East Wind IV March 12-20 2011 at OK D-Day

[Aswayze]

This is SORT of MV related so I thought I would post up here in case you guys are interested.


Tascabe and I run an event called East Wind that is a Cold War era “what if” reenactment. This year, we are running at D-Day Adventure Park in NE Oklahoma. East Wind runs for 9 days straight 24 hours a day. While East Wind IS a reenactment, it is not your typical living history public display type event. East Wind is a tactical event meaning that, for all intents and purposes, we are all there to have an experience ourselves more than to provide an experience to the public.

East Wind is VERY much a combat event. We use airsoft weapons for the simulation systems. We looked at and played with about everything from blank fire to MILES, to airsoft and nothing beat airsoft for affordability and in the field durability. (You would not believe the failure rate on MILES equipment).

We draw attendees from all over the country and next spring will have people flying in from overseas, and driving days on end in their deuces to attend. We draw quite a variety of attendees with varied interests from guys who are looking forward to the combat part, to guys who love to use the period correct comms equipment, to a guy who loves to cook in the MKT. We also have many attendees who are vehicle owners and enjoy getting their machines out in their natural environment. To that end, I figured I’d post our announcement up here so you guys can take a look.

Any of you guys interested in coming out and attending, drop us a line. If you want to attend in a traditional combat role; great! If you want to get a gang of you together and act as a prop convoy, (either in the combat zone or pre/post combat) we can work that out as well. We’d love to see some of you out there and I am sure you guys would get a kick out of it.

 

[Aswayze]

Announcement:

Operation East Wind IV dates and location have been set.

When: March 12th –20th 2011

What: Operation East Wind is a 9 day long 24 hour per day immersive milsim event set in the closing days of the Cold War. From the moment you arrive till the moment you leave, you are surrounded by and are part of an environment that life in the field during a Cold War alert.

You may choose to be part of either the NATO forces or the Warsaw Pact with each side having it’s own specific options, requirements, advantages, and disadvantages.

You may choose to participate either in the full experience, operating 24 hours a day living on site, 100% immersed in the event for the duration of your stay or if you prefer as a day player only playing during the daylight hours, camping at the campground on site or staying at in town at a motel.

As a full experience soldier you will know the feeling of walking out on a multi day patrol, the sound of a truck delivering your hot food (if you are lucky) and the sights and sounds of dark forest seemingly teeming with the enemy around your little patrol base in the black of night. You will use night vision, you will use mines, you will ride in military trucks and armored personnel carriers, you will be supported by armor and you will use period correct comms equipment. You will know the boredom of a 03:00 guard shift and the sinking feeling in your stomach when that shift suddenly STOPS being boring. You will know the true value of a hot drink on a cold rainy day, you will learn to lament T-rations, you will know the joy of walking into the mess tent and smelling hot A-rations. You will know how lonely the world can be when your little outpost is under attack and you know that the nearest help is way too far away. You will know how piercingly bright a parachute flare is on a moonless night. You will know the smell of a canvas tent on a sunny day. You will know how nice and cozy a stove is on a cold wet day. You will know what it is like to transition from peacetime, to alert, to war.

As a part time day player you can step into and out of one of the world’s best milsim events and get to see all of what goes into an event like this without having to commit yourself 100%. For a minimal cost comparable to most open play games, you get to see and be a part of daytime recon patrols behind enemy lines, anti-armor ambushes, deliberate attacks and fiercely fought defenses. You will fight shoulder to shoulder with the full time troops scraping and fighting for the same ground they are.

Either way, you will be surrounded by one of the most amazing events the world has to offer.

Who: Who may participate? Full experience troops must be 18 years of age or older unless pre-approved by event administration. Day players must be 16 or older with attendees under the age of 18 requiring parental consent.

How much does it cost?
The fee structure for Operation East Wind is broken into two categories:

The cost for full experience participants attending for 1-4
days is $165. For those attending from 5-9 days the cost is $200. Full experience attendees are provided with all meals, including snacks and drinks for the duration of the time they are in attendance. Additionally, full experience attendees are allowed to check mission equipment out from the supply tents including correct night vision systems, flares, IR systems, Claymore and POMZ mines, thermal imaging systems, radios, telephone systems etc.

Day time players who pre-register pay a fixed rate of $20 per day or $25 per day as walk-ons apart from day 1 and day 9 which are both free days since they involve a great deal of unit set up and tear down. Day time players are not provided with meals and are not allowed to check mission equipment out from the supply tents since most mission equipment goes out for night or multi-day missions.

Sign up for full experience troops will open November 1st, 2010. At signup, a non-refundable deposit of $50 is required with the balance due on March 1st 2011. Day player sign up will begin in February and will not require pre-payment or a deposit. Just tell us when you will be there so we can plan for you.

