Lot's of us seem to have done a REFORGER, so how about listing the years, your unit, & duty position. Note this includes all the folks who served in host-country forces, in-country forces, etc & not just deploying US forces. Who knows, we might have crossed paths somewhere.

1975, Materiel Officer, 701st Maintenance Battalion, 1st Infantry Division.

1977, Commander, Co D, 70st Maint Bn, 1st ID.

1987, XO, 317th Supply & Service Battalion, 43rd CSG, III Corps.

I was gonna start putting down highlights, but that could go forever.

John

1988, 2nd Platoon Leader, A Co., 5-77 Armor, 8th ID(M)
1989, REFORGER cancelled due to the Berlin Wall coming down
1990, Observer/Controller for the "Nerf Ball War" (a blue or orange Nerf basketball was placed on the antenna of a HMMWV to signify a manuever platoon). This was an extremely scaled down REFORGER due to the political turmoil of the collapse of the Warsaw Pact and Soviet Union.

1984 5th Military Police Company
Security for Jump TOC

The only highlights, we were ambushed by red force's Brads (which was also the first we were to see those and the M1s. They flew threw one of our CCPs..it was almost a religious experience)...and they added so much chlorine to the water buffalo you couldn't stand to drink the water.

1985 218th Military Police Company
Working accidents.

Pretty tame

You'd think I'd remember REFORGER specifically, but being assigned in Germany made it seem like just one more big FTX.

I remember a big exercise in Nov 1972, right after I got in country, but belive that was a V Corps FTX and not REFORGER. I know that in one REFORGER, instead of 1ID, the deploying unit was the 101st ABN, and they did not fare too well against a Mech Division. I recall our CG sending out a "well done" message to everyone saying that we had been all over them "like a chicken on a June bug" which became a catch phrase for serious laughter.

I remember being involved with the 1975 REFORGER, with 1st ID, because sometime during the exercise, my vehicle passed by a convoy of the 5th FA from 1ID, and I saw a former chief of section in the commander's hatch of one of their M109's. Small world.

And I think it was during the REFORGER of 1976, I worked as an observer/controller, because I think that year 8th ID was not involved as a maneuver unit. I wound up with a Corps Arty unit with the 175mm M107. At one point in the exercise, the battery was attacked by a German unit with Leopard tanks. The BC tried to "engage" them with his howitzers, but I had to tell him he finished in 2nd place. A DISTANT second place!

Tom

CARAVAN GUARD was the perennial V Corps exercise. I did one in February 1988 and another in 1989, very cold times.

Indeed. I couldn't figure out the necessity of removing perfectly good canvas on my jeep and driving all over the countryside with the windshield down and sandbagged! Not quite as cold in November as February, but at least it was wet. :-)

Tom

My Caravan Guard experience was riding around in an M113A2 that represented my tank platoon. Force on force was funny because a "company" consisting of one M151A2 Jeep (commander) and three M113A2s (tank platoon leaders) could easily miss an enemy company on a parallel spider trail a hundred meters away.

A lot of re-cocks due to the "ships passing in the night" syndrome.

jRatz - It was either 86 or 87 (i think 87) did a Reforger with the 1010th S&S Co even though I was branched INF. Main deployment of our cell was at a POMCUS site in Coevorden, Netherlands. Since you were in materiel, maybe you were, or have been up around there.. I still have some little knick knacks from Der Bonte Weaver and some delft blue i picked up for the missus. Had a great time with a couple of days off for Belgium since our cell deployed towards the end of the exercise.

1010th S&S Co, Pittsburgh, KS !!!, did REFORGER in '87, your Co Cdr was Maurica Goodnight, right or was it Dan Hahn ?? 317th was just up the road in Lawrence. 1010th was one of my favorite units, great people & always did a bang-up job where-ever they went.

We shipped our equipment & picked it up somewhere in Holland, don't remember the specific port. I was advance party OIC & had to get halfway across Germany. Night before we are due to leave, some soldier wrecked a vehicle & got killed & of course the chain of command over-reacted & locked down everything.

