[Military Sub-Plane]: Andrei
The U.S. military is busy, but it is very busy
In the past week, the armed forces of the United States of America have been really busy, and after killing Senior Iranian General Sulaimani with a drone, President Trump mobilized U.S. military forces to quickly reinforce in order to prevent a possible counterattack by Iran.
▲Now the major facilities of the US military in Iraq have entered the combat readiness mode
Among the series of actions of the US army, a thousand-mile rapid reaction force is particularly eye-catching, which is the 1st Brigade Combat Team of the 82nd Airborne Division.
From left to right: 82nd Airborne Division
The logo of the 1st Brigade Combat Team of the 82nd Airborne Division, 2nd Battalion, 504th Regiment
On December 31, 2019, the 2nd Battalion of the 504 parachute infantry regiment of the 1st Brigade Combat Team of the 82nd Airborne Division (this "504 Regiment" is actually a historical continuation of the honor name) completed its mobilization and arrived in Kuwait within 18 hours; on January 3, 2020, after killing Sulaimani, commander of the Al-Quds Force of iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the U.S. Department of Defense announced that it would continue to send 3,000 more combat troops to the 1st Brigade of the 82nd Division to deal with the "worst foreseeable scenario" after killing Sulaimani, commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
In addition to the 82nd Division, the U.S. military also urgently sent additional troops to the Middle East
Including some Marines, Army Rangers and the 173rd Airborne Brigade
Including about 6,000 people, the total number of troops in this round of reinforcements is about 9,000
After the last group of troops of the 1st Brigade Combat Team of the 82nd Airborne Division arrived in the Middle East, the U.S. military basically completed the prologue to previous large-scale military operations, "Delivering a Global Response Force within 96 Hours."
▲ This time the airlift fast reaction troops, in addition to the use
In addition to a number of large military transport aircraft, civilian airliners were requisitioned
To some extent, it is the textbook "global rapid response show" displayed by the US 82nd Airborne Division that gives Trump the confidence to dare to "fancy operation". Speaking of this, some netizens may be curious, isn't the US military already stationed in the base group in the Middle East with a large number of troops? Why should we "seek the near and far" from within the country?
▲ U.S. military base group in the Middle East
According to the statistical reports of some of the larger media in the United States in recent times, the total strength of the US military in various bases and groups in the Middle East is about 70,000 people.
▲The number of people in each base group
Among them, there are about 6,000 "security forces" in Iraq and about 13,000 in Kuwait (the main force of the US Army in the Middle East is here, which is home to the heavily armored "30th Armored Brigade Combat Team" as a fist force, in addition to some important air defense and logistics units).
The 30th Armored Brigade celebrates Christmas in Kuwait
▲The "Regional Support Group" deployed by the US military in Kuwait
They will provide support to the forces of the US Central Command
(The defense zone is mainly the Middle East and Central Asia)
There are about 7,000 people in Bahrain (the U.S. Navy's Central Command, the 5th Fleet is deployed here), and about 13,000 in Qatar (where the main force of the US Air Force in the Middle East is located).
The commander of the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet and some other senior U.S. officials
Group photo at the Bahrain base, Iran if it really wants to kill senior U.S. military officials to avenge
If the missiles want to hit such a place, that is the real thing
There are about 5,000 people in the UAE (there are currently some F35A fighters stationed here), about 600 in Oman, about 800 in Syria, about 1,700 in Turkey, about 3,000 in Jordan, about 3,000 in Saudi Arabia, and about 14,000 in Afghanistan.
▲ Qatar's "Del oud" air base
It is the largest concentration of U.S. aircraft in the Middle East
About 100 aircraft of various types are stationed here all year round
At present, there are 12 F22 stealth fighters stationed at del Oud air base
The U.S. Air Force's 379th Air ExpeditionAry Wing is the main force here
Although the US military has been stationed in the Middle East before, due to the turbulent situation in the Middle East in recent times, these troops are also undertaking increasingly heavy tasks, and these troops previously deployed in the Middle East are on duty, and their various types of equipment and logistics are also scattered.
