User:Kael Schwabauer/sandbox

Overview

Aggressor Republic was the precursor to OPFOR used by the United States military during the early days of the Cold War. It was used from the end of the Second World War until the mid seventies, gradually being replaced by OPFOR units. The reason that it was considered needed was that the old training films referred directly to German and Japanese soldiers, and it was nigh impossible to gain access to the Soviet uniforms and equipment. As such, the military deemed it pertinent to create a fictitious enemy nation that was on the same footing of the United States.

The purpose of the Aggressor Republic was to create a “image-nation”, or fictitious nation, that had a population, industrial capacity, and economy roughly equal to that of the United States to conduct war games against. The US military decided to create the fictional nation using Spain, regions of southern France, Bavaria, and northern Italy which formed a continuous border. These regions afforded it a population of 110 million in 1950, just 40 million short of the US at the time. It also afforded it a combined GDP only slightly smaller than the United State’s at the time.

Uniforms

The uniforms of the Aggressor Republic needed to be similar enough to the US uniform to be quickly and cheaply adapted, yet still needed to be distinctive enough to be easily distinguished from standard American uniforms and armor. The United States Army decided to do this by modifying the helmet, shoulder epaulets, division patches, and uniform facings. THey also adorned all Aggressor equipment and uniforms with a standardized symbol, the Circle Trigon Party emblem. It is a green triangle inside of a circle.

The helmet Aggressor used was a standard M1 helmet with a wooden or metal crest attached to the stop of the helmet. IT would typically be attached by metal rivets, but would also sometimes have a crest cast with the helmet. It also had a fabric covering with the Circle Trigon emblem. Aggressor also issued garrison caps to various different units, typically solid in color, in order to afford greater distinction between standard and elite Aggressor units.

The shoulder epaulets of Aggressor were color coded, with each color corresponding to a different branch of service. The US military indicated a standardized method for the most frequently used Aggressor units, motorized and mechanized infantry, armored (tanks), and airborne units while permitting less frequent units to have whatever available colors where in the area. Fusilier units’ epaulets were red, to identify them as an elite unit. The rank insignia used on the epaulets were almost identical to standard US rank insignia in early designs, differing only in replacing the sabers with cannons. In later designs the cannons were removed and sabers took their place, making them perfectly identical to US insignias. Other versions replaced the chevrons with horizontal and vertical bars.

Each type of division also had a patch that it wore on the side of its right shoulder. The division patches were usually simplistic in design, being a single solid color that corresponded with the role of the unit, much like the epaulets and had the division number on the patch.

The uniform facings were the same color as the divisional patch, and had the regimental number printed on them.

Vehicles and buildings that were used by Aggressor all had the Circle Trigon emblem painted onto them, in a manner that is clear and visible from a distance. All arms and armor Aggressor used was identical to American equipment.

Story

One major way that Aggressor differed from OPFOR is that the US military wrote a backstory to explain how Aggressor came into existence and gained power that matched the United States. While it ultimately did little to add to the training, which is why it was discarded by its successor, it does create an interesting read and picture into a fear the high command at the time may have had.

In the post World War Two years the Circle Trigon Party was elected in Spain because of promises to rebuild the country after the United States refused to aid them with the Martial Program. The Party promptly renamed the country to the Aggressor Republic and began to revitalize the economy and reinforce the military. Due to limited resources it was forced to use surplus US equipment as a template for their designs.

In the forties Aggressor funded separatists movements in Southern France, Bavaria, and Italy that wanted to join Aggressor. Due to the lack of US occupation forces in the area the violent action taken within the countries led to a referendum to join Aggressor, which passed with overwhelming support.

With a large territory now under their control Aggressor set to helping economies of those regions while also encouraging rapid growth and immigration by offering bounties to families with more than three children and giving preferential treatment to immigrating scientists.

Initially Spanish was the official language of Aggressor, but it other languages like Italian, German and French were spoken in their respective regions. In an attempt to foster national unity the government adopted Esperanto as the official language and encourages all soldiers to speak it whenever possible, but claimed English was acceptable if needed (this part was probably written in so Americans could easily play a role here).

Aggressor practiced no form of religious discrimination and allowed everybody to practice freely, which eliminated any potential friction from religious oppression.

Sources