Wire Briefs: Fall 1986
FROM THE SOUTHERN AIR IMPORT // WIRE BRIEFS · FALL 1986
WIRE BRIEFS: FALL 1986
The short dispatches from the Southern Air Import's November 1986 issue, collected in one place
CONGRESS REWRITES THE CHAIN OF COMMAND
Washington — Goldwater-Nichols Act Reshapes The Joint Chiefs
President Reagan signed the Goldwater-Nichols Department of Defense Reorganization Act on October 1st, the broadest overhaul of the U.S. military command structure since the services were unified under one defense establishment in 1947.
The law strengthens the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff as the President's principal military adviser and pushes the services toward genuinely joint operations, answering years of criticism that interservice rivalry had cost lives in recent operations.
Officials say the reorganization will take years to fully implement across the unified commands.
SIGNED OCT. 1, 1986 · DEPT. 9
THE INTRUDER'S LAST SCHOOL
Whidbey Island, Wash. — Marine A-6 Training Moves To The Navy
Marine All Weather Attack Training Squadron 202 stood down on September 30th after eighteen years training A-6 Intruder pilots and bombardier-navigators.
The training mission transfers to the Navy at NAS Whidbey Island, consolidating A-6 instruction under a single roof.
Veterans of the squadron call it the end of an era for Marine medium attack aviation.
STOOD DOWN SEPT. 30, 1986 · DEPT. 9
CAN AMERICA SHOOT DOWN A MISSILE?
White Sands — Pentagon Tests A Ballistic Intercept
A missile-defense experiment conducted in early September used sensors, interceptor rockets and supporting ground equipment to investigate whether an incoming ballistic missile could be tracked and destroyed in flight.
Air Force officials described the test as a significant step for the Strategic Defense Initiative, even as lawmakers in Washington debated the program's funding and priorities.
No public scorecard of hits and misses has been released.
TESTED EARLY SEPT. 1986 · DEPT. 9
65,000 MEN, ONE FRONT
West Germany — NATO Rehearses Reinforcement Of The Northern Flank
NATO's Bold Guard 86 exercise ran September 22nd through October 7th across Denmark and West Germany, moving some 65,000 personnel, 2,400 tracked vehicles, 150 helicopters and 150 fixed-wing aircraft.
The main joint operations, held September 22nd through 26th, tested the alliance's ability to receive and deploy reinforcements into the Baltic approaches and northern Germany on short notice.
Planners called it one of the largest autumn exercises NATO has staged in years.
EXERCISE CONCLUDED OCT. 7, 1986 · DEPT. 9
THE SPY WHO WASN'T SUPPOSED TO BE THERE
Washington — Two Detentions End In A Delicate Trade
American correspondent Nicholas Daniloff, held in Moscow on espionage charges since late August, returned to the United States this month after a closely negotiated exchange.
Soviet UN employee Gennadi Zakharov, arrested in New York on espionage charges, was permitted to leave the country after entering a no-contest plea the same week.
Both governments deny any formal trade took place.
RESOLVED SEPT. 1986 · DEPT. 9
THE MEDITERRANEAN FRONT
Southern Europe — NATO Rehearses The War Nobody Wants To Fight
NATO's Display Determination 86 exercise ran from September 19th through October 13th across the Mediterranean theater, with more than 2,000 U.S. Marines joined by 800 Turkish and Italian troops.
The Marine component practiced combined amphibious landings alongside allied forces, rehearsing the alliance's southern-flank response.
It is the Mediterranean counterpart to the larger Bold Guard exercise further north.
EXERCISE CONCLUDED OCT. 13, 1986 · DEPT. 9
NOW THEY HAVE TO TELL US
Stockholm — East And West Open The Curtain On War Games
Thirty-five CSCE member states adopted a new set of confidence- and security-building measures on military activity in Europe on September 19th, including advance notice of major exercises and new observation and inspection rights.
The measures are politically binding and are scheduled to take effect January 1, 1987.
Diplomats call it the most concrete product of the Helsinki process in years.
ADOPTED SEPT. 19, 1986 · DEPT. 9
NATO'S OCTOBER WAR GAMES
Baltic To Black Sea — The Fleet Keeps Moving
A string of NATO naval exercises ran through the Mediterranean and European waters this fall: Display Determination (Sept. 19–Oct. 13), Damsel Fair 8612 (Sept. 29–Oct. 11), BaltOps 87 (Oct. 1–17), Black Sea Ops 87-1 (Oct. 16–21) and Deterrent Force 2186 (Oct. 15–Nov. 17).
Taken together, the schedule keeps allied fleets continuously exercised from the Baltic approaches to the Black Sea through the end of the year.
ONGOING THROUGH NOV. 1986 · DEPT. 9
THE AIR BRIDGE TO THE BATTLEFIELD
Cherry Point, N.C. — A New Squadron Stands Up For Marine Refueling
The Marine Corps activated Marine Aerial Refueler Transport Squadron 253 at MCAS Cherry Point on October 1st, standing up with six KC-130 tanker-transport aircraft.
The squadron extends the Marines' tactical air-refueling and transport reach, the same logistics architecture that keeps an amphibious force supplied once it is ashore.
ACTIVATED OCT. 1, 1986 · DEPT. 9
FROM THE MANIFEST
- The Hunt for Red October
- Stasi: The Untold Story of the East German Secret Police
- German Bundeswehr Olive Fleece Jacket
SOUTHERN AIR IMPORT · FALL 1986 · DEPT. 9
SOUTHERN AIR TRADE // THE MANIFEST