Four days in autumn - Exercise Autumn Forge in Germany 🇩🇪 | SEP 1978 | NATO Documentary

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  • Опубліковано 23 гру 2024

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  • @diggledoggle4192
    @diggledoggle4192 2 роки тому +43

    Lots of this footage was used in the mockumentary 'WW3' from 1998

  • @devon5154
    @devon5154 9 місяців тому +6

    Thank you tuis footage is priceless

  • @cigarcityweymouth
    @cigarcityweymouth 10 місяців тому +17

    Was in reforger 78 schweinfurt Germany 3rd Inf.

    • @rogergolden8950
      @rogergolden8950 7 місяців тому +2

      Kitzingen 3rd ID.

    • @arthursmith1560
      @arthursmith1560 3 місяці тому +1

      I was in Wildflicken Germany, during this same time frame 2-15 Infantry, 3rd ID.

  • @residentgeardo
    @residentgeardo Рік тому +38

    at 20:05 "you never know what's on the other side of the hill". What an innocent world this was before the advent of FPV drones and loitering munition....

    • @MM22966
      @MM22966 11 місяців тому +3

      Ironically, this is only a couple of years before they were getting the first ideas for loitering munitions (TACIT RAINBOW, to deal with Soviet SAM defenses).

  • @gordonlandreth9550
    @gordonlandreth9550 5 місяців тому +8

    Fascinating video of the post Vietnam Army training where it counted - West Germany . They finally got their Cold War Medal 30 years later .

    • @wcatholic1
      @wcatholic1 Місяць тому

      The Army of the 70s and 80s was the FUN Army! USAR 1980-1883. RA 1983-1986. ARNG 1990-1994.

  • @MM22966
    @MM22966 11 місяців тому +16

    What's interesting is how much the documentary emphasized the hopelessness of being the weaker side, the losses, the screw-ups, the potential losing to the enemy. The bit with the soldier in the chopper yelling "we lost 3/4 of our unit!".
    I can't tell if it is the malaise/anti-war attitude from the Vietnam War affecting how they edited it, a dislike of the idea of WW3 generally, or something else, but you can see a stark difference from a few years later in the Reagan era, where there was still the tenseness of the consequences, but it was more big smiles/we're tough/we're back!/we'll fight & win despite being the underdog attitude showing through.

    • @patrick764
      @patrick764 10 місяців тому +1

      Interesting perspective.

    • @a.t6066
      @a.t6066 9 місяців тому +6

      I mean until the mid-late 80s nato forces were actually pretty outclassed by the Soviets in a ground war. But I suppose the footage also shows what the reality of war would have been. Had ww3 kicked off it would have been even more devastating than ww2 was

    • @gordonlandreth9550
      @gordonlandreth9550 5 місяців тому +4

      1978 was still the Vietnam era . Good troops , but no Bradley vehicles or M - 1 tanks . Morale was good , but we knew we were outnumbered .

    • @Uuuu-y8s
      @Uuuu-y8s Місяць тому

      Of maybe it's just that they were trying to convince the taxpayers about how bad was their situation so they could spend a shitton of money into the military. I think this was around late 70s, when the big fives (apache, Patriot, Blackhawk, Abrams and Bradley) were introduced and they needed to justify their implementation

  • @lloydzufelt7514
    @lloydzufelt7514 6 місяців тому +7

    I loved my time while stationed at Stuttgart Army Airfield West Germany 1981-84 firefighter 51m40.

    • @bearsmith3655
      @bearsmith3655 3 місяці тому +1

      Patch Barracks 1980-1983!!

    • @wcatholic1
      @wcatholic1 Місяць тому

      31J USAR 80-83. 16S 83-86. 11B ARNG 90-94.

  • @grayharker6271
    @grayharker6271 Місяць тому +1

    These exercises were mainly for troops from the US. The units in USAER trained like this year round. We knew if it came, it would be late winter early spring. Russians understand you don't start an offense in late August. The French and Germans taught them that.

  • @erwinsegers3696
    @erwinsegers3696 2 роки тому +6

    Day 2 15:36 Belgian Army Leopard 1 tanks...

    • @alvinhang8721
      @alvinhang8721 7 місяців тому +1

      Back in the days when Belgium had tanks.

  • @elimaurer9491
    @elimaurer9491 Рік тому +7

    14:20 why is there red smoke inside the Infantry transport vehicle?

    • @dacomazielsdorf7618
      @dacomazielsdorf7618 Рік тому +6

      Either someone messed up and pulled a pin or it got taken out and that's how they showed it

    • @05017351
      @05017351 Рік тому +10

      Often, smoke flares would be remotly triggered to show that a vehicle had been knocked out. The troops inside would then be marked as "dead" or have to be treated as wounded.

    • @harveywallbanger3123
      @harveywallbanger3123 Рік тому +7

      It was supposed to simulate that the APC was hit and burning. These exercises do that kind of thing.

    • @MM22966
      @MM22966 11 місяців тому +5

      One of the OCs (referees) was probably sitting inside the M113, heard the bang outside as a simulated RPG hit it, and with a big grin pulled the tab of a red smoke grenade, yelling, "TRACK IS HIT!!! IT'S BUUUUURNING!!! WHAT DO YOU DOOOO???"

    • @a.t6066
      @a.t6066 9 місяців тому +3

      It's not red smoke, it's a red light coloring the smoke. M113 at the time had red interior lights. Its less visible at night or low light conditions compared to white or blue light.

  • @aprilgeneric8027
    @aprilgeneric8027 4 місяці тому +8

    kudos to any one who can spot a certain young colonel on his way to command of allied forces post 9-11-2001

    • @Nosedruul
      @Nosedruul 3 місяці тому +1

      Holy smokes, was that David Petraeus? He looked kind of old even back then.

