"New Documents Reveal How a 1980s Nuclear War Scare ..." Topic

…Became a Full-Blown Crisis.

"During 10 days in November 1983, the United States and the Soviet Union nearly started a nuclear war. Newly declassified documents from the CIA, NSA, KGB, and senior officials in both countries reveal just how close we came to mutually assured destruction — over a military exercise.

That exercise, Able Archer 83, simulated the transition by NATO from a conventional war to a nuclear war, culminating in the simulated release of warheads against the Soviet Union. NATO changed its readiness condition during Able Archer to DEFCON 1, the highest level. The Soviets interpreted the simulation as a ruse to conceal a first strike and readied their nukes. At this period in history, and especially during the exercise, a single false alarm or miscalculation could have brought Armageddon.…"
Full article here
link

We were so close…

Amicalement
Armand

The early 1980's was a period of high tension between the US and the USSR, because the Soviets invaded Afghanistan earlier and newly elected president Ronald Reagan rekindled what was known as 'Cold War II,' ending the state of 'Détente' (an easing of tensions) which prevailed after the Vietnam War.

Both sides ratcheted up the rhetoric (before Andropov it was Brezhnev), restarted the arms race, built more ICBMs, and took on more belligerent postures on both sides of the 'Iron Curtain.' But I wasn't too worried, because the hotline installed after the CMC ensured communication between the belligerents. Good times.

Able Archer makes great material for what if scenarios of all kinds, including conventional, nuclear, and post nuclear Twilight 2000 style stuff. its what I use for my Eureka and US 80s NBC gear troops to fight over.

I love Able Archer!

It was indeed a time of high tensions. I was stationed in Germany as a young sergeant in the Belgian Army Combat Engineers at that time. I remember that we were placed on war alert at least once or twice a month. We received our basic load of live ammo, had to load our M75 Full-Track's with our wartime combat load and then wait near our vehicles. It usually was 1 to 2 days before we were stood down again. Some of these alarms were mere exercises but we knew when they were for real when we were told to break the seal on the ammo boxes and load live ammo in our magazines. You never broke that seal in the Belgian Army unless you were going to use the ammo. :-)

As Combat Engineers we were going to be the first ones in to load and set off the prepared demolition sites that were all over our sector in Germany. They told us that we had a life expectancy of 30 seconds once the shooting started because of the many Hind gunships that the Soviets could throw at us, something like 3 or 4 per kilometer of front.

Those were scary times to be a soldier, but we were young, cocky and ready to rumble. I always told my new squads of 18 yo conscript combat engineers that we would die on top of a pile of dead Soviets.. they were not amused by that idea. :-)

Fons
MMPS

Certainly high tensions in that period and RYaN was real, but there is no evidence to this day that the Soviets were about to react to Able Archer by launching WW3. Precautions, yes, sensible in the circumstances, but GSFG was not rolling out of the barracks.