During the winter of 1962-63 parts or all of the Rhine River froze over! Not unheard of but the first time in modern history. The major problem for the Germans was that coal and fuel oil were shipped on barges down the Rhine river. Big problem for the US bases also. Coal fired electric plants would not be able to supply electricity for heating. There was a big panic.
The US Forces jumped in and started hauling coal by truck and train. While we were busy with large military exercises we also scheduled hundreds of military trucks and other resources to get the coal to the right places. Hundreds of trucks were temporarily reassigned from France to Germany to help with the loads.
As I recall LTC Moran at 594th Trans Group headquarters in Orleans spearheaded to operation. I was amazed how well the operation went considering we had Wintershield II maneuvers running at pretty much the same time.
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