The U.S. military, especially the Army, was in poor shape after Vietnam: #Drug abuse was high #Racism and hate crimes were rampant #Assaults on officers were frequent #U.S. public opinion turned against the military during Nam
The Soviets were winning the Cold War in the late 1970 s. 1972 President Nixon signs the start treaty freezing the expansion of U.S. nuclear weapons and anti-ballistic missile programs. #This leads to a period of good relations (Détente) with the USSR-and losing ground everywhere else.
The Vietnam Syndrome makes the U.S. reluctant to get meet threats with military force (SEE RESULTS BELOW) #Iran, an ally, falls to Islamic radicals #Ethiopia, Somalia, Angola, Mozambique and Nicaragua fall to communism. #1979-Soviets invade Afghanistan #Many doubt that the U.S. would be able to stop a Soviet invasion of Western Europe if WWIII were to break out.
APRIL 1980 President Carter sends a joint Delta Force, Marine Corps and Air Force team to rescue American citizens being held hostage in Iran. #One chopper force-lands in the desert due to a potentially cracked rotor. #Another develops mechanical issues due to sand particles sucked into the engines. #A third helicopter collides with an MC-130 transport aircraft and causing both to explode.
The operation is indicative of the failures plaguing the U.S. military at the time: #The team was poorly trained for the mission (two weeks notice) #The aircraft were not suitable for desert conditions. #The aircraft crewmen were not trained for low-level night flying #The various services failed to work together.
New POTUS Ronald Reagan begins to make bold moves to revamp the U.S. military. #Maintains the policy of keeping the military an all-volunteer force (begun in 1974) 1983 U.S. deploys Pershing II medium range ballistic missiles to West Germanyit is the first time that nuclear missiles have been deployed in Western Europe-they can hit Moscow before the Soviets know they ve been launched. Protest erupt in Germany, but the Soviets are too caught off guard to react.
1983 Only 45% of Americans view the military favorably. On the Caribbean Island nation of Grenada, a Marxist government with ties to the Soviet Union and Cuba comes to power. #Construction of an airfield on the island large enough to handle Soviet military aircraft could be used to funnel weapons into Central America. Reagan orders the Marines, Army Rangers and Navy SEALs to take the island and restore order. It is the largest undertaking by the U.S. military since Vietnam.
The operation is enormously successful with U.S. forces suffering only 19 KIA and 116 WIA. Cuban and Grenadian forces suffer 25 KIA, 59 WIA and 638 POW s. Cuba protests, claiming that its personnel on the island are only construction workers and engineers from whom are captured 6,322 rifles, 5 million bullets, 111 machine guns, 68 RPGs, 65 mortars, 13 antiaircraft guns and 29 tons of TNT.
RESULTS #URGENT FURY restores public opinion of the U.S. military.
MARCH 1983 Reagan proposes the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) It calls for a system of killer satellites that will utilize lasers to shoot down Soviet ICBM s as they enter space thus making the Soviet nuclear arsenal a non-threat. It is an enormously expensive proposal and receives harsh criticism as being unrealistic and potentially destabilizing. The mocking nickname STAR WARS program is attached by the media.
#most of the technology was fifty years or more away from being developed but will lead to key breakthroughs in laser and anti-ballistic missile (ABM) technology. #More importantly: Many historians feel that the entire program was one massive psychological operation (PSYOP) designed to freak out the Soviets, getting them to spend billions they couldn t afford in order to keep up. #Either way, that is precisely what they did
New weapons designed specifically to defeat a larger force through superior technology. The M1 ABRAMS MAIN BATTLE TANK #virtually impenetrable Chobham armor #120mm main gun could out-range Soviet tanks #Utilizes depleted uranium, high-velocity Sabot rounds that can penetrate any Soviet armor. #Top Speed: 45 MPH
M2 BRADLEY IFV (Infantry fighting vehicle=apc + Tank Killer) designed to: #Transport infantry #Protect infantry from small arms fire #Provide fire support for infantry (25mm cannon and TOW Missiles