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Cold War Reenactors? REFORGER anyone?


T-Bone
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Would anyone be interested in Cold War impressions while the gear and uniforms are still around?

 

I am watching BDUs and LBE ride into the sunset. To say nothing of the Kpots being replaced by ACH/MICH helmets and steel pots returning to their "Vietnam roots" and being sold to overseas collectors.

 

When was the last GOOD set of green poly cotton fatigues in "human size" seen?

 

Remember when desert chocolate chip DCUs were plentiful in any size?

 

Peerhaps it is time for some Cold Warriors?

 

Any oppinions?

 

T-Bone

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If you want some chocolate chips, come on over and snag a set from the IA. Many of the guys are wearing that, because that is what was issued to them.

 

 

Dent

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Sgt_Rock_EasyCo

I was at Fort Bragg and Germany (Berlin Brigade) in the 1980's. Was a different time. My Daughter will inherit a WWII Footlocker loaded with BDU's, M65's, Jungle Fatigues, Boots, insignia, signed books, Posters and other periphenelia from that time period. The Jungle Fatigues are loaded with 82nd Airborne insignia (original since it's mine). I imagine that these will become more and more rare.

 

Some day it'll be worth cash if she sells it on ebay.

 

Rock

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Hmmmm,could be the next big thing.I still have all that stuff,some of it is in great shape too.Duece and a half's,M-151's, Dodge pickups and M60 tanks are all still available.M-16a1's might be ruff since all anyone wants are those stupid M4 thingy's and their retarded cousins.Anyone seen any Gamma Goats around?What will be a boon is if we can get Spielberg to make a movie to enflame the imagination about the period,he can call it....I fought nothing and won.Upside being not as many hit's to take at tacticals.

I appologize if it seems I'm berating your idea.The above was just me cutting-up,I actually kinda like the idea!!!Probably won't pan out.....yet,but keep the dream alive man,keep the dream alive!!!!!

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Maybe someone will do a screen adaptation of Team Yankee by Harold Coyle. It was the story of WWIII in Europe which never happened.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Team_Yankee

 

Team Yankee was great, or Red Storm Rising would be another great source for what we're planning for Speilberg...though even his pockets may not be deep enough to give that book (RSR) a fair treatment. Thank God neither of these scenarios came to pass!

 

The AR15A1 (in lieu of M16 variants) are available on the market. Of course, the AKs used for any VN movie would be just as good, regardless of the setting - VN 1968, Cold War 1980s, Somalia, OIF/OEF. Amazing weapon, that one, even if it is a POS. Gimme an M1!

 

Thrasher

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Reenact Cold War? No way! You are not getting me to wear MILES gear again! :lol:

Geez

 

Thats exactly the way I feel. Reenact it? Heck! I lived it. yucky.gif

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cwnorma said:
Geez

 

Thats exactly the way I feel. Reenact it? Heck! I lived it. yucky.gif

 

I can't agree more, been there done that. Plus I doubt I could ever fit in those old uniforms again. Here is me in 1982 at Yakima Firing Center, Washington State in NBC MOPP II. The mask is to protect one from of the volcanic dust still around from Mount Saint Helens.

post-146-1237601174.jpg

 

And here is the first thing I saw in the morning at Yakima after sleeping rough on the ground for weeks. My body still hurts when I think about it.

post-146-1237601342.jpg

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And here is the first thing I saw in the morning at Yakima after sleeping rough on the ground for weeks.

 

AAAHHHH! A Yak attack! Freeze all night and roast all day - man, I hate that place!

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BDU's for cold war?

 

nah, I'd only do the mid period with OG-107s and eat boned chicken and/or turkey

 

Sounds good to me, heavily starched fatigues, spit shined jump boots, (99% spit, 1% shine). thumbsup.gif

And dinner, Chicken and/or Turkey, how about some Fruit Cocktail or a John Wayne bar for desert?