    • @robertanderson7248
      @robertanderson7248 7 днів тому

      Petraus

  • @MM22966
    @MM22966 11 місяців тому +7

    I wonder what was going through the soldier's minds, practicing for this? You can see in their faces it was a lot more 'real' than most exercises nowadays, with hundreds of thousands of enemy troops within driving distance.
    This was about the weakest point in the Cold War for the Western Alliance. Budgets were down because of the Oil Crisis earlier in the decade, America was battered, bruised, and confused from the Vietnam War's loss, NATO was not thinking/arming seriously for a conventional war yet, and the Soviets & Warsaw Pact's gear was nearly equal in quality at this point, with none of the dissolution/loss of confidence the 80's would bring.
    Another case of nuclear weapons saving people's lives, because in any other period of history, the Soviets probably WOULD have gone for it, and World War III would have happened. But because MAD is a thing, it would be pointless to fight conventionally when everything would be blown up if they 'won'.

    • @wcatholic1
      @wcatholic1 Місяць тому

      If a conventional battle had lasted long enough then chemical or tactical nuclear weapons would have been used. Then Pandoras' box opens.

  • @constitutionalist6817
    @constitutionalist6817 2 роки тому +44

    my NCO tendencies screamed when the guy dropped his helmet while putting on his gasmask lol 🤮

    • @georgerobert4709
      @georgerobert4709 2 роки тому +26

      My military senses were offended when you called it a gasmask !!! It's a Respirator ! :) Down and give me 20 .....in your respirator :)

    • @harveywallbanger3123
      @harveywallbanger3123 Рік тому +22

      Your NCO tendencies are a generation too young. The Kevlar K-pot didn't come out until '83. You're not gonna break an M1 steel pot by dropping it, we used to boil water and dig foxholes with ours.

    • @defcon4998
      @defcon4998 11 місяців тому

      My military senses were offended again when u didnt say promask​@@georgerobert4709

    • @BLUECHET
      @BLUECHET 11 місяців тому +2

      This was pretty good….

    • @John-or9ccUndauntedRaceCars
      @John-or9ccUndauntedRaceCars 5 місяців тому +2

      ​@@georgerobert4709called a ProMask in my time . ( protective mask )

  • @cigarcityweymouth
    @cigarcityweymouth 10 місяців тому +2

    First time I saw a A10 in the air

  • @joedredd13215
    @joedredd13215 Рік тому +4

    Never understood why U.S infantry didn’t have their chinstraps down 🤷‍♂️

    • @noface4176
      @noface4176 2 місяці тому +2

      Apparently it was a common myth during ww2 that if wearing your chin strap during an nearby could break your neck so i suppose it lasted until the M1 helmet was replaced

    • @thomasscoggin5131
      @thomasscoggin5131 7 днів тому +1

      guys thought that the percussion from a artillery blast would shoot the helmet up causing the strap to break the neck, which was reported a handful of times in ww2, how ever after that i think it became more of a tradition but it mostly went away when the pasgt style chinstrap was added

  • @tommym321
    @tommym321 11 місяців тому +6

    How on earth were they able to license Pink Floyd for this program?!?

  • @Nosedruul
    @Nosedruul 3 місяці тому

    18:30 to 18:37 Did we just witness a fragging?

    • @decimated550
      @decimated550 2 місяці тому

      Every unit has its funny guy. It's class clown and that guy looks just like the type is completely in character. Tossing an apple at an officer

  • @noobolesen1831
    @noobolesen1831 3 роки тому +6

    🇩🇰👌

  • @Keithrrr
    @Keithrrr 7 місяців тому +4

    Obscured by clouds by Pink Floyd, trying to sound all hip and shit😎😂🤣🎸

    • @gordonlandreth9550
      @gordonlandreth9550 5 місяців тому +1

      In the Army before drug testing - what do you expect ?

    • @Nosedruul
      @Nosedruul 3 місяці тому +1

      I reckon it worked surprisingly well!

    • @decimated550
      @decimated550 2 місяці тому +1

      ​@@gordonlandreth9550hey, the creators of the training video wanted to appeal to their generation of soldiers, I can dig it and plus Pink Floyd has heavy themes in their music anyway.

  • @Veteran-Nurse
    @Veteran-Nurse 3 місяці тому +1

    I remember all this. We were giants then. The Soviets were good. By the way. They would have failed.

  • @residentgeardo
    @residentgeardo Рік тому +5

    lol the soldier at 11:09 moans very convincingly 😉

  • @USViper
    @USViper 11 місяців тому

    The Hawk missile system

  • @KlaysterPaltcev
    @KlaysterPaltcev 3 роки тому

    👍✌👌💪⚘🙋🙋‍♀️🙋‍♂️

  • @SAT186971
    @SAT186971 3 місяці тому

    For NATO as no been 1990y

  • @cigarcityweymouth
    @cigarcityweymouth 10 місяців тому +2

    Gas Gas Gas 😂😂😂

  • @aprilgeneric8027
    @aprilgeneric8027 4 місяці тому +1

    given what's going on in ukraine 2022-2024 so far, these simulations didn't account for alot namely the russians not playing dirtier than the devil could even imagine. trains aren't an option, roads aren't much better and aerial recon and bombers.....are every where.

    • @Nosedruul
      @Nosedruul 3 місяці тому +1

      They can play as dirty as they want; they've been showing the world that they're not very good at it!

    • @Veteran-Nurse
      @Veteran-Nurse 3 місяці тому +1

      It has always been thus.