▲ Troops are deployed in a region, and it is inevitable that they will be deployed for a long time
Purchase of some "altar jars" other than combat materials
To add to the joie de vivre, let them fight in the next area in a whole team
It really takes a long time, the picture shows the barracks of the soldiers of the US 379 Air Expeditionary Wing
Temporarily drawing them to emergency reinforcement sensitive targets will have two disadvantages, 1 is to make the previous defense area empty, may give people an opportunity, 2 is the emergency of the troops on duty, packing equipment and materials to arrange transportation also takes time, although they used to be close, but the time spent can be quite a lot, and it may be too late to wait for everything to be completed, so it is better to transfer professional "rapid reaction troops" from the country.
▲The emergency ammunition and other materials of the rapid reaction troops were packed in advance
With a single order, it can be loaded onto the plane and transported to the destination
The picture shows the material load of the US 82nd Division during this dispatch
So, what kind of force is this "rapid reaction force" of the US military?
The past and present lives of the U.S. Military's "Rapid Reaction Force."
On December 31, 2019, the U.S. Department of Defense announced the dispatch of an infantry battalion of the 82nd Airborne Division to the Middle East. In the press release, the U.S. Department of Defense used "immediate response force (IRF)" instead of the past "Global Response Force (GRF)" (literal translation: Global Response Force), describing the U.S. military forces on this mission. Although this detail is small, it marks the entry of the US military's rapid reaction force into the "3.0 era" since its formation in 1984.
When it was formed in 1984, the U.S. Military's rapid reaction unit was called
“Rapid Deployment Joint Task Force (RDJTF) ”
It's the "Rapid Deployment Joint Task Force."
In the 1980s, as the two sides of the Cold War confrontation reached their peak in weaponry and tactical thinking, the U.S. military decided that the next war would be tragic and rapid. In order to "have enough rapid reaction forces to deal with unforeseen emergencies", the US military established the "Rapid Response Force" in 1984 with the "18th Airborne Army" as the main body, supplemented by some naval and air forces.
Coat of arms of the 18th Airborne Army
At the beginning of its formation, the rapid reaction force was organized as follows:
Army: Mainly the 18th Airborne Army, which mainly includes the 82nd Airborne Division, the 101st Air Assault Division, the 24th Mechanized Infantry Division, the 9th Infantry Division, the 6th Air Cavalry Brigade, the 4 brigades of the Army Special Forces "Green Beret" and the 75th Ranger Regiment.
The commander of the 18th Airborne Army was a 3-star Lieutenant General
The commander of the US division level is a 2-star major general
Navy: 3 carrier task forces, 1 surface ship task force, 5 patrol squadrons.
Marine Corps: 1 Marine Division and 1 Marine Air Wing.
Air Force: 2 strategic bomber squadrons, 7 tactical fighter wings.
At the beginning of its establishment, the total strength of the US military's rapid reaction force was more than 200,000 people.
▲At the time of the formation of the US military's rapid reaction force
The Soviet army is at its peak, and the Cold War is still at its peak
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the US military, which lost its most powerful opponent, although it laid off many high-tech equipment research and development projects, its rapid reaction force was not reduced, but strengthened.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the United States, which in fact became the "world policeman", put forward the goal of "winning two wars at the same time", in order to win two wars at the same time, the US military continued to strengthen the construction of the rapid reaction force, and by the outbreak of the Iraq War in 2003, the total strength of the US rapid anti-force had swelled to 380,000 people, which was roughly compiled as:
The Army has 7 divisions, the Navy has 1 division, the Navy has 3 aircraft carrier battle groups and 1 surface combat ship formation, and the Air Force has 10 aviation wings.
▲ Served as U.S. Secretary of Defense during the Iraq War
"Hawk" Rumsfeld, during his tenure
A series of radical military reforms were proposed
At that time, the armed forces of the United States of America, which were strong and strong, proposed that "one brigade in 96 hours, one division in 120 hours, and five divisions in 30 days, fight all over the world!" " rhetoric.
▲ Relying on strong sea and air transport capabilities to quickly send troops to the battlefield
After destroying the enemy, quickly prepare for the next war
This is an important construction goal of the US military
After the glory of the George W. Bush era, the U.S. Military's Rapid Reaction Force experienced a major weakening in the Obama era, and during President Ma's tenure, he promoted the "Obama Disarmament" program, and by 2014, the active duty strength of the U.S. Army had steadily entered the "400,000+" era.
