80s.  I lost interest when gaming shifted to computers and became “mostly” shoot-em-up’s instead of (IMHO) about strategy.
Basically, the plot of this book is the leaders of the USSR feel their position as a superpower is being threatened by political and economic factors which are worsening (for them).  They feel there has been a significant / progressive decrease in NATO’s readiness over the last decade and this may be their last / best opportunity to remove a potential military threat (NATO) and further subjugate the buffer countries of Eastern Europe who are members of the Warsaw Pact.  The plan is a crushing invasion of Western Europe (West Germany and the low-lands) which leaves the USSR in command up to the border of France.  The invasion fails because in the years between the book’s publishing (1978) and the date of the “future-history” event (August 1985), Europe (specifically Great Britain) comes to its senses and reverses the general military decline of the late ’60s to ’70s.  The NATO forces are able to slow the advance of invasion (without the use of tactical nuclear weapons) and allows reinforcements to arrive from the U.S. just in the nick of time.
In a striking foreboding of the current (2022) invasion of Ukraine by Russia, the invasion portrayed fails because of (in no particular order of importance):
1)  an inability to dominate the air despite superior numerical assets;
2)  a failure of logistics (fuel and ammunition) by the Warsaw Pact, (it is believed the invasion will take less than two weeks AND there will not be enough time for the U.S. to resupply NATO forces);
3)  resistance by the native forces (in this case, the West German army / reserves) is surprisingly effective;  and,
4)  the centralized command and control characteristic of authoritarian political systems, does not promote the flexibility / initiative of junior officers (and NCOs) to seize military opportunities when they arise, so opportunities for significant breakouts are lost.
When the war quickly (the “war” lasts weeks) devolves into a war of attrition, failure is viewed as inevitable and hard-liners in the Politburo decide to consolidate their gains for future armistice negotiations by the use of a limited (against only one city) nuclear strike.  The result, however, is not fear and negotiation, but instead, fury and retaliation via a similar limited nuclear strike by Great Britain and the U.S. against a Russian city;  (and like falling dominoes) the Warsaw Pact allies turn on the USSR to avoid nuclear annihilation;  the Soviet military / security services stage a coup, over-throw the hardliners, and cease further combat;  the non-Russian border states (the “-stans”) declare independence from the USSR;  and, the rest of the world struggles with the effects of a new world order.  The “war” is barely a month old before it is over.  Because the book is written as a “recent” history of past events, it does not attempt to forecast / describe long term results of the war except to relate the world has to deal with unaccounted for Soviet nuclear weapons / warheads and large stocks of conventional weapons scattered around the global (mainly Africa).
Is this a “good” book?  Is it realistic as a predictor of future conflict (lethality, if not participants)?  Is it entertaining or interesting?  Do I recommend this book?  With the exception of the final question, the answer to all of these is (are):  yes to so-so…
The book is not a “good” novel.  There are no specified individual characters driving the action, so you cannot (as a reader) identify and grow with anyone.  In this sense, although fictional, the book is written with more of an academic or journalistic feel.  It is very much an military style “after-action” report.  If you are comfortable with this writing style, you will enjoy the writing / book.  If you are not, you will not.  I did.  Was the book able to realistically describe combat and the results (devastation) of war?  Yes!  Although, saying this, there was an obvious Western bias of vivid description of the destruction of the British city and virtually nothing about the similar (or much worse) destruction of the Russian city.  (Very much:  “Yeah, we took out one of theirs as payback…”)  Is the book entertaining or interesting?  This is the toughest question because every reader’s tastes varies so much… I was not “entertained”;  but, I did find the book interesting.  I particularly “enjoyed” the parts the authors get terribly wrong, because as a reader I (we) have 40+ years of hind-sight.  There is no China – Japan alliance;  the Shah is no longer in charge of Iran (or, rather, wasn’t in 1985);  South Africa did not fall to external forces;  and, East Germany did not resist consolidation with West Germany after the fall of the USSR.
Final recommendation:  strong recommendation.  I think most veterans (particularly my age group) will find this book relatable.  I think most civilian “military” readers / historians – and quite a few regular historians – will, too.  For political science readers, the “states” interests, goals, and stances will seem Machiavellian / Kissinger-ian (is that a real word?).  Yet, they ring true – even 40 years later.  It is entirely obvious why this book could seem as an inspiration for a future – updated version (a la “2034“), and I believe (I read) this book served as a similar inspiration for several of Tom Clancy’s works which followed.  At any rate, I do remember “enjoying” the initial read from “way-back-when”, and don’t feel the re-read was less so.  My reaction to “2034” was reinforced:  this version is much better than the more recent book.  If you have read “2034“, I recommend you read “WW3:1985” for the comparison value, if nothing else.
Final disclaimer:  I purchased this book at normal / sale price (for an old / used book) and no compensation has been provided to me by anyone for my opinions in this review.
.
On This Day In:
2021	I’m An Optimist
	Talent Is A Ticket To Ride
2020	Works For Me
	Rivers Versus Waterfalls
2019	Better To Do
	News: Drunken Party Girl Saves Seoul
2018	Keep Moving
2017	Fighting Good
2016	Size Matters
2015	Maybe The Best Thing
2014	Ready To Be Fried?
2013	A Real Lover
2012	Winning Wars
2011	A Different Lesson

Read Full Post »