We were set up that 1/2 my party & all 3/4T were to be airlifted & I was to take the bigger stuff cross-country. So I spent 2 hours begging, pleading, cajoling & threatening to turn my little convoy loose.

Once I got permission to go, I policed up some other folks (Incl a wrecker) & off we went -- an Major & a map & away we go. One of the 2-1/2 blew an engine & we blew thru the Holland-Germany border with the truck blowing oil everywhere; hooked up to the wrecker & off again. Ran into the biggest rainstorm in decades, major flooding everywhere. Found the Kaserne, found my airlifted folks, threw some medical squatters out of our assigned building & tried to dry out.

Next morning we found ou tthat our in-country, supposedly hot-stuff, S&S Co had set themselves up in a low spot & been washed away -- that was actually a high point of our subsequent relations with them (& their peace-time chain who were trying to cover up).

John

First of those (V Corps CPX) I did was 1970, but CARAVAN GUARD doesn't ring a bell as the name, although I can't come up with a better one. I was only 1 2LT at the time, so didn't know squat. My memory of it was boring, except when the field stove blew up & filled our tent with soot.

The last one I remember was 1973 (I was Shop Officer C/122 Maint Bn), right about the time of the little Arab-Israeli dust-up. So we got orders "Well, you're already out there, so just stay there & look menacing. No you can't have ammo." or words to that effect. So we played along, drug out the CPX/FTX, etc. Thankfully the Israeli's are efficient & we weren't there long. Bde forget to tell us we could come home & once I figured out we'd been left, I policed up all the broke vehicles & dropped 'em off in front of Bde HQ & went home. Bde XO & I had (another) discussion next morning.

John

Tom:

1/5 FA, I believe lineage is oldest battery in US Army ?
Anyway, a couple years later, the DISCOM XO was selected as Bn Cdr 1/5FA & a finer gentlemen you can't find anywhere. A great DISCOM XO then 1/5 was one of my customers.

About a year into his tour, a few people (I won't call 'em soldiers) decided they didn't want to go on training & sabotaged their vehicles. He couldn't believe anyone would do this & couldn't reconcile it & resigned. I still carry him on my top-half-dozen list of folks I'd follow anywhere. Damn shame.

Break:
I got to 3AD in Aug '70, left Jul '74. Only trip to Baumholder was maybe 71/72-ish, to visit your Division Tech Supply.

John

You are correct! I believe it is "Delta" 1/5 which is referred to as the "Alexander Hamilton Battery" and claims the distinction of being the oldest continuous unit in the US Army.

Was the Division Tech Supply associated with the 708th Maint? I had several friends over there, including a CW4 Woodmansee, and a CPT O.L. Croom, both legendary! And in late '74 we got an FA CPT transferred in from 708th to become the HHB commander. He replaced an idiot who was very properly asked to find other employment. At the time I was HHB XO and not very happy. The incoming commander was a true breath of fresh air, and we remain very good friends to this day, over 30 years later.

That sure was an "interesting" time to be a soldier, wasn't it?

Tom

My first was Reforger in 1976.The airfield in Katterbach was set up as HQ or one army I believe.Great time to see Brit armor,and German Leopards.
I just missed our second reforger in 78,I was too short.

John,

During the 70s V Corps was still in the south and VII Corps was in the north...correct? I seem to recall that a shuffle took place before I arrived and that VII Corps was in the south. What year did the shuffle take place anyone know?

When I was there from 1972 through 1977, V Corps (at that time 8th ID and 3rd AD) was in the North, with Corps HQ in the old I.G. Farben Bldg, which was renamed the Abrams Bldg, shortly after he died. And VII Corps (3rd ID and 1st AD) was in the south.

I believe that VII Corps was inactivated sometime in the early 90s after Desert Storm. And there was a lot of "reflagging" going on as well. At the moment, there is only one Corps in Germany, V Corps, HQ now in Heidelberg and the two divisions are 1st Inf and 1st AD.

One of the things that obviously happened was as the number of total units went down, the number of installations also did, meaning the units left were less densely located and dispersed.