I personally liked the Meat and Potatoes with the package of salt dumped in it, cooked in our tank heater, and remove it before it blows up. ;)

I completely forgot about the good ol' Gamma Goat.

gammagoat.jpg

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Yakima 82', dude I remember we watched the eruption that night from Lewis and were in Yak the next weekend,I was completely gray within 20 mins.One morning I heard a rumble,stepped outa the commo van on the back of a duece and was eyeball to eyeball with an A-10 driver inverted over the top of the hill and my van......I'd tell you his eyes were blue but he was wearing ray bans and I could see the logo on the lens corner,bout filled my og 107's!!!

That pic of the stacked goats makes me really start thinking this could be fun.Team Yankee,almost forgot that one...had to run to the attic and dig it outa the box to read it again!!! We better watch out or we'll start dating ourselves,sshh,kk?

 

 

 

 

 

 

P.S. Ft. Lewis 83' in my brand new BDU's

post-4746-1237651410.jpg

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ColBob506 - I went to Yak many times with 2-47th Inf, 9th ID. This particular photo is when I was acting as an Observer/Controller for OPFOR which was up against the new High Tech Light Brigade which was experimenting with Modified Chenoweth Dune Buggies.

 

D.A.T. - Your photo of rows and rows of M561 Gama Goats bring back memories. As a mortar platoon leader at Ft. Lewis I had 4 of these beasts that were a maintenance nightmare. Later I branched transferred from Infantry to Quartermaster in the mid-80 and commanded a Quartermaster Heavy Material Supply Company (HMSC) in Hanau, Germany. One of of my platoons operated the V Corps Class VII point. So we received thousands of Gamma Goats, Jeeps and M880 Dodge pickup trucks. Most of these went to DRMO but a good number of Gama Goats went to various ranges in Germany as targets.

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The problem I see in reenacting the Cold War or Reforger is that it is not a scenario that is prone to small unit actions. In Europe, it was a mech heavy environment, full of tanks, APC's and artillery. That is a bit much for a weekend reenactment.

 

I am sure there were some recon units in US Army Europe (USAREUR), and maybe if the balloon had gone up you might have seen some platoon and company level actions. But everything over there was geared towards large mass and fast moving formations. (Although I do understand the Berlin Bde. practiced small unit urban combat with the goal of delaying a Soviet take over of the city).

 

I have my own personal thoughts on REFORGER, and most of them should probably be kept to myself. I was never one of the unfortunate souls who had to load up stateside, arrive, draw gear from a prepositioned depot, roll across a strange country in convoy, set up operations and then got into a training exercise. I got to watch it from the perspective of already being in country and just watching what had previously been neat and orderly turn into chaos.

 

I am sure our friends from the Warsaw Pact were watching every detail. I always wondered if they were in awe at our ability to move so much material so fast, or if they were laughing their boots off at some of our gaffs.

 

So what would be your scenario for a fun filled weekend of reenacting the Cold War?

 

Border Patrol duty: Spend endless hours walking along a path 10 meters back from the border post looking for signs of activity. (Much more exciting would be the Korean version of DMZ patrol, where you might actually get shot at). Or you could spend rotating shifts in a sandbagged bunker watching farmers on the other side of the fence tend their fields.

 

Convoy: Get at least 12 military vehicles, mount large orange rotating lights on the top of them along with yellow signs that say CONVOY AHEAD, and then drive for hours on the interstate no faster than 45 mph. You will make lots of new friends with the other drivers who will signify their approval of you being there by ducking in and out of your column and making friendly gestures towards you.

 

Convoy, part II: The Maneuver Damage add on module. Run the bumper of your 2 1/2 ton truck against the soft side of a Mercedes. When the driver gets out, explain to him in a language he does not understand that you are here to protect his country.

 

Where are we now? Dispatch your team to various points on the map. Move your headquarters without telling anybody. Lose radio contact because of fog, hills and other odd terrain features unique to the country. Ask the locals for directions in a language they do not understand. Buy a new map at the local gas station because the military map you were issued was drafted in 1968. Finally regain contact with headquarters by using the payphone located in the center of the local town. Miss your connection with your chow, and end up feeding your platoon with bread and lunchmeat bought from one of the local vendors. Stay out of sight of your higher command until the exercise is over and then convoy back to your home base.

