alternatehistory.com

I've read through the TL that AV proposed and thought that an appraisal of Canada's effort (done right) might prove out as a valuable, (or at the least interesting) addition to the timeline he created.
Thoughts?

Canada and the Cuban Missile War.



ABSTRACT: While much has been written over the last 45+ years with regards to our country’s role in the conflict, recent declassification of operational records from combat units involved now make an academically supported appraisal possible. This shall be the focus of this paper.

CONTEXT: As history has recorded, the 2 week period which starts 16 October and concludes on 31 October is commonly accepted as the “Cuban Missile War”. Our intent is to examine the combat preparations/operations of Canada’s military during this period, with a view towards any lessons that may be gained through such an exercise.

BACKGROUND: As has been amply described in earlier works, the timing of the onset of this operational reality caught us literally “with our pants around our ankles”. Conversion of the NORAD assigned squadrons proved to be the bright spot in an otherwise “inconvenient” situation.

As the full scale draw down of the CF-100 equipped units was recent and the re-equipped units with the F-101B were all at operational (nominal) capacity, this allowed for a significant, immediate, boost in the number of operational interceptors available to commit to the NORAD mission. The lack of integration or provision for the use of the AIR-2 capability with the Voodoo units was a serious drawback and the AIM-4A/B’s failure rate saw an immediate reversion to the proven 2.75 FFAR. Critical to the NORAD “problem” was the availability of a large number of Mk 5 CF-100’s and crews to man them. This ability to “surge” the number of frontline interceptors at such a critical point was to prove invaluable.

The extant situation in the NATO (1 CDN) Air Division at the point of the conflict is another matter.

Whole scale re-adjustment of the operational role for these units was only just getting underway, when things went “pear-shaped” in Europe.

CF-104 production was in full swing at Cartierville and the OTU in Cold Lake had already generated a couple of squadron’s worth of nominally “operational” pilots. Again, they had no weapons to fly the missions that they were training for (tactical nuclear delivery). The first of these units (421) was in the process of establishing itself at RCAF Grostenquin when the crisis arose.

The wholesale disbandment of the existing all weather (CF-100)/day fighter (CL-13 MkV) capability proved to be a very inconvenient circumstance once things got hot in the European theatre.
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