For example, in the mid 70's the entire 2nd Bde of the 8th ID (2 Tank and 3 Mech Inf Bns) AND the entire DIVARTY (3 BNS + 1 in Idar Oberstein) were all in Baumholder. The 1st AD (which "replaced" the 8th ID) now still has the HQ of it's 2nd Bde and DivArty there, but the units are scattered over a larger area in several Kasernes.

As jam packed as Baumholder was back then (12,000 + Americans in a town of about 6000 Germans), I gotta believe the quality of life there now has got to be improved with the significant decrease in the number of people.

But I have to wonder, with all the buildings they had for all those troops, and the much smaller number, did they tear some of them down or are there simply a lot of empty buildings there now. It would seem like a ghost town to me.

(Or does each platoon have its own "company" bldg? :-)

Tom

AN MP friend of mine, who is still over there, sent me some photos and video of the Augsburg Kasernes...it's sad.

Most have been torn down others have been converted to flats or office space. The huge PX is setting empty with all the windows gone and junk hanging out of the frames. The Junkers School at Tolz (Or PLDC for those of you went, or the Ranger courses. That was best place in the world to be assigned...I loved it dearly) )has been partially torn down and a car dealership sets on it and the rest has been turned into offices. Seeing those images made me feel....old.

I felt even older when I'd seen the images of McCellan at Anniston and all the MP training companies setting empty as well. Everything was overgrown with weeds and vines. The photos reminded me of those I'd seen of the abandoned bases in E.Germany and others.

Steve:

Tom has it right, V Corps in the north & VII in the south.

I've gotten over empty Kasernes & all that; it is long past time to leave.

Tom:
All of us in 3AD who were spread out never wanted to trade places with you folks in Baumholder. We had Frankfurt(couple Kasernes), Hanau(at least 2 Kas), Kirchgoens, Butzbach, Friedburg, Gelnhausen & another near there I don't remember but should -- it had the ADA Bn & our Missile Maint Det.

Closest we came to crowded was Kirchgoens with biggest Bde(1st or 2nd, don't remember) in US Army in army at that time, 3 armor, 2 mech, & 1 FA Bn. Actually the FA were down the road closer to me in Friedburg & so I supported them (giving me 2A, 1M, 2FA Plus usual Bde ash & trash).

John

REFORGER '92. I was attached to some Medical Unit already out there, and basically did nothing, but take blood pressures, and inventorying junk. Made out with a Dental assistant out there in the 5 ton expando. Got caught by the Doctor she was working with (looking for her Tom Clancy book). She just snickered at us, and said to continue on our business.
That is all I remember about that REFORGER, plus the good food.

[/quote]

1010th S&S Co, Pittsburgh, KS !!!, did REFORGER in '87, your Co Cdr was Maurica Goodnight, right or was it Dan Hahn ?? 317th was just up the road in Lawrence. 1010th was one of my favorite units, great people & always did a bang-up job where-ever they went.

We shipped our equipment & picked it up somewhere in Holland, don't remember the specific port. I was advance party OIC & had to get halfway across Germany. Night before we are due to leave, some soldier wrecked a vehicle & got killed & of course the chain of command over-reacted & locked down everything.

We were set up that 1/2 my party & all 3/4T were to be airlifted & I was to take the bigger stuff cross-country. So I spent 2 hours begging, pleading, cajoling & threatening to turn my little convoy loose.

Once I got permission to go, I policed up some other folks (Incl a wrecker) & off we went -- an Major & a map & away we go. One of the 2-1/2 blew an engine & we blew thru the Holland-Germany border with the truck blowing oil everywhere; hooked up to the wrecker & off again. Ran into the biggest rainstorm in decades, major flooding everywhere. Found the Kaserne, found my airlifted folks, threw some medical squatters out of our assigned building & tried to dry out.

Next morning we found ou tthat our in-country, supposedly hot-stuff, S&S Co had set themselves up in a low spot & been washed away -- that was actually a high point of our subsequent relations with them (& their peace-time chain who were trying to cover up).

