NationStates Jolt Archive

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http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=489279)

President Richard Nixon resided within the Oval Office, surrounded by advisors on anything from Economics to the Military.

His economics advisor, Maurice Stans, frustrated at the military advisor, said, "Think of the economy!" He shouted. "If we don't pull out of Vietnam, the economy will continue to deterioate!"

Melvin Laird replied, "But if Vietnam falls, then the Red'll spread further into Asia!"

"Everyone be quiet!" Nixon shouted. "We have no choice but to pull out. Protests are growing more violent. Discontent is at an all time high! If we leave, then maybe we can put this country back together. Mr. Laird? Issue the orders. We're bringing the boys home."



The following day, newspapers all over the nation read,

US PULLS OUT OF NAM!

500,000 United States soldiers, we're coming home.

Rafael Caldera has issued a statement saying he congragulates the US on doing the right thing by pulling out of Vietnam. He said it was "a good move, that can only benefit everyone."

Meanwhile, in Venezuela both right wing and left wing guerrillas still harass the government that has limited politics to the AD and COPEI parties. The guerillas seem to be gaining support from the people as they tire with the current government and the number of attacks has grown recently.

OOC: It's as short post, but there is not too much for me to RP with Venezuela right now, I'll try to have more later.

Bodø Main Air Station
Bodø, Norway

The high-pitched howl from the turbojet engines of a pair of F-104s broke the silence of the calm, Norwegian winter. Afterburners on full, the two svelte interceptors raced down the runway and leaped into the air, probably off to intercept some Soviet planes and escort them away from Norway's airspace. Perhaps it was one of the "Cubs" on a "milk run." Maybe it was something new. A lot of the early information and photos of new Soviet aircraft types came right from the Royal Norwegian Air Force, mostly because of their proximity to the USSR.

Damned Soviets, thought Prime Minister Borten. Just what are they up to? That of course, was somewhat unpredictable, and always a matter of concern. Nobody was really sure what the Soviets were up to. What worried Borten most was when a huge formation of their bombers would turn right towards Norway, then only turn away once fighters had been scrambled to escort them away. He'd never seen it personally, but he'd seen photos of the sky filled with Badgers (http://starfighter.no/web/5_BADG.jpg), contrails streaming high over the sea. Don't we ever get a break? We get forced into a union with the Swedes for almost a century, then we get invaded and occupied by the Nazis, now we've got to worry about the Russkies harassing our airspace.

One of his aides approached, clutching some important papers in his hand, attempting to keep them from being ripped away by the wind.

"Mr. Prime Minister?"
"Yes, what is it?"
"This just came in, sir. Apparently the Americans are pulling out of Vietnam."

He looked at the papers. A full pull-out, all half-million personnel.

"Well...it is good to know that the Americans would like to end the war. It has just been horrific the casualties that are occuring over there. But I do worry about what shall happen to the South when they are unable to hold back the Communists."

Pravda March 29, 1970

General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev has died in his sleep do to a heart attack, The CPSU has been called into the meeting, to elect the next General Secretary of CPSU. Premier Alexey Kosygin has call a day of morning for the lost of Comrade Brezhnev.

All hell was breaking loose. Sergeant Mike Scott ducked behind a brick wall as Communist troops poured through the streets of Saigon. He was one of the soldiers who stayed behind, hoping to help the ARVN hold back the Red tide. It wasn't working.

"Squad, point fire! My direction!" He shouted, pointing around the wall. The three men, two M-16 riflemen and an M-60 gunner, moved from the cover, bullets hissing as the they ripped through the air past them. He lined up another Red in his sights and squeezed the trigger, watching a red mist emit from the hole blown from his chest. Screaming, the yellow bastard fell, still holding onto his Soviet made Automatic Kalashnikov-47.

"Serves ya right, you buggers!" the Gunner shouted, momentarily ceaseing fire.