 

Darn its cold! Sleep in a drafty tent while it snows at least 8 inches. At 2am do everything you can to relight the heater. Put your feet into your cold boots which you forgot to put inside your sleeping bag. Put cold water in your steel pot and shave with just soap. Walk over to the mess tent and find out the cooks could not get the fires started this morning. Eat C-Rations that were stored outside on a truck after placing them inside your field jacket for 20 minutes to warm them up. Look forward to another 15 days of this and swear you will never complain about your quarters back at post ever again.

 

Out on the town: show up at a local civilian bar or restaurant dressed in civvies that you have owned since high school. Speak awkwardly and slowly in a language the locals cannot understand. Gaze longingly at the local women, including the underaged and married. Drink lots of beer and get loud. When asked to behave loudly remind the manager who won WWII and that if it weren't for you the Russians would be there instead. Leave before the MP's show up.

 

Gamma Goat Maintenance Weekend: Your CO says all vehicles are to be up and running by Monday morning or everyone is losing a stripe. Find a Gamma Goat and fully replace all of the hydralic lines and field test. Have fun!

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I've posted this before, but this is my "been there, done that" photo.

 

It was more fun than anyone should of had at 25 years old.

 

Praise God above that it never turned into a real war. Europe would have been glowing in the dark for the next 1200 years.

Same_In_German_Close.JPG

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Sgt_Rock_EasyCo
I've posted this before, but this is my "been there, done that" photo.

 

It was more fun than anyone should of had at 25 years old.

 

Praise God above that it never turned into a real war. Europe would have been glowing in the dark for the next 1200 years.

 

Nice photo. Love the pickle suit. I personally didn't like the pickle suit and the 1st pattern BDU's were kinda hot. On the other hand I LOVED the Jungle Fatigues we were issued during Grenada. I've got them hidden away and someday they'll be worth something.

 

You are correct about Berlin Brigade- I was in the Scout/Sniper section and we performed mostly recon missions and small unit actions. Some of missions were real-world like scouting the "wall" or driving through East Berlin checking on our "Allies" the Russians. We travelled to the West and conducted combat training in Bergel and WildChicken. Most of our operations were Battalion sized or smaller. We trained heavily in urban combat but many of our guys were Ranger or former Airborne Infantry with plenty of rural and jungle experience and some of us with combat experience. There was no better place out on the town than Berlin!!

 

 

Rock

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I wouldn't necessarily model your reenactment group after this bunch, but you get the idea. This is my platoon in the FRG around 1988.

post-203-1237680854.jpg

 

On a side note, at least you don't have to have a lot of people. We were always short. If you count my platoon, you will see that I had 22 troops available at the time. 12 of those are dedicated to the Bradleys, so you basically had about 10 dismounted soldiers for the platoon.

 

GWB123,

 

Don't forget all of the field prep time and recovery time. I figure we spent about 9 months out of the year either preparing for, being in or recovering from the field. However we got to see some of the greatest tourist areas in Germany; Hohenfels, Wildflecken, Graf!

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Did you say Wall Patrol? Here is one of the pre-Humvee wall patrols in Berlin when I was there:

 

Well for the scenarios for a reenactment weekend would be ;

 

COMMO watch: lock me in a box with a really big piece of juice sucking heat making electronics w00t.gif and not allow anybody to see me or acknowledge that I am there.

Proudly claiming duty at Devils Mountain Field Station Berlin.

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These pictures you people have posted sure brings back some memories, not all good though, there was a bad drug and alcohlol problem back then, we even had race riots on our kaserne, people were getting Dishonorable and Medical Discharges all the time. I turned from a Gung-Ho trooper into a almost "bad attitude", all I wanted at the end was my Honorable Discharge and get out. I'm glad and proud I was in the US Army, it gave me a chance to meet some "interesting" people, still have some contact with fellow 73rd'ers, but I don't know if I'd do it again.

