REFORGER '85: Security Duty, Snow and Brief Freedom

United States Army, Active Duty 1984–1986. During the last two weeks of January and the first week of February, the pace of REFORGER ’85 left almost no time for my notebook. When I began writing again, the main exercise was winding down, but our responsibility for the equipment was not.

Thursday, February 7: Six Security Escorts Remain

The last group from 4/61 ADA left for the Netherlands and the return trip home. Only two of us from 4/61 remained: SFC Sawyers and me. Four other soldiers from Fort Carson stayed with us, making a total of six security escorts responsible for our equipment.

That day I had a hot shower. It was only my third since January 9. That one line in the notebook says a great deal about the previous month.

Four soldiers standing together in the snow during REFORGER 85 — Cold weather and snow remained part of everyday duty as the exercise began winding down.

Friday, February 8: Looking for an Old Friend in Stuttgart

We left at 8:30 in the morning on a tour bus for Stuttgart and arrived at the PX at Robinson Barracks at 10:45. I went to the USO office and asked to borrow a telephone directory. I was trying to locate Ronald Hightower, an old high school friend who, the last I had heard, was serving there as an MP.

I could not find his name in the directory. The trip did not produce the reunion I had hoped for, but it gave me a brief chance to step away from the equipment, the snow, and the pace of the exercise.

Snow-covered rail yard in West Germany during the REFORGER 85 period — Movement through West Germany offered only brief pauses from the work of the exercise.

Saturday, February 9: Wiesbaden, Music and the Beer Tent

At 8:30 the next morning, I departed on another tour bus for Mainz-Kastel and Wiesbaden. I had a good time and bought a ski suit and boots.

On the return trip, a German radio station played “Rings” by Cymarron, a song released in the early 1970s and one of my favorites. Hearing a familiar American song while traveling through West Germany is one of the small details that stayed with me. The scenery between Hamelburg and Aschaffenburg was beautiful.

Saugers and I later went to the beer tent and had a few beers with Lieutenant Stanley. The band was late and did not finish setting up its equipment until 10 o’clock.

Bratwurst stand in West Germany during the winter of 1985 — A German food stand — the kind of ordinary scene that brings the setting back decades later.

Sunday, February 10: The Problems Behind the Movement

SFC Sawyers and I checked our vehicles. He wrote a report, and we went to turn it in to Captain Cal. Captain Cal, Major Gar, Major Wright, and another major whose name I never obtained were discussing the problems facing them as they moved all the vehicles.

They looked like the board of directors of a large business conglomerate. I was impressed by them as a capable group of problem-solvers. It was a reminder that the movements we experienced one vehicle at a time depended on officers solving a much larger logistical problem.

SFC Sawyer suggested that attempting to start all the vehicles in the severe cold could leave us trading batteries for coil shafts. The temperature was around 15 degrees below zero with the chill factor, and even simple tasks became difficult.

Using two brooms, we swept the snow from 37 Fort Carson vehicles. Headquarters DISCOM also moved into the tent occupied by SFC Sawyers, me, and members of the 4th Medical unit. That evening I returned to the beer tent with Lieutenant Stanley and listened to a band from Scotland. It was very cold, and there was no heat in the tent.

Soldier beside a snow-covered field tent during REFORGER 85 — Snow, tents, and extreme cold shaped even the routine work of looking after the vehicles.

Monday, February 11: A Range Day Lost to Snow

We were up at 6 with our gear and traveled to a German range to fire our weapons. There was too much snow, however, and the range was closed. We returned to the tent and ate breakfast.

At 10:00, orders sent six of us to Finance to receive our temporary-duty pay. It came to approximately $15 per person.

REFORGER was a major NATO exercise, but the diary also records its human scale: a hot shower, a familiar song on German radio, two brooms for 37 snow-covered vehicles, and a range day defeated by winter.

What Came Next

Within a week, we were moving toward Bremerhaven. Our next job was to prepare the vehicles and equipment for shipment aboard the American Eagle. The dock, the ship, and the people I met there would become another distinct chapter of the journey.

About Greg Cook

Greg Cook served in the United States Army from February 28, 1984, through February 28, 1986. His MOS was 76Y, Unit Armorer, and this REFORGER series records memories from that period of service.

REFORGER ’85: Security Duty, Snow and Brief Freedom