Where is East Wind IV being held.
This year, we are proud to announce that East Wind IV will be held at D-Day Adventure Park in Wyandotte, Oklahoma. No doubt, there are a great many of you who have played at D-Day before. It is an amazing facility with a lot of really impressive infrastructure. You might be tempted to think that you even know the D-Day Adventure Park pretty well… You will be quite surprised to see how much more there is to that property than you ever imagined. We will be operating on a 750 acre playing field with 45 miles of roads and trails. There are towns, an airfield, steep hills, green valleys, streams, ponds, and lots upon lots of space. If you have played at OK D-Day before you have probably seen a little bit of it but I assure you, it’s just the tip of the iceberg.

Why?
Why 9 days?

We run East Wind events for 9 days because in order to put together a quality event there is a certain minimum amount of time it takes to get everything all set up and settled in. If this was a weekend event, we would spend all day and night Saturday setting up and getting everyone settled in and then all day Sunday endexing. By running for 9 days we maximize our field time and get the most value out of our week’s vacation time (or spring break for you guys in school). If you cannot attend for the entire time, that’s fine; you can attend for as much or as little as you can fit into your schedule.

Why this degree of insanity/attention to detail?

Sure, we could camp in civvy tents instead of GP Mediums or real Soviet tents. We could use a Ford Tempo with a plywood turret instead of a real Diamler Ferret. We could move guys around in a short bed Chevy pickup instead of a M35A2, and we could certainly cook flapjacks on a 2 burner Coleman stove instead of using period correct field kitchens. Where would the fun be in all of that? At East Wind we seek to get everything right down to the smallest detail because this is how we immerse you into the event. You do not attend East Wind, you are part of it, you are inside the world that we create for you, you can “feel” this event.

Why the expense?

When you look at the cost remember that you are getting food included as well as the use of a lot of really top notch gear. When we say food, we are not talking about just MREs or hotdogs cooked on a Weber grill. We have cook staff who are professionals in their fields that are cooking nutritionally balanced meals that are also era and nationality correct. Doing this right is not cheap and we refuse to skimp on quality. You could not eat at restaurants for a week on a $200 budget and get the quality of meals you will get at East Wind and that’s before we even talk about the other stuff. It is not an average game that a real BTR-152 comes down the path at you or that you get to face off against a real FV-432 APC with your RPG. It is not an average game that you show up to the supply tent before your night mission and get Gen 2 and 3 night vision equipment issued to you. It is not an average airsoft game that finds you scanning ridges with a thermal imager looking for hull down vehicles. It’s not an average airsoft game that sends you scrambling out of your camp when an AH-64 Apache shows up skulking around. Yes, East Wind is expensive, but value wise, it is impossible to beat. Come and see, we’ll make a believer out of you by day 1.

Why should you choose to go to East Wind IV?

This one is easy. Since the inception of this event our motto has been “Not because it is easy, but because it is hard” You should be going to East Wind because you are looking for a challenge. You should be going to East Wind because you are looking for an experience. If you are looking at the full experience, you should be going to East Wind because you are ready to live an event 24/7. You should be going to East Wind because you have asked yourself, “Is East Wind right for me?” and said yes.

Why should you NOT go to East Wind?

If you think that it is a hassle to get the correct gear, if you are the sort who folds before every challenge life puts before you, if you are scared of the rain, if you are too proud to know when you need to learn something or if you are just looking for 9 days of solid “3, 2,1, go” speedball action you had better just stay home and play X-box. East Wind will not be your thing.

What do I need to know to be successful at East Wind events?

East Wind offers challenges unrelated to most airsoft events. It naturally goes without saying that knowing a little bit about airsoft helps but far beyond that remember that you are living in the field and actually doing a lot more field craft type work at East Wind than you are likely to encounter at an average game. You will likely find yourself adapting a lot better if you spend some time out in the woods in inclement weather since East Wind stays tactical regardless of weather conditions. knowledge of your equipment goes a very long way as well since you will be living and working in it 24 hour a day for 9 days. Obviously, there are a variety of technical skills that are helpful to know as well which is why we run training events monthly covering a variety of skills that will make your East Wind experience more enjoyable as well as provide an online library of training materials in order to assist you or your group in training up for the event. Apart from that, the most important thing you need to know to be successful and have a good time at East Wind is how mentally tough you are. If you are willing to give something 105% and not quit, this is the event for you. It will blow your socks off and you will love every minute of it.


See ya there.

 

[Aswayze]

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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...

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 “warm” really is. It is amazing.

A NATO officer typing up a AAR on a period correct SAIC V2LC computer. We strive to get as much right as is humanly possible and the V2 here is a perfect example. It’s silly, it’s hard to use, it cheeps every time you hit a key but it’s the right system for the time and everyone loves it. East Wind is about so much more than just airsofting. It’s an opportunity for everyone to participate in something that collectively is bigger than anything they themselves can create. Whether you are bringing the minimum required