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Show 18 for your information HILL TOP TIMES August. 7, 1987 1; By Capt. Milford A. Gutridge Airlift Communications Division Public Affairs A, dreams who thinks Soviet of world domination have diminished with the arrival of the charismatic General Secretary Gorbachev should examine the global map in the publication Soviet Military Power 1987. The Soviets have military personnel outside their embassy staffs on every continent but Australia. . The Soviet Union is generally more subtle than it was nearly half a century ago, when in league with Hitler Stalin began knocking over the dominoes of Eastern Europe. First fell the Baltic nations of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania which the United States still refuses to acknowledge as legally incorporated into the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. Hitler's betrayal of the Soviets only delayed the rest of Stalin's conquest a few years. Then Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland and Romania were invaded and reduced to Soviet satellites. Stalin even added a piece of Finland and the Kurile Islands of Japan to his empire. After World War II, the Soviet Union turned largely to supporting leftist forces in the Third World. Some of their revolutions brought Marxist-Leniniregimes to power. When some of these regimes themselves became the objects of revolution, the Kremlin supported their clients against the "counterrevolutionary" forces. st (?Q(DuD C ' TO70( (uuuuDOCu1DDu The Soviets have military personnel outside their embassy staff on every continent but Australia. Where the Soviets have solidified their gains, they have wasted no time in taking advantage. 3 The U.S. government authors of Soviet Military Power 1987 note, "Soviet advisers and surrogate combat troops are assisting beleaguered clients in Ethiopia, Ango- la and Nicaragua, and 116,000 Soviet troops are battling the Mujahideen in Afghanistan. In Cambodia, the Soviets finance a Vietnamese occupation of some 150,000 men." Where the Soviets have solidifed their gains, they have wasted no time taking advantage. For instance, the former U.S. base of Cam Ranh Bay, Vietnam, has become the largest Soviet forward deployment base outside their country. It services 25 to 30 ships the Soviets now keep deployed to the South China Sea. The Soviets have added a seventh pier to this base and treat - it like Soviet sovereign territory off limits to most Vietnamese. Soviet forces based at Cam Ranh last year participated in the carrifirst coordinated er exercise in the South China Sea. "Since 1978, Moscow's military aid to Hanoi has totaled almost $9 billion," write the Soviet Military Power authors. "A military advisory group of more than 2,500 Soviet military people in Vietnam supports this program. Also, more than $8 billion in Soviet economic assistance has been provided to Vietnam through 1985. This Soviet aid has been the primary reason for Hanoi's ability to maintain its occupation of Cambodia and has encouraged continued Vietnamese intransigence in negotiating a peaceful settlement of the Cambodian problem." The Soviets also have military people a few hundred miles to the west on another peninsula important to them India. Although In dia is not a Soviet satellite, that Bay anti-aircra- ft country receives important military and economic support from the Soviet Union. The authors said, "The Soviets view India not only as critical in the Soviet Union's rivalry with China, but also as an influential member of the Nonaligned Movement, whose support for nuclear disarmament is essential to the Soviet initiatives to undermine the Strategic Defense Initiative." The Soviets now have a foothold on the North American continent in the country of Nicaragua, and in South America in Peru. The communist blight has also covered much of Africa. In spite of proclamations of peace and calls for disarmament, the Soviet bear has retained its teeth and its appetite. What can we as people stationed at American bases do about it? In addition to doing our best to be prepared for war, we can be aware and we can share our . knowledge. Don't be afraid to speak the truth in the face of those who "pooh-pooh- " the idea of Soviet world domination. And if you're asked to speak in public as a representative of the Air Force, call the base Public Af- fairs Office. They do more than publish the base newspaper. They will be happy to provide you guidance and assistance to speak out for the strong defense of America. - Editor's note: The Ogden Air Logistic Center Public Affairs Office is located in Bldg. 1102, Ext. 75201 or 75333. Captain Gutridge is stationedmm at Scott AFB, I1L immmmm mm ilia mm . |