The 212th Field Artillery Battalion
Page 7

The Unit Returns to National Guard Status
August 1962
Becomes part of the Stratigic Reserve Force
The unit passed its ATT's and by now the crisis in Berlin, Europe was over and the Russian Missles were removed from Cuba. The 1/211th was not needed for active duty any longer. It was time to return them to Massachusetts and the reserve force.
After all that training they just went through, it was time to make them something special. They would be part of the Stratigic Reserve Force. This meant double drills each month, summer or winter for winter would soon be on us.
Camp Edwards, being the closest training sight, was used for these week end drills, usually the 2nd and 4th weekend of each month. Of course winter training was nothing new the the Battalion for it had done some rough winter training at Ft Bragg. Once again, the barracks at Camp Edwards, like the barracks at Ft. Bragg were in no shape for winter quarters, but then again, we were also used to that. One of the problems with double drills was that a number of our people worked for the city and surrounding towns, and they were allowed one week end a month but it was a strain to get them to attend 2 weekend drills. This meant that meals sometimes had to be cooked by other than our mess personnel. Although we didn't starve, it was better when they were able to attend. The one good part of being a part of the SRF was that we were able to keep all the equipment that we received at Ft. Bragg, such as the warm clothing and especially the sleeping bags which certainly came in handy in those cold barracks.
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