John[/quote]
Hi John... It was Goodnight that was CO at the time. Our cells flew into Germany then dispersed there and into the Netherlands, so we had people in alot of different areas. 1010th was my first assigned unit out of OBC since i stayed in reserve instead of going into guard, and I agree- lots of great people, especially the NCOs (taught me alot).
chris

I believe it was the 2nd largest. I remember being told that 2nd Bde of the 8th ID in Baumholder was just slightly larger. They had 3 mech and 2 armor, and the TOE strength of a mech bn was slightly larger than that of an armor Bn. The FA Bn would have been in a DS relationship to the Bde, and part of DivArty, not actually organic to the Bde.

As bad as things were in Baumholder, one big advantage was that the tank trail to the MTA ran right past the back gate of our Motor Pool. When we went to the field, we simply convoyed out and were at the Firing Points ready to shoot when the range opened. (and the fog lifted!!!!) It didn't involve having to put the tracks on a train.

The BAD news was that since the MTA was right there we went to the field a lot. I recall that from Jan through April we would go out on Tues with an SP time of about 0600 and hit the wash rack about 1400 on Thurs, three weeks out of 4. We'd take a "pre-test" in late April, and then in mid May we'd load out and go to Graf for a month. Each Bn in the DivArty would move to Graf one week apart, so that eventually we were all there. The big event was a DivArty TOT. When it worked, it was something to see. Fifty four 155mm rounds and twelve 8" rounds all hitting the same spot within +/- 1 sec. It was the only time you'd find all the field grades up on the OP!

Tom

Tom:

Maybe we were bigger by weight :-) :-)

Yeah, we had no where to go except EDP or Graf/Wildchicken/Hohenfels. We had a Corps & a Div FTX around home about once a year.

In 3AD, a host Bde was picked & of course that meant the support guys went along. And of course units filtered thru, but we just stayed & stayed & stayed. Scout Crew Qual was about a 4-day event for each Bn, but I was there a month. At Graf in 74, I supported every AR IN, FA Bn in the Div plus the Cav & Eng Bn (for three days all were there) -- we were there almost two months. And we did Hohenfels in there somewhere. But, Mr Goodwrench - can't have that much fun with the lights on anywhere ....

In fact, I used the V Corps rule that you couldn't have a CMMI if you were "in the field" because I had something from my company supporting someone somewhere about 10 months a year. Used to cause all sorts of CMMI consternation when they showed up un-announced & I hit 'em with the "the rule" .& they'd fuss & fume & declare "Well one van & 3 soldiers isn't in the field" but loose -- which made them all sorts of angry when they finally caught us "at home" one day ... Pay-back is hell ...

John

I was in the 1986 Reforger. I was a driver on an M1in the 3rd Squadron 2nd ACR. What I remember most is that the ground was too soft to allow us to participate in the maneuvers with our tanks. We spent two weeks camped out in some woods trying to keep warm and fight off boredom !!

In 86 I was on CQ so I missed that one.

This is on our way in 84 and fuel stop in Bangor.


We were the last to board the plane and we flew in the first class section.(on Delta of course) Everyone else were packed like sardines in the back and we had a row to ourselves. (God bless Top for that one)

We paid for it in the end. We went back packed in shoulder to shoulder, knee to knee, on a C141, in jump seats, and I was stuck under the hydraulic pumps. Those of us fore were freezing and those aft were complaining that it was too hot. We landed in Gander in the middle of the night, snow flakes the size of VWs, and four bucks for a lousy hot dog in those quonset huts that they alleged to be a terminal.

REFORGER? Oh how I missed those!!!! My first one was in, if my old memory hangs in there, was in late '84 or early '85. I had just PCS'd from Germany to Louisiana and was in the US for maybe three months (5th ID) and we went back to Germany for the REFORGER. I was the S-3's driver when we went. G-Dang I loved it. I went again while stationed in Germany with the 3AD Artillery, from '86 to '89; don't remember which year.

Oh, key point: During the first REFORGER I was given 4 days (yep, FOUR days) leave to go see my future wife in Hanau. SHEEEEEEEEEEEET, been married now for 21 years!!!!!!!!!!! :-) End result: REFORGER rocked!

Caravan Guard? THAT SUCKED! PERIOD!!!!!!!!!!

Memories; they do mean a LOT!

Mike