Couple more pictures I found.
Me on Guard Duty, with the axe handle, seems like I pulled alot of Guard Duty, maybe because the 1st Sgt. liked me so much?

 

Dead links

edited 2/9/2018

dwiv

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These pictures you people have posted sure brings back some memories, not all good though, there was a bad drug and alcohlol problem back then, we even had race riots on our kaserne, people were getting Dishonorable and Medical Discharges all the time. I turned from a Gung-Ho trooper into a almost "bad attitude", all I wanted at the end was my Honorable Discharge and get out. I'm glad and proud I was in the US Army, it gave me a chance to meet some "interesting" people, still have some contact with fellow 73rd'ers, but I don't know if I'd do it again. think.gif

 

This has been a great thread, thanks to all of you.

 

I have heard some real hairy stories from some 11th ACR guys who pulled border patrols between the FRG and GDR. I would be tempted to label these as "war stories" if I had not met former Grentruppen DDR guys who had very similar tales. Lots of tales of weird sh*t and spooks going bump in the night.

 

I also had a fellow from 10th SFG who told some great stories of being tasked to pick up folks exfiltrating from the east and dropping off others going in. Seems like everybody was playing every game in the book, while the typical patrol grunt was told to sit back and color, and that nothing happened. The thing most funny is how similar the stories from both sides are, some things never change.

 

T-Bone

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msgt norway

would love to do a reforger reenact.
il just need more od uniforms,like the m65 jacket and a few
bits and bobs.
here is one close,only the vb boots should be regular
combat boots.havent seen white vb boots used
in germany on pictures.

 

Dead link

edited 2/9/2018

dwiv

cheers ken

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would love to do a reforger reenact.

il just need more od uniforms,like the m65 jacket and a few

bits and bobs.

here is one close,only the vb boots should be regular

combat boots.havent seen white vb boots used

in germany on pictures.

 

cheers ken

 

Ken - Great photo and military kit, what era are your trying to represent?

 

I was stationed in Germany from 1985-1991 and here are a few comments from when I was there. Others might have different experiences depending on when and where they were in Germany.

 

I rarely ever saw vb boots worn in the field when I was in Germany. Unless you were on stationary guard duty they just became too hot to wear while walking, especially long distances. A number of folks private purchased German made leather cold weather boots.

 

The ammunition pouches on the web gear looks to be 1960s/Vietnam vintage canvas. By the 80s we were wearing the nylon ammo pouches.

 

Also the only time I remember using 20 round magazines was on the range, in the field we almost always had 30 round magazines.

 

The helmet is appropriate for around 1985 and before. After that the Kevlar helmet was worn.

 

I don't remember soldiers ever wearing the bayonet in the field either in Berlin or when I was stationed in West Germany. Generally these remained locked up in the arms room.

 

Add a pace cord with knots or beads tied to your LBE, no GPS navigation back then. Also an angled military flashlight hanging from your LBE. The US Army didn't "own the night" yet and night vision devices were bulky, few and far between. Since I don't see a butt pack or ruck sack then the cargo pockets on you pants should be budging with, depending on the period, C-Ration Cans or MRE packets as well as "pogy bait".

 

To be REALLY authentic you also need a 3-4 day old beard which is caked with face camo. Not the compact type, but the the sold stuff from the old camo stick that takes days to get the green tint out of your skin once you come back from the field. You don't look nearly tired enough. Assign yourself 4 hours on and 4 hours off guard shifts outside your front door for a few days, sleep in your clothes in your unheated garage in a sleeping bag and have someone shake you awake for your guard shifts and you will have the proper weary look. Don't shower, shave or change your clothes for a week and you will have the proper smell. Dig a hole in your back yard and use that as you "slit latrine" bathroom. Make sure you use only the authentic tiny roll of GI toilet paper that came with your rations.

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