CompuServe Messages

>It depends how large that Navy is. And if we got in a real war, not some >public relations romp against Iraq … Comments like this tend to upset me a little, because you obviously don't know what you are talking about. While it is true that due to a poor navy and airforce, Iraq was not much of a threat to the our Navy, there army was very large and capable. Don't let our easy victory fool you, it was not a result of a weak Iraqee army, but a very good use of strategy and tactics on our side that lead a capable army to loose its will to fight. >I bet carriers would be going down like flies. The Soviet submarine force and Soviet Naval Aviation was for some time the only credible threat to US Carrier Battle groups. Weither or not our carriers would have been "going down like flies" in a conflict with the Soviets is a matter of speculation. I can tell you though, that when I was in we constantly worried about this threat, and were ready to give them a fight if necessary. I personally think in an all out war we would have lost some of the currently deployed carriers at the beginning, because they operate in "lone" battle groups, but combined two and three carrier groups would have had a very good survival rate. I can't say for sure weither or not any of the nations of the former USSR form any kind of threat to the US Navy, but it is my guess they do not, and it would take a long time for them to build up to becomming a crediable threat. ._ _ _ INTERNET: mshea@math.arizona.edu | | |ichael _>hea COMPUSERVE: 76665,3360