| Tango01 | 03 Mar 2014 10:44 p.m. PST |
"A company of paratroopers from the U.S. Army's 173rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team in Italy is ready to go anywhere in Europe in as little as 18 hours. There's a chance a deployment to Ukraine may be in their future. The risk of a shooting war in Ukraine is increasing. On March 1, the Russian Duma passed a measure approving the use of military force in Ukraine as a whole. Russian troops are digging trenches in Crimea. Ukraine's new leaders have responded by putting the country's armed forces on alert and calling up reserves. It is highly unlikely the U.S. would actively intervene in any fighting there. The situation would have to deteriorate significantly before Washington could justify a deployment…"
Full article here.
link The 173rd boys would have a hard taks there! (smile). Amicalement
Armand |
 Nashville  | 03 Mar 2014 10:59 p.m. PST |
cannons to the left of them, cannons to the right
Into the valley of death rode the 600…. It is unthinkable……even for a wargame… |
| Dennis0302 | 03 Mar 2014 11:14 p.m. PST |
US military involvement would not be a good idea. As Nashville said, 'unthinkable." |
| Tgunner | 04 Mar 2014 4:21 a.m. PST |
I don't know. A company of GIs in Kiev would give the Russians a reason to pause and give things a second thought. However the Russians haven't made a push for the rest of the Ukraine, yet, so they aren't really needed. But they would be a powerful statement to the Ukraine, Russia, and the world. Less than 200men won't mean much in a tactical situation. They would be a mere speed bump, but in a strategic sense… They would represent a massive escalation of the situation. The Russians would get really nervous, they would talk a lot of smack, but they would be very nervous. |
| GeoffQRF | 04 Mar 2014 5:26 a.m. PST |
I think that would be a disaster. Some idiot would think it was funny to take a shot at a US soldier… |
| Patrice | 04 Mar 2014 5:34 a.m. PST |
That's exactly what would drive the Russians mad! One of the big reasons of all this is that they fear that Ukraine, becoming pro-West, could join NATO and accept NATO/US military and missiles near the (official) Russian border. |
| whoa Mohamed | 04 Mar 2014 5:39 a.m. PST |
As a tabletop scenario only I would reply what US soldier all we see are a 170 guys in black uniforms and masks speaking a language not native to the area. |
 Legion 4 | 04 Mar 2014 8:25 a.m. PST |
Got to go with what many have said here, the US won't land troops not in this universe. But as most likely if at all as Mohamed alluded … Of course it could also come down to a game of current NATO(with some former Warsaw Pact) with or without Ukrainain/Crimean(?)support vs. Russians … |
| Lion in the Stars | 04 Mar 2014 10:52 a.m. PST |
As a tabletop scenario only I would reply what US soldier all we see are a 170 guys in black uniforms and masks speaking a language not native to the area. *snerk*! Though I really think that a US deployment should be blatant. I'm thinking NO camo uniforms, all office/working types, like the Marines on Embassy duty. Makes it really obvious who the Russians would be dealing with. |
| Sir Walter Rlyeh | 04 Mar 2014 10:52 a.m. PST |
Considering that the US military is in the process of being cut back to Pre WWII levels I cant see there being any boots on the ground. I am sure that Washington will chastise the Russians and may even go so far as passing non binding resolutions in solidarity with the Ukrainian people. Gone are the days of the bid stick. |
| John the OFM | 04 Mar 2014 10:58 a.m. PST |
"Gone are the days…"
I don't think that even Reagan would think about sending a company into Kiev just to stand in the way like a lone Chinaman with a shopping bag, standing in front of a column of tanks.
It would be provocative beyond all usefulness and serve no purpose. The Berlin garrison in the Cold War WAS meant to be a speed bump, but it had been there for years, and all understood its significance. An ex temp provocation is just … silly. |
| 15mm and 28mm Fanatik | 04 Mar 2014 11:02 a.m. PST |
A company-sized unit in the Ukraine is below insignificant in military terms, so it has no wargaming relevance whatsoever because the Russians would squash it like a bug. However, as a political statement it speaks volumes. |
| Pan Marek | 04 Mar 2014 11:07 a.m. PST |
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| Xintao | 04 Mar 2014 11:14 a.m. PST |
John Winger: C'mon, it's Ukraine. We zip in, we pick 'em up, we zip right out again. We're not going to Moscow. It's Ukraine. It's like going into Wisconsin.
Russell Ziskey: Well I got the  kicked out of me in Wisconsin once. Forget it! |
| Legion 4 | 04 Mar 2014 12:15 p.m. PST |
Regardless of US cutbacks, US Spec Ops troops will be as strong as ever … That being said, there is a 99.99999% chance of them not going to the Crimea …. |
| BigNickR | 05 Mar 2014 6:51 a.m. PST |
I say we send a squadron or 2 of F16's and A10's with tanker and AWACS support to Poland and make noise about our ongoing commitments to NATO. Stress that we are sending defensive platforms that were birthed in the cold war to STOP agression |
| GeoffQRF | 05 Mar 2014 6:55 a.m. PST |
One of the big reasons of all this is that they fear that Ukraine, becoming pro-West, could join NATO and accept NATO/US military and missiles near the (official) Russian border. Realistically, the chances of Ukraine meeting the necessary conditions to join the EU are so remotely in the future as to be almost non-existant. Poland would love it, as it would take the pressure of them having to guarantee security of the (EU) border. |
| Ethanjt21 | 05 Mar 2014 7:44 a.m. PST |
Ukraine does not now, and will not meet the requirements for NATO for a long time as stated above. I honestly feel Russia is fine with what they are doing, so long as it isn't all of Ukraine. If America felt a small population of our people were in danger we would do the same as them without blinking. Grenada? Yeah, we would be hypocrites to do anything to Russia at this point. Putin knows he has the upper hand and he is playing it. |
| Ryan Gebhart | 05 Mar 2014 7:55 a.m. PST |
".. hypocrites.." Sigh. Moral equivalency has no place in geo-politics. The entire point is in fact to be a hypocrite while gaining the upperhand in any situation. The faction that capitulates to and makes public their own internal moral friction will be broken and rendered irrelevant. |
| Legion 4 | 05 Mar 2014 8:24 a.m. PST |
You got that right Ryan … "He who is without sin, cast the first stone." May sound good in the Bible … but not always transfers over well to geo-politics … |
| GeoffQRF | 05 Mar 2014 8:28 a.m. PST |
Depends whose stone is bigger :-) |
| Legion 4 | 05 Mar 2014 8:37 a.m. PST |
Well based on what CNN is saying, no one is throwing stones. But both the US and the Russians are passing their own legislations to affect the other one monetarily or otherwise … And as one pundit just noted, Putin is not the guy you want as your financial manager … They must not have taught that in KGB school back then … But then he is an old school communist … not a Capitalists … |
| GeoffQRF | 05 Mar 2014 10:32 a.m. PST |
There is a bit of a reactionary 'tit-for-tat' feel about it, with the feeling that a proper in-depth assessment of the potential resulting consequences has not been fully considered. |
| Legion 4 | 05 Mar 2014 2:39 p.m. PST |
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| James Wright | 05 Mar 2014 4:01 p.m. PST |
A buddy and I who do a lot of modern micro armor a few years back did some red on red stuff, being a lot of T72s and BMPs fighting T72s and BMPs. A lot more likely than any involvement from the 173rd (the unit by wargaming partner did two tours in Vietnam with btw). There will be no western military involvement, aside from perhaps clandestine stuff. Doing so would be so costly, potentially very dangerous, and with very little strategic gain. We don't fight wars much these days for moral high ground, which is really the only reason the west could claim in this case. |
