As a cold war soldier with boots on the ground from 74-84 (two tours) in FRG, all I can say is during the first tour (74-79 prior to the upgrading of armored units to M1/M2 series vechicles from M60/M113 series) I encounted NO one in the US forces (of course I was not an orficer, but....) that counted the threat of the Red Horde as a push over. In fact there was a joke at the time floating around after SHAFE commander was asked the question about the Reds being on the Rhine in a week.. Troops in the field responded "Only if they can get fuel in Frankfurt." Depending on HOW and when the show would start some of the first tank battles would be fought by units exiting their motorpools.
This pessamistic attitude changed some when the M1/M2 came into the theater about 1980 (second tour) supported by Hogs (A10) and Apache gunships, though everyone still realized it was a 'slow'em down for REFORGER troops to get on the ground' scenario. We all realized, at the lower levels even if the brass as optimistic, it would NEVER be a walk in the park. Numbers do count and we knew that even with superior weapons and markmanship/gunnery, every shell had to be a kill shit, which most everyone also realized was NOT probable. I will say there were periods of pucker factor during both my tours.
When and how would they gain the best results if they decided to attack NATO? During the period of Dec 20- Jan 6 (many troops celebrating the holidays and many on leave) and attack from garrison with no and minimal warning. I knew this and my first Christmas was a shock there when at midnight the flares and fireworks were set off and I was home asleep. Cheeseeeeeeeee... I knew they were in the wire for sure. Paranoia will destroy ya, but it can also keep you alive if controlled.
Grae.
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