(Joe Wesley/Stars and Stripes)

Nuernberg, Germany, January 1969: Maj. Callie Carson, the chief nurse of the 5th Surgical Hospital from Fort Knox, Ky., was the only woman involved in Reforger I, the first Reforger exercise. The exercise, short for Return of Forces to Germany, prepared and trained U.S.-based troops in rapid deployment to West Germany and cooperation with forces of other NATO countries in the event of a conflict with the Warsaw Pact, the military alliance of the communist-ruled countries of central and eastern Europe and the Soviet Union. The event was held annually until 1993 when the fall of communism, the end of the Warsaw Pact alliance and the reunification of Germany made the exercise obsolete.

Read the article about the first U.S. based forces arriving for Reforger I here.

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