"Keep firing your weapon Jim!" The riflemen next to him shouted. The gunner brought the stock back to his shoulder and began popping more rounds at the enemy soldiers. ARVN troops dropped their guns, and ran away screaming.

"Marvin ARVN weapons, never fired and only dropped once," The other riflemen said, putting a well shot round into an unlucky NVA soldier.

"Pull back guys!" Scott said, slowly walking backwards, firing his rifle on semi-automatic, trying to thin the numbers. The riflemen got off the street, and ran behind him. The gunner got onto his knee, and kept firing. Suddenly, his head shot back, and with a last spasm, the body lay motionless.

"Damn," He muttered. They had stayed behind as a unit of 15. Now, there was but three. Jim, Peter, Paul, Matt, Chris, Howard, Dean, Sean. As he ran, following his surviving team mates, the images of them came back through his mind.

Pointing at a building with some ARVN Rangers, the only dependable unit the South Vietnamese had, he shouted, "In there! That's where we'll make our stand!"

As Mr. Borrero walked from his personal office to meet with the Foreign Secretary Alanzo Borrero, his cousin, to discuss "The Americans", whatever that meant, he was interupted by his secretary, "El Presidente, sir, did you hear about Vietnam?", "Yeah, So what if another crazy bombed an embassy, that's not news." " No sir, their, uh the americans are leaving!" "Why!?!" "President Nixon withdrew because a group of people were upset with how things were going!".
Mr. Borrero burst into his cousins office, his secretary soon followed, "What did you say about 'The Americans' that was so important?" "They left Vietnam!" "I already know that! Why can't you people learn to tell me news!"
With that El presidente stormed back to office to think about what to do next over a fat cigar.

<bump>

Defense Staff Norway (DEFSTNOR)
Oslo, Norway

King Olav the V was about to begin a meeting with the Defense Staff of Norway. One thing that stuck anybody who met him, was that he held a commanding presence. Tall and athletic, a man of great character. "Gentlemen, there are troubling events happening around the world. I need to be sure that our nation is safe, and prepared for anything that may occur. Now, I would like to ask upon the commanders of our various armed forces to report to me anything that may be of importance."

"Well, your Majesty," started the General of the Army, "for the most part, our ground forces are equipped with the equipment necessary to hold an invasion force until NATO reinforcements arrive. One thing we do need improvement of is our air defense equipment for low- and medium-altitude engagements. We have a sufficient number to cover all areas of concern, however our current inventory of anti-aircraft artillery guns would not be at all effective against modern military aircraft. For the most part, they’re the same guns as were designed during the Second World War, when the fastest planes only could go around 700 kilometers per hour. Military aircraft today can go over three times that speed."

"So what do you suggest we need?" asked Prime Minister Borten.

"Surface-to-air missiles, Mr. Prime Minister. Specifically, portable systems to protect our ground forces. We can get vehicle-transported missile platforms that would be effective for medium-altitude combat planes, and for slower aircraft that operate at low altitudes like attack planes and helicopters, a good option would be some of the new man-portable missiles. From our research, our best bet would be several American-made systems. For the vehicle-based missiles, we’re looking at the Raytheon MIM-23, and for man-portable, the General Dynamics FIM-43."

"Very well. What is the Navy’s current situation?"

The Admiral of the Navy started in, "Our fleet at the moment is adequate for the needs of patrolling and protecting our territorial waters. Right now we’re in the process of building and commissioning a group of six patrol boats, the Snøgg-class, which have both torpedoes and Penguin missiles with which to defend against hostile vessels. All of these should be ready by the end of next year."

"Very Good." Prime Minister Borten took a moment to write down the information in his notes. "And of the Air Force?"

"Well, Mr. Prime Minister, one thing we’re focusing on right now is to add another squadron of F-104s to our inventory. We have had good experience with their performance, and we believe it would be a smart decision to have additional units. In terms of things we are lacking, one thing we are in need of are transport aircraft, so we would be able to more rapidly deploy troops and materiel to a specific area of the country. For what we need out of the plane, our opinion is to acquire several American Lockheed C-130s for airlift purposes. One more area of interest is for maritime patrol aircraft. Since we have a good deal of coastline, and our navy vessels can only be in certain places at a particular time, we need planes that can act fast to respond to a situation with hostile ships. As with before, we’re looking at an American product, the Lockheed P-3 for this case."

