When Russia missed that 1984 window, and then 1985 passed with still no attack, we knew that Reagan’s military build-up while overtaxing the Russian military and their economy, along with his diplomatic victories, alliances, and those mid-range missiles in Europe, Grenada, his ignoring the massive demonstrations in Europe, his activities in Afghanistan, and Africa, we knew we had a long period of no attack coming for at least a decade, we didn’t know the wall would come down in 1991.
Latin America was a big deal back then also, with Reagan blocking Russian weapon deliveries and doing a lot of military stuff there, it was a time when many a patriotic American was serving as a merc in Africa or Latin America, I forget if guys were finding work in Afghanistan, Rhodesia and South Africa were popular destinations.