future European land war (and to play its
part as global policeman), it still faced the
problem of rebuilding morale. And not just
within the military and the nation’s faith in
the military – but also the faith of the world
in the US war machine and its ability to get
the job done!
In 1982 the world watched amazed
as Britain prosecuted a successful land
war thousands of miles away from home
and won against appalling odds. Still
smarting from the defeat of Vietnam the
US government saw the small island of
Grenada’s utilisation of Cuban Army
engineers and advisors in 1983 as
a military threat and launched an
armada of ships, men and machines
to secure the safety of the few
American nationals on the island.
This ‘liberation’ was globally
unpopular and resisted by
Britain, Canada and the United
Nations as a flagrant breach of
international law by the USA.
But by the time complaints
had been made, the US fleet
was already under sail and
had no intention of turning
back!
Operation Urgent
Fury, the US occupation of
the Comm onwealth Island of
Grenada, saw America deploy its
82nd Airborne Division (as part of
an 8,000-man task force) sporting
a large array of new and interesting
items. In this article we’ll look at our
airsofter model wearing some of that
new technology.
Cutting Edge Technology
Perhaps the most important revision
was the inclusion of the US Woodland
camouflage 1981 pattern uniform. The
US Army had traditionally shied away
from camouflage uniforms, believing that
the wide range of terrain they could find
themselves deployed in made it impractical.
The combat experience in Vietnam and the
trialling of the ERDL pattern uniforms led
to the development of the woodland battle
dress uniform, or BDU outfit. Camouflage
was by no means universal however, and
many units in the US Army would continue
to be seen in olive drab fatigues well into
the 80s.
The other significant addition to the
soldier’s kit was his personal protection. In
Vietnam, static troops in defensive positions
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February 2012