NATO to kick off biggest drills in decades with some 90,000 troops (Russia suspiciously not mentioned)

Reuters ^ | 1/18/24 | Reuters

[C210N]

BRUSSELS, Jan 18 (Reuters) - Around 90,000 troops will participate in NATO's largest exercise for decades, known as Steadfast Defender 2024, that will kick off next week and run through to May, the alliance's top commander Chris Cavoli said on Thursday.

[ansel12]

What about the larger unit for when they were transporting a lot of troops on long flights?

When I saw that I wondered if it was very expensive and unique to the plane, I also thought it was very useful for troops who had been riding and flying for 20 hours and then could hit the ground more ready and somewhat refreshed than without it.

[ansel12]

I guess “comfort pallet” was what I was posting about in post 21 and overlooked in your post.

[Night Hides Not]

I participated in REFORGER 77 as an augmentee. I was the Platoon Leader for one of the Chaparral platoons for 2/67 ADA out of Mannheim. Great experience, I had the gig down as a Platoon Leader at C Battery 6/56 ADA at Hahn AB.

I deferred to the Platoon Sergeant, it was his platoon, I was there to lend a hand. LOL, he didn't like being a platoon leader, anyway.

During alerts at Hahn, I was the Army Liasion Officer, instead of leading my platoon outside the Wing CP. A side job I had down in the hole was NBC Advisor to the Wing Commander, thanks to a fortuitous moment on my very first visit to the CP.

Long story short, I stepped into the discussion on an NBC input after the Wing Disaster Prep Office (a Captain) overrreacted. I had to barge in, because 2nd LTs are to be seen and not heard, particularly Army butterbars...lol.

15 minutes after that, I heard the Wing Cdr bellow from the Bird's Nest, "as long as I'm in command, whenever there's an NBC input, I want that Army LT up here!"

I really enjoyed my time at Hahn and Spangdahlem, where our Battalion HQ was located. So many stories, now interesting only to me.

[Gaffer]

I worked communications management and reporting (NCMO) out of Lindsey AS for REFORGER in the early 70s - REturn of FORces to GERmany. Hearing you mention some of the ABs (Hahn, Spangdahlem, there was Bitburg) and so many others ALL had parts in the biyearly exercises. The hardest part of it was the setup and running of the mobile comms groups and squadrons assigned to it.

Today? The bases and posts are nearly all gone, the stockpiles of tanks gone - as they should be, and whatever comms there may be are satellite. Germany et al need to take care of themselves.

[Night Hides Not]

My battalion was deactivated in the mid 90s. We had composite Chaparral/Towed Vulcan batteries at Hahn, Bitburg, and Spangdahlem.

As soon as I could, I moved out of the BOQ at Hahn to Traben-Trarbach. It was a dozen miles off base, too far from the AFN signal, except for one weird night in December of 1980, when I was awakened by AFN radio in Frankfurt that John Lennon was murdered.

When I was transferred to Battalion HQ in Spangdahlem, I kept my apartment. The commute was about 30 miles/40 minutes, with one stop light in Wittlich. The route took me through the Urziger Wurzgarten vineyards, what a beautiful area.