Archive for the ‘Cold War’ Category
Combat In Cities – Berlin
Tuesday, August 7th, 2018REFORGER 87
Sunday, March 11th, 2018Return of Forces to Germany or REFORGER was an annual exercise in Europe during the Cold War. It featured units arriving in Europe and drawing equipment from Prepositioning Of Materiel Configured in Unit Set (POMCUS) sites and then rolling out to engage a fictitious enemy. European-based units conducted training based on their General Defense Plans. A Combat Photography unit captured III Corps’ portions of the 1987 REFORGER exercise on video. At the time there were two additional Corps (V and VII) already in Germany.
Since I am currently in Germany and participated in REFORGER 88, which was actually the last of the series to feature large maneuver, I thought it would be a cool share.
Part 1
Part 2
The King’s Field Jacket
Sunday, November 19th, 2017This is SGT Elvis A. Presley’s M-1951 field jacket on display at Graceland. Yes, that Elvis.
Elvis served as a scout in A Company, 1st Battalion, 32nd Armor Regiment, 3rd Armor Division “Spearhead” at Ray Barracks, Freidberg, Germany from 1958 to 1960.
Photo by Thomas R Machnitzki
Edited to correct spelling of Friedberg; Western civilization is now secure.
October 25, 1983 – Operation Urgent Fury
Wednesday, October 25th, 2017
On the morning of October 25th, 1983, we awoke to reports that US forced had invaded the small Caribbean nation of Grenada, in order to liberate American medical students from danger posed by political instability. Joined by Regional Security System troops from a variety of Caribbean partner nations, they swiftly overwhelmed the Grenadian and Cuban troops. While Operation Urgent Fury was in name, a joint force operation, and included the use of Special Operations Forces, it highlighted many interoperability challenges, such as use of joint operational overlays and communications issues.
Several stove pipe problems suffered by the pre-Goldwater-Nichols military were identified during this operation. Additionally, Urgent Fury was conducted with many systems dating from the Vietnam war.
Just six years later, during the invasion of Panama, saw the first employment of several new weapons developed during the Reagan buildup such as the F-117 stealth fighter and the Marine Corps LAV-25. Grenada was a great learning experience for the US military as it highlighted issues with joint service operations, particularly in the communications arena as well as interoperability between Special Operations and General Purpose forces. For example, SOF also took a much more prominent role in operation Blue Spoon during the Panama invasion. We’ve come even further in the past three decades.
Finally, as with any conflict, lives were lost. Let us not forget the 19 Americans killed in action and the 116 who were wounded. Unfortunately, there were also 24 Grenadian civilians killed in the conflict.
Varusteleka Presents: Just a Jacket!
Saturday, September 9th, 2017For all of you who don’t want to pay for frills like zippers and hoods.
Get yours at, www.varusteleka.com/en/product/soviet-winter-work-jacket-brown-surplus.
Saturday Night at the Movies: “Friends and Neighbors-People You Know”
Sunday, June 4th, 2017Here’s a fantastic 1970 USAF educational documentary covering the mobilization, trainup, and deployment of USAF Air National Guard F-100 units. Narrated by the late Bob Crane of the television show Hogan’s Heroes, the film chronicles the mobilization of four F-100 equipped ANG squadrons in response to the Pueblo Crisis during 1968. One particular two-ship mission is covered from pre-flight briefing to post-flight celebration.
The Super Sabre, better known as “The Hun” was the USAF’s first supersonic fighter and formed the backbone of the USAF and many NATO and allied Air Forces prior to the arrival of the F-4 Phantom. The last Huns were retired from the Taiwanese and Danish air forces in the early 1980s, following USAF ANG retirement in 1979.
The squadrons mobilized and highlighted in the film are:
- 120thTactical Fighter Squadron (TFS) Bobcats of the Colorado ANG (tail VS)
- 174th TFS Bats of the Iowa ANG (tail HA)
- 188thTFS Tacos of the New Mexico ANG (tail SK)
- 136th TFS Rocky’s Raiders of the New York ANG (tail SG).
These four squadrons collectively logged more than 30,000 sorties during their deployments to Southeast Asia during 1968 and 1969, with some aircraft pulling up to five CAS sorties per day.
While the film may predate many of the SSD readership, many of our fathers and uncles likely owe their lives to “Weekend Warrior” CAS.
Enjoy.
Uniqlo’s Mens Military Work Long Sleeve Shirt Is The Spitting Image Of A 64 Pattern OG-107 Fatigue Jacket
Monday, May 8th, 2017Uniqlo is a Japanese active wear brand known for their inexpensive wares. Recently, I found out they were recreating the Cotton OG-107 Fatigue Jacket which may well be the most iconic variant of the green fatigues-era of our armed forces. The Shirt has the classic lines and even feels like it’s been washed quite a bit, just like you’d find in a 1970s surplus store.
In addition to OD, they also offer Khaki and Black. They’ve even included color appropriate buttons for those variants.
Currently in clearance, get yours before they’re gone. One note, unlike Issue uniforms, they are Small-3XL. Also, go up a size for these.
See “Dr Strangelove” On The Big Screen
Wednesday, September 7th, 2016Fathom Events, Turner Classic Movies and Sony Pictures Entertainment invite you to scheme on the big screen when the Stanley Kubrick classic “Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb” (1964) bursts into cinemas nationwide for a special two-day event on Sunday, September 18 and Wednesday, September 21.
I attended the recent showing of “Planet of the Apes” and it was awesome. I had never seen it in a theater and had only once seen it on the big screen as a small child at the drive-in. If you are a fan, I highly encourage you to attend. For more info, visit bit.ly/DRstrangelove.
