Introduction

The following introduction is taken from the Tankograd website:

During REFORGER 78 forces from the USA were mainly deployed in the autumn manoeuvres Saxon Drive and Certain Shield in West Germany.

During the corps training exercise Saxon Drive of the Dutch I (NL) Corps, units of the 1st Brigade, 4th (US) Infantry Division were operationally subordinated to the 4th (NL) Division. The 3rd Brigade, 2nd (US) Armored Division (Forward) fought on the side of Blue Force.

The corps training exercise Certain Shield 78 was the largest exercise of NATO land forces of that year. One of the most important objectives was to familiarise REFORGER troops, brought in from the USA, with the local conditions and the tactical situation. The exercise force had a total strength of 55,780 soldiers, and it fielded some 6,370 wheeled vehicles and 2,800 tracked vehicles as well as 562 helicopters and 24 aircraft.

Serving as an eyewitness to an era long gone this publication shows the US military vehicles and those of the allied nations during the two REFORGER 78 exercises in exiting photographs and allows the reader to visualize the land warfare tactics at the heart of the Cold War.

Review

Tankograd titles covering the mass exercises of NATO countries in the past seem to have a particular appeal to modellers today. I am undecided whether this is due to many modellers being ex-military. The modellers areas of interest or a mixture of both. Regardless of the reasoning Tanokgrad certainly seems to be on a winner, with titles covering this aspect of  military life. This release is a soft backed offering, with a robust glossy card cover protecting 64 gloss pages in roughly A4 size. This is one of Tankograd’s duel language offerings with German on the left and English on the right of each page where dedicated text is concerned.  Also German and English captions under each of the images with German being the first language provided. 

The photographs in this title have an aged looked to them where colour images are presented and a crispness presented in the black and white images. I do not know what happened in the 1970s, 1980s with colour photography but nearly all colour images from this period lack that crisp clarity that we are familiar with today. To Tankograd's credit the colour images utilised offer photographs of a good quality from this period. You will not be surprised to find that most of the images cover American vehicles or at the very least vehicles produced by the Americans and utilised by NATO allies. Something that this title will be very useful for is camouflage utilised by the Americans in the 70s and 80s. 

Conclusion

Due to the subject covered in this title, it will prove popular and as Tankograd print their books as a limited run if you want a copy, you will need to act quickly. Having looked through the title, it is my opinion that members who purchase this title will be pleased with what if provided.