Operation East Wind IV March 12-20 2011, NE Oklahoma

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Postby LiberalPacifist » Tue Nov 02, 2010 11:08 pm

phoenix1421 wrote:
aswayze wrote:Oh don't worry Phoenix, everybody is sick of night vision by the end of East Wind.

Numbers wise, we run at about a dead heat but the NATO units tend to be a little easier to field than the sometimes clunky but still generally effective Soviet ones. At any rate, if it is night time and you are going on patrol, I'll just about promise you that night vision is no further away than the supply tent no matter which side you are on.

If cost is an issue, do keep East German in mind. That's a VERY cost effective option and as an added bonus, they have nicer gear than the Soviets by and large.


What guns are the East Germans supposed to use? The gear list didn't list any (that I saw).

AK-47s and '74s.
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Postby Redmoney » Wed Nov 03, 2010 12:30 am

Nasty wrote:Commencing money saving.......now.

+ like 13.......
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Postby redd » Wed Nov 03, 2010 2:48 am

I wants to go sooooo baaaaaadddddd!!!!!! Need Money!!!!
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Postby aswayze » Sat Nov 06, 2010 9:13 am

Here's a few pics from past events to give you an idea what we do out at East Wind:

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Here US troops move out as infantry support for a British FV-701 Ferret armored car. We make extensive use of vehicles at East Wind since we operate on large enough pieces of property to make them tactically significant.

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Here a US Squad leader makes a radio call on a PRC-77 radio. We use period correct comms equipment at East Wind (provided by us). If you've never used a "real" radio, prepare to be amazed at all you can do with one of these.

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Here an NVA(East German) BTR-40 APC moves down a roadway during a patrol. As far as we know, there are 3 of these in operable condition in the USA. If you go to a museum, you MIGHT get to touch one. Here, you get to ride one into combat.

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Here US troops are fed via Mermite can while deployed forward. The Squad you see here is out on a 36 hour patrol along a section of the border just before the war goes hot (That's why no goggles yet) They were out when the balloon went up and managed very well with the limited ammo and supplies they had on hand.

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A NATO supply convoy traveling along "MSR Steele" at East Wind II. This was a route cut through the forest across a rocky valley that linked the main NATO controlled area with the northern end of the playing field. NATO trucks ran this very tough route both during the daylight hours and at night under black out conditions using night vision.

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An NVA patrol, just returned from a cross border mission, is debriefed by the Soviet HQ staff. Notice the wierd blue interior of the tent? That's actually a period correct Soviet tent they are in. The map they are pointing at is a near perfect replica Soviet style map of the AO they are working in.

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A Soviet patrol prepares to move out on a night recon mission. East Wind runs 24 hours a day.

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A NATO patrol prepares to move out on a night ambush mission. They have checked out night vision units from supply (everybody, on both sides gets, gets to use night vision a LOT at East Wind) and have painted their faces so they will shine less in the moon light. East Wind runs 24 hours a day, we are not kidding.

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A NATO attendee heads into the MKT (Mobile Kitchen Trailer) to get lunch. Both sides use period correct military field kitchen set ups to provide A-ration meals to troops so you are not stuck eating MREs the whole time.

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A Soviet sentry walking his rounds at East Wind I. The weather is poor, the wind is howling, there is another snow storm on the way but this man has his gear and knows that everything will be just fine. We have somewhat stringent gear requirements for exactly this reason. East Wind stays tactical regardless of the weather. Note the Isuzu in the background... This was before we transitioned over to only using military vehicles. We learned a hard lesson that year about putting "normal" vehicles into that environment. They do not hold up well to that sort of use...

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A Bundesgrenschultz (West German Border Guards) unit at East Wind I. These guys were in charge of a border checkpoint and managed to hold their own with limited support for the entire duration of the event. Every night saw them repulsing major Soviet attacks and they held their ground. This pic was taken towards the end of the event as can easily be told by their somewhat haggard appearance. Their morale never cracked, and even when they donned their distinctive camo smocks, they always had their ties on.

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A US soldier takes a moment to shave during his comms watch in the US HQ. You’re out there for 9 days… That means eating, sleeping, pooping, washing and shaving in a combat environment.

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Who says you won’t hear a phone ring for 9 days? Both sides employ field telephone systems at East Wind. This is the NATO SB-22 switchboard in the operations center. It allows calls to be patched through from one caller to another anywhere across the phone network. It also allows a radio call to be patched through to any of the telephones in the network. Basically every tent in the base camps has a telephone and most any of the commonly manned forward outposts is equipped with a phone as well.

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A Soviet made BTR-152 armored personnel carrier. This is one big bad mother… Again, if you got lucky at a museum, you might be able to touch one. At East Wind, you’ll ride into battle in one or face off against one with your LAW-80 anti tank rocket.

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A British FV-432 Trojan APC. When we say our British troops are Armored infantry, we are not kidding. There will be 2 of these at East Wind IV.

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A Hunter SHL (Space Heater Large) puttering away heating the NATO supply tent at East Wind III. When the wind is howling and the snow is flying, it is nice to have a place to go warm up and dry off. Both sides have most of their large common area tents heated with period correct wood stoves or oil fired heaters such as the SHL here. If you have never walked into a heated tent after a long, cold, wet patrol and stood by one of these guys to warm up then you have never felt what “warmâ€
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Postby Blitzkreig » Sat Nov 06, 2010 11:45 am

How much actual engagement is there? Is there any fighting whatsoever?
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Postby aswayze » Sat Nov 06, 2010 12:58 pm

Yes. We are just busy fighting then and therefor take fewer pictures.

Combat at East Wind is typically very violent, very fast and decided quickly. As a general rule, one side or another has either a numerical advantage or the element of surprise and really puts a beat down on the other. This is a great deal more fun than it may initially sound like since when it's good it's really good and when it's bad it's REALLY REALLY bad. You do not typically have the usual distant bb slinging, attrition fests you see at a lot of events since almost all the players that attend East Wind are experienced players who are smart enough to not play that game.

Do you see less combat per 6 hour slot than you would at a regular open play game? Of course... We're a lot more interested in getting it right than just slinging plastic so rather than just saying "let's go attack that town" We're a lot more likely to do a night recon on the place, perhaps infiltrate it a bit and get a good idea what size force is occupying it, figure out their routine, then determine how best to attack them. Once the time is right, we move everyone into place and WHAM! Put the smack down.

Pure volume of bbs slung at East Wind is lower than many events, but every mission is entirely more rewarding and interesting.
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Postby Russkie » Sat Nov 06, 2010 3:00 pm

This event looks absolutely amazing. Unfortunately, I cannot attend such events.....yet. Maybe in a few years I'll have to join you guys.
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Postby Darius137 » Sat Nov 06, 2010 4:12 pm

How are leadership positions determined?

What's the rule on wearing crusher caps and other period gear that is sometimes reserved for just officers?
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Postby aswayze » Sat Nov 06, 2010 9:04 pm

Upper leadership positions are generally determined at the end of the previous East Wind event based on how guys did in their respective positions. We try to rotate around a good bit so that everyone gets a chance to try something different if they want to.

Lower leadership positions such as squad leaders we generally determine as we begin to fill the event up based upon experience and/or training. Obviously, if we have a group of guys or a team attending as a squad or section, we let them tell us who their leader is and we just provide mentoring if their leader requires some guidance on things like mission planning or night land navigation.

The guy in the German crusher cap was supposed to be the BGS officer, hence the cap (and the white gloves, and and and) Basically, you target wearing what ever is MOST correct for your impression. As BGS, he had specific gear requirements just like everyone else did but also added in the German officer stuff so he could better fit the role. Apart from that, a US Army squad leader obviously would not wear a crusher cap so while we do not have specific rules against it. pretty much everyone is going to point out that your hat is wrong. It's sort of a culture thing, basically takes care of itself.
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Postby Soviet_Kaz » Thu Jan 20, 2011 2:18 am

The weeks are counting down and EastWind is getting closer once again

For those still interested deposits for both sides are being collected. My goal is to get someone from SoCal or atleast the west coast out there with me this year who's it gonna be? :)

Here are a few more pictures of the AO

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WARPAC campsite - looking North-ish

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WARPAC campsite - looking South-ish

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Entrance to camp - looking out - then in
A little bit down this road - a nice Blokpost will be created to control a road junction and entry to the camp.
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Postby MillerSA15 » Thu Jan 20, 2011 1:31 pm

This looks really awesome, but I just can't afford a $1000 hit to my finances right now :(. When I get a job that will give me paid vacation time, then I will be able to go, but until then, even if the kit were to cost me nothing, I just can't make enough money between now and then to make this happen.

I will certainly work on my kit though, so that when this rolls around for next year it will only be a consideration of having enough money, not having enough money and having to buy kit. Hopefully 14 months is enough time to make this happen.

I look forward to seeing the pictures from this event though! I want lots of picture! And some long videos if possible! I don't even care if no fighting happens in the video, just a "day in the life of a East Winds soldier" kind of thing!
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Postby shakespeare » Thu Jan 20, 2011 8:52 pm

I think I'd enjoy going to this event in 2012. Although, I would be 17, only a month short of 18. What would it take to earn administrative approval to go?
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Postby LiberalPacifist » Thu Jan 20, 2011 9:12 pm

I was actually planning on going to this, and I had a plan to save enough money, but then I got a speeding ticket, so its all out the window now. Maybe in 2012 I can make it. At least I'll have more notice ahead of time then, with more room for error and (hopefully not) speeding tickets.
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Postby MillerSA15 » Thu Jan 20, 2011 11:42 pm

LiberalPacifist wrote:I was actually planning on going to this, and I had a plan to save enough money, but then I got a speeding ticket, so its all out the window now. Maybe in 2012 I can make it. At least I'll have more notice ahead of time then, with more room for error and (hopefully not) speeding tickets.


What side were you thinking of doing?
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Postby aswayze » Sat Jan 22, 2011 11:45 pm

Admin approval for 16-17 is not a huge deal:

Mostly we need to make sure that you are traveling in a safe and wise manner. e.g. not riding your moped from Grants Pass.

We need to make sure that you have a person you are traveling with who has a health waiver for you so that if you get rear ended by a combine while you are riding your moped out or obviously injure yourself on the field, the paperwork is in place to allow you to receive medical care.

We need to talk to your parents about what East Wind is and make sure that they feel that East Wind is the right type of event for you. You'd be surprised how many parents have exactly NO idea what so ever what their kids are up to. One lady about spazzed out when she figured out 1/2 way through our conversation that her son had been "playing with airsoft guns"

We'll usually do a little research and just make sure that your not a wanker. A quick check of forum posts usually points the "wrong guys" out pretty fast: "I shotz ma baby sisters hambster wit teh bb gun lolz!!!!"

We generally deal with things one year at a time so feel free to drop us a line when we start planning for EW5 and we'll get you set up.

@LP, drive slower or get a more nondescript car. Try a later model surplus police cruiser, that's what I drive and I get away with about everything.
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