SIG MMG 338 Program Series

What Americans Looked Like to Warsaw Pact Forces

Soldiers of the US Army, patrolling the German/Czech border.

Photos were taken by a Czech Pioneer Service Guard.

22 Responses to “What Americans Looked Like to Warsaw Pact Forces”

  1. Payce says:

    That’s something you don’t really think about, how we look through a camera lens from the other side.

  2. Archangel says:

    great photos, thanks for posting them!

  3. Ed says:

    Interesting, in the second pic a Sgt has a marked Confidential folder/notebook out in the open, not in a secure space. You gotta love early OPSEC or lack there of! Crazy.

    • Ton E says:

      Ones really gotta wonder if they staged it to take focus off of something else.

    • Matt in Oklahoma says:

      “Confidential” is as low as it goes. The odds that there is anything of true value in it is pretty low. I’m guessing since he is overweight, shiny watch, and can’t even secure a pouch for his bandage he’s Guard probably at Reforger or S Shop.
      OPSEC and security of documents has hardly improved. Wiki leaks got its information from an E4 with like no time in grade or service.
      There is always someone watching you. It’s arrogant to think otherwise in any conflict hot or cold.

      • Maroon Beret says:

        That’s not a “bandage.” That’s a decon kit that was frequently attached to LBE. Guess you need to have served there to really understand what is taking place.

        • Strike-Hold says:

          Word – and it was SUPPOSED to be worn exposed like that so that you or one of your buddies could get to it ASAP in case of chemical or biological exposure.

          • Stefan S. says:

            Served during the Cold War in the Infantry (11C4P). No unit I was in wore it that way. It was in the pouch on the back of the M-17 or M-40 pro mask carrier. The First Aid kit upside down went there left side on the ALICE Suspenders.

      • Ed says:

        Yo Matt, I don’t know what part of the IC or SOCOM or regular Military branch your in, but I can attest to first hand knowledge that our Opsec in handling is very good. Yes “Chelsea” did download classified material on a CD and carry it out to send to a media source. Now when it comes to big Govt. and the breach of 30yrs worth of clearance’s that were stolen back in 2014-15, by the Chinese, I blame that on our idiot bureaucrats at that time. OPM hired a contractor to create a new data base for all clearances and investigations, and that contractor sub-contracted out that job to a Chinese owned company that OPM did research or do a screening for. They fuct us way more than “Chealsea” the traitor. Believe me, between “her”, Ed Snowden and our shitty Bureaucrats that control our Govt, they all set us back a few years unfortunately.

        • Ed says:

          Correction: OPM didn’t* research or screen.

        • Matt in Oklahoma says:

          Yeah I’m pretty aware of the OPM releasing all our info. I’m part of the breach in a law enforcement branch. They got several of my accounts. Just got the last cleaned up last month.
          I was regular branch not anything else. Retired now. Never saw a decon kit carried there.
          There are other OPSEC breaches from low levels that shouldn’t have happened.

        • rector says:

          If they’d jailed or relieved everyone in Manning’s chain of command up to 0-7 level, we’d never have another leak. [On second thought, then we’d probably have zero intel flow below the rank of 0-7…]

      • 32sbct says:

        Hey Matt, bad guess on your part. Take a better look at the photo, your fat boy isn’t Guard or Reserve he’s a AD Soldier in the First Armored Division. You can clearly read Old Ironsides on the bottom of the patch. And anybody who served back then, yes even Guard or Reservists would know that was a decon kit, not a pouch for a bandage.

        • Matt in Oklahoma says:

          I did serve and there too. Yup I was WRONG bout the decon kit. I admit it. If he’s regular then that’s a damn shame.

  4. Ed says:

    I like where heads at, deception…. I should not jump to conclusions so fast.
    Thanks

    • Ton E says:

      I just consider every possibility. On the other hand the other side that in the back of my head saying he can’t be that brazen but then I recall the amount of blatant stupidity I’ve seen being in for nearly 12 years lol.

  5. Homer says:

    I have a few of those old decon kit containers. They’re very rugged and have a high quality gasketed seal in the lid. Excellent for protecting small items from both water entry and crushing. Pull out the spike inside the lid with a pair of pliers.

  6. C. Myngs says:

    I clicked the link hoping to see some troops wearing the old “Elvis collar” BDUS. Just seeing the soldier in the green rain coat is starting to make me sweat; that thing was like wearing a garbage bag.