CAN YOU SMLM?

[BEAST]

There have been a couple of good threads about the Cold War, so I thought I would post this card I received back in the '80s. I was given this for reporting two SMLMs who were following our convoy copying bumper numbers, etc.

 

If you guys have other SMLM related items, please post them!

 

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Here is mine:

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Backside, I also have a permanent restricted area (PRA) map somewhere that shows areas the Soviet's were not suppose to go into.

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Ok found a couple of shots of the PRA map. It's actually one of East Germany showing permanent restricted areas (PRAs) for the three allied military liaison missions (US, British and French) to the Group of Soviet Forces - Germany. There was a simular map for West Germany of areas that the Soviet Military Liaison Missions couldn't enter. I probably picked it up when I was stationed in Berlin.

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Here is a photo of the full map. Note all of the border areas with West Germany are restricted.

[El Bibliotecario]

Not everyone paid attention to the instructions on the SMLM card. In the mid '60s I read an army report of incidents involving US troops and SMLM officers. In one case, a carload of offduty GIs spotted a SMLM officer in a German town, a place not in any restricted area...so naturally they stopped and beat him up. In another instance, a SMLM officer stopped his vehicle near a US guard post; the GI on guard immediatally opened fire on him.

 

My only contact with the SMLM was one payday in the Stars and Stripes newsstand, where I noticed an officer standing next to me wearing shoulderboards that looked very much like Russian shoulderboards. A few covert peeks made me realize that he was wearing Russian shoulderboards because he was a Russian. His espionage work at that moment consisted of memorized the details on that month's PLAYBOY centerfold.

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Not everyone paid attention to the instructions on the SMLM card. In the mid '60s I read an army report of incidents involving US troops and SMLM officers. In one case, a carload of offduty GIs spotted a SMLM officer in a German town, a place not in any restricted area...so naturally they stopped and beat him up. In another instance, a SMLM officer stopped his vehicle near a US guard post; the GI on guard immediatally opened fire on him.

 

My only contact with the SMLM was one payday in the Stars and Stripes newsstand, where I noticed an officer standing next to me wearing shoulderboards that looked very much like Russian shoulderboards. A few covert peeks made me realize that he was wearing Russian shoulderboards because he was a Russian. His espionage work at that moment consisted of memorized the details on that month's PLAYBOY centerfold.

 

Incidents of harassment in East Germany were quite common as well. USMLM tour cars were routinely rammed or blocked:

 

* Jan 30, 1980: A U.S. vehicle was rammed by a Soviet vehicle, causing an American officer to suffer broken ribs.

* Oct 10, 1980: A U.S. vehicle was stopped by the Soviets and the occupants pulled out and beaten.

* May 19, 1982: A U.S. vehicle was stopped, the occupants pulled out and beaten and had their hands tied.

* Feb. 28, 1983: Six "aimed" shots from Soviet soldiers were fired at a U.S. vehicle. There were no injuries.

* March 23, 1983: A U.S. vehicle was rammed by a Soviet truck.

* March 28, 1983: Warning shots were fired by a Soviet officer at an American military contingent.

 

Then there was the shooting of USMLM member MAj Arthur D. Nicholson Jr. by a Soviet soldier in 1985

 

See the USMLM Association website for more details: http://www.usmlm.org/

[USASCLEICA]

A SMLM car was sitting empty in the parking lot of the Nuremberg PX once, (I think it was in 1989) we reported the car to the local MP's at W.O. Darby Kaserne, but BEFORE we called them, I seriously considered swiping one of the license plates off the car as a souvenir........I'm sure that would have cause a hell of a rukus if we had done that! :w00t:

 

Tom

 

PS: I'm sure that they were across the street trying to buy some Kentucky Fried Chicken for lunch LOL!!!!