Briefing Issue 3- 11/18/25 REFORGER (Return of Forces to Germany) Wisconsin National Guard Moral patch . Form the Cold War Outpost Collection REFORGER, an acronym for "Return of Forces to Germany" (also known as "Redeployment of FORces to GERmany"), was a series of annual NATO military exercises conducted from 1969 to 1993 during the Cold War. These large-scale maneuvers simulated the rapid reinforcement of Western European defenses against a potential Soviet invasion, involving the...

Briefing Issue 2- 10/10/2025 Operation BIG LIFT Operation Big Lift, conducted from October 22 to November 1963, stands as one of the largest and most ambitious military airlift exercises in U.S. history. This Cold War-era operation involved the rapid deployment of the U.S. Army's 2nd Armored Division—nicknamed "Hell on Wheels"—from Fort Hood, Texas, to West Germany, demonstrating America's ability to swiftly reinforce NATO allies in the event of a Soviet invasion. Over 15,000 troops and...

What was the Warsaw Pact? Briefing I The Warsaw Pact was a collective defense treaty, created by the Soviet Union and seven Central and Eastern Europe countries:  Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland and Romania (Albania withdrew from the treaty in 1968). Emblem of the Warsaw Pact Formally known as the Treaty of Friendship, Co-operation and Mutual Assistance. The Warsaw Pact was created on May 14th 1955, shortly after the accession of West Germany to the Western...