Welcome to Cold War Conversations, the home of real stories of the Cold War.

And our mission was to push back whatever Russian brigade or division,

armor division it was. And your last expectancy of the guys up front is 45 minutes.

It's our job to make it 50 minutes.

This is Cold War Conversations. If you're new here, you've come to the right place to listen to first-hand Cold War history accounts. Do make sure you follow us in your podcast app or join our emailing list at coldwarconversations.com.

Manuel Al-aga returns to the podcast after his debut in episode 57.

He returns with his experience as a US Army 18-year-old assistant artillery gunner in West Germany. He tells of his first impressions of

West Germany, details of the 1982 Reforger exercise, that's the return of forces to Germany

exercise, as well as the life expectancy of a frontline soldier on the East German border,

should the Cold War have turned hot.

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So back to today's episode, Manuel's story starts as he steps off the plane at the Rhine Main Air Base,

which was the primary airlift and passenger hub for United States forces in Europe.

We welcome back Manuel Altsaga to our Cold War conversation.

We landed in Rhine Mine, and it was in the afternoon, sometime in September of 82, beautiful.

And I remember we were bused from Rine mine, not too far from Frankfurt.

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