Obama also signed a deal with Russia during his presidency
New Strategic Nuclear Arms Reduction Treaty
The U.S. Army in the "400,000+" era has to face the problem of tight troop strength. At present, the U.S. Army is basically divided into three parts in operation, one-third "mission deployment" (security warfare missions in Afghanistan, Iraq, Africa and other places), one-third "forward deployment" (permanent missions in Europe and the Asia-Pacific region to carry out the task of containing regional powers), and one-third "daily tasks" (administration, equipment testing, barracks construction, and daily maintenance).
Although the Middle East region is often on the news page
But the most essential part of the US military is still in Japan, South Korea, and Europe
Carry out deterrence and defense tasks against the two big powers of "China and Russia"
The picture shows the U.S. troops stationed in Japan
In this duty model, the U.S. Army can only maintain a "rapid reaction force" totaling about 130,000 people. On the Navy side, there is an aircraft carrier battle group, the Marine Corps side is a Marine Division, and the Air Force is 2-3 companies (with some special operations, support, and support forces). If you don't count the strategic deterrent nuclear forces of the US military, these "rapid reaction forces" are the mobile cards of the US military.
▲In order to quickly transport U.S. troops to all parts of the world
To safeguard the global interests of the entire "empire", the US military is equipped
Big money is spent on provisioning and shipping
Forever sharp knife! 18th Airborne Army
After decades, although the units belonging to the "US Rapid Reaction Force" with the Army as the core have undergone several reorganizations and relocations, their command units , the "18th Airborne Army" and the "82nd Airborne Division" of the sharp knife unit, have always firmly occupied their "top position" in the "rapid reaction" units.
▲ 18th Airborne Army Unit "Family Portrait" The U.S. Army's 18th Airborne Army is now composed of the 3rd Infantry Division, the 10th Mountain Division, the 82nd Airborne Division, the 101st Airborne Division, the 18th Field Artillery Brigade and the 20th Engineer Brigade.
▲ The 3rd Infantry Division is now a heavy mechanized infantry division
The picture shows the combat team training of the division's 1st Armored Brigade
Theoretically, the nearly 70,000-strong force of the four combat divisions under the 18th Airborne Army (the U.S. Army now has a total of 10 active combat divisions) is the core of the U.S. Army's rapid reaction force. However, because the 3rd Infantry Division was too heavily equipped and the 101st Division was already an "air-to-turbo" unit, the 10th Mountain Division was often deployed in the Middle East and was not an airborne unit, and only three brigades under the 82nd Division were actually responsible for the core anti-resilient task (the "173rd Airborne Brigade", another parachute unit of the US Army, was an independent unit deployed in Italy).
The 82nd Division not only did not miss the major battles in recent years
And it has also "taken the lead" in disaster relief operations many times.
The picture shows the division responding to disaster relief during the earthquake in Haiti
The three airborne brigades of the 82nd Division rotated on duty on a cycle of 8 to 12 months to ensure the rapid response capability of the U.S. army's "96-hour delivery infantry brigade (to the world)". Specific to the airborne brigade, the three main infantry battalions that make up the airborne brigade are respectively prepared for battle in 18-hour deployment, 36-hour deployment, and 54-hour deployment echelons ("xx-hour deployment", that is, the completion of the dispatch to the scene of the incident within the specified time).
▲ Camp 1st Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, North Carolina, U.S
It is also home to the U.S. Special Operations Command
The position of the 82nd Airborne Division in the U.S. military is evident
Under the U.S. Joint Operations Regulations, a contingent of standard rapid reaction forces, with an airborne brigade as the core, strengthens the Strijk Infantry Company, tank platoons, mechanized infantry platoons, attack/assault helicopter battalions, and army/divisional artillery groups as appropriate. In addition to this, Air Force Special Forces are usually also assigned to contingents to carry out joint strike missions. A well-established "rapid response task force" would typically be around 5,000 people.
▲ The mixed formation of multiple units is a joint operation of the US military
An important feature of the system
Although 5,000 people does not sound very much, but 5,000 well-trained U.S. regular troops are enough to foil the war attempts of most of the world's medium-sized countries with the cooperation of long-range firepower in sea and air, and in the face of larger opponents, as long as they arrive in time, they can also shake each other's determination to war to a large extent, after all, starting a war with the US military's rapid reaction forces is a frontal confrontation with the entire United States.
The short board of the sharp knife
Although well-trained and responsive, the 82nd Airborne Division is not omnipotent, as a force built with rapid response as the goal, the shortcomings of the 82nd Airborne Division are "light", its entire division is equipped with only about 10,000 tons of tonnage (for comparison, a heavy armored brigade is equipped with more than 20,000 tons), and in the initial stage of the rapid response mission, the task force can only rely on more than 700 light infantry of the airborne infantry battalion plus man-portable missiles.
▲The 82nd Airborne Division went to support this time
The 1st Brigade Combat Team was an aircraft carrying only its own weapons
In 2018, the brigades of the 82nd Division were organized into a light armored company equipped with "LAV-25A2" armored vehicles unsealed from marine depots, so that the American paratroopers finally received fire support from the slightly better than none of the "25 mm machine guns".
▲ LAV-25A2 armored vehicle of the 82nd Division
In recent years, the U.S. military has emphasized the restoration of the ability to confront a strong enemy. The US airborne troops predict that in the next war, the rapid reaction force is likely to no longer be able to rely on the neighboring base to enter the theater without being blocked, so the "joint forced entry operation" of breaking through the opponent's counter-intervention and fighting immediately after delivery has become a new topic for the US rapid reaction force.
▲ Different from the weak enemy that the US military deals with in the security war
The anti-aircraft fire of a strong enemy is an order of magnitude presence
In the countless plans of the 82nd Airborne Division, the scenario set up against Iran is precisely this kind of "forced entry" operation. Although the airborne troops did not airdrop the Iranian anti-aircraft fire, the deployment operation still reflected the combat readiness level of the US rapid reaction force.
▲ When performing more urgent tasks, U.S. paratroopers still have to be like this
Like the old predecessors, they jumped down from the transport plane
In the case that the US military did not shut down ads-B online aviation tracking, the vast number of netizens tracked the first wave of deliveries of the US airborne troops in real time, with a total of about 20 C17s and more than 10 C130s out of the transport (some US soldiers first took civil aviation planes to Kyrgyzstan in Central Asia, and then transferred from there to C130 into the Middle East), which is roughly equivalent to the plan made by the US military.
▲ In this transfer, the 82nd Division received orders, to assemble, and then to distribution
Combat materiel boarding and departure, all aspects are very smooth
The picture shows the picture of the US military during this transfer
This remote delivery ability is undoubtedly worthy of the envy and learning of others. In essence, China has already set up its own "rapid reaction force", and whenever we see waves of cross-regional maneuvers on TV and the camouflage figures rushing to the disaster area, we actually see the actions of China's "rapid reaction forces".
With the steady mass production of China's domestically produced large transport aircraft (the number of China's Y-20 and Il-76 is still insufficient, and there is still a considerable distance from the goal of "breaking 100"), in the foreseeable future, China can also have the strength to "deliver an entire brigade-level unit into a hot spot in the air within xx hours".
▲China's Yun-20 production plant
We should also pay close attention to and analyze the "rapid reaction model" and "rapid reaction experience" shown by the US military in recent years in various wars or local crises, and find out what is worth learning from them and explore ways to deal with them.
Finally, let's recommend a movie, although in recent years, Chinese netizens often think of the 101st Division when they mention the American paratroopers, but in fact, in terms of seniority, the 82nd Division is an airborne unit with the status of "big brother" (the 101st Division was once removed from the active duty unit after World War II, and later restored to the active duty establishment).
▲ The 101st Division became famous in the first battle here
However, due to the 101st Division's stubborn resistance to the Germans in the Battle of the Salient of World War II, it fought a hard battle to turn the tide, and later achieved "good results" in the cultural field, so its influence surpassed that of the 82nd Division. (In reality, the officers and men of the two divisions disobeyed each other and regarded each other as "younger brothers.") ）
▲ The 101st Division has not only appeared many times in "Brothers Company" and "Saving Private Ryan"
And the memoirs written by its veterans are also very good
Although the film and television works based on the 82nd Division are unknown, they are not without, as early as 1962, the United States filmed a movie called "Airborne", the protagonist of which was the 82nd Division, but unfortunately this film was not introduced to China.
▲ Screenshot of the movie "Airborne"
Although "Airborne" was not introduced, the movie "Sergeant York" about a legendary veteran of the 82nd Division can be seen in China (Tencent Video can be watched). The 1941 film is about Sergeant York's heroic deeds in World War I. Although it is old, but the shooting skills are very solid, very suitable for military fans and friends to see in their leisure time.
▲Douban score of 7.5 is not low
▲ In "Sergeant York", the U.S. army experienced a hard battle