The U.S Army's 2nd battalion 4th Infantry's primary mission and full-time job was to provide for the security of the Pershing nuclear missile and missile storage Sites, it also pursued a rigorous infantry training schedule as well. The 2/4th also participated in major training exercises such as REFORGER and many Battalion and Brigade level training exercises at locations such as Baumholder, Hohenfels, Wildflecken, and Graffenweir. Most of the training exercises that 2/4 Inf. participated in were usually held during the winter months at locations with grueling terrain. This training helped to prepare the 2/4th infantry soldiers for the possibility of encounters with opposing military forces in the event of an activation of the missiles or an assault on the missile sites itself. This was a very real possibility during the cold war. The falling of the Berlin Wall, the signing of the INF Treaty, and the demise of the Soviet Union signaled the end of not only the Cold War Era, but the end of the occupation of Western Germany by the Pershing Missiles as well. The 2/4 Inf. and the Pershing missiles did their jobs well and served proudly. In fact, the threat of the Pershings were one of the only real deterrents to the Warsaw Pact overrunning Western Europe. The Pershings as such played a central role in not only protecting Europe from the Red Menace but they played a key role in the collapse of the tyranny of the Soviet Union and the return of democracy to Eastern Europe. If you can read this, thank a teacher -and, since it's in English, thank a soldier.