"All right, gentlemen, is there anything else you’d like to bring to our attention?" asked the King.

"Well, your Majesty," the Air Force General started, "we have a theoretical plan for additional maritime patrol planes besides the P-3s."

"Theoretical?" the Prime Minister inquired, not quite understanding.

"Well, sir, theoretical, as in we’re not entirely sure if we would be able to actually acquire the aircraft, but we‘re hoping perhaps that we could. In the past, strategic bombers have been employed in the maritime patrol role quite successfully. Generally, they’re modified by a good deal to work the task, but are a good platform from which to start. I’m sure you’re aware that the Americans have stopped their involvement in the conflict in Vietnam. From what we understand, they are planning to phase out a good number of their strategic bombers, the B-52. Now it may not seem, at first, that such a plane would not be suitable for maritime patrol, however I’m sure you’re also aware that the Soviets have a number of similarly high performance planes doing such a task, their Bear-F."

The Admiral added, "We believe these planes could be a serious threat to our vessels or those of our NATO allies, and we have considered that due to our proximity to the Soviet Union, we would be likely in a position to defend against a fast striking Soviet fleet. A maritime patrol conversion of the B-52 could be a good counter to Soviet aggression in the surrounding seas."

"I would have to agree," said the King, "but would we be able to afford to operate such a plane?"

"Well I don’t believe we would require a large number of them, perhaps six, so that they would complement our planned squadron of Lockheed P-3s."

"All right then," said the Prime Minister. "I shall bring these matters before the Parliament, and see what they are willing to pay for. This meeting is now adjourned."

Pravda April 9, 1970

The CPSU has elected Yuri Vladimirovich Andropov has the next General Secretary of CPSU,he is the first head of the KGB to become General Secretary of the USSR. General Secretary Andropov has stated that he plans to do some reforms to improve the overall stability of USSR and he also states that he wants to improve the relations between East and West.

tag

Defense Staff Norway (DEFSTNOR)
Oslo, Norway
April, 1970

"Prime Minister Borten, how did the procurement plans fare before Parliament?" asked Minister of Defense, Otto Grieg Tidemand.

"Quite well, in fact. It appears they more or less agree with the need for us to improve our defense forces for our needs. They even were willing to go with the Air Force’s intent to acquire a small number of B-52s, so long as they were modified to the point where they would be used only for maritime patrol and not for bombing."

"That’s good news, Mr. Borten. Now, our finalized plans consist of 15 fully outfitted vehicle-mobile batteries of the Raytheon MIM-23 Hawk surface-to-air missiles, one for each of our infantry brigades; the order for the General Dynamics FIM-43 Redeye for 810 launcher units and 4860 missile units; six of the Lockheed C-130H Hercules airlift planes, they would be going to an activated 335 Squadron at Gardermoen Air Station; two additional Lockheed TF-104G advanced trainers to go to 331 Squadron at Bodø Main Air Station; 18 additional Lockheed F-104G interceptors and another four TF-104Gs for an activated 340 Squadron at Andøya Air Station; and 12 of the Lockheed P-3C Orion patrol planes would also go to Andøya Air Station, for an activated 333 Squadron. If our plan for the converted B-52s goes through with the Americans, we plan to have six of them at Ørland Main Air Station, an activated 337 Squadron."

"Will our defense ministry be able to pay for the costs of this equipment?"

"We’re planning on payment over a five-year period, and we will also be paying for training and familiarization, as well as setting up facilities."

"Very well, I shall inform Mr. Stray, so that he can draft a message to send to the American Secretary of State on the matter."

(OOC: Say Wanderjar, could you set up a news thread for the US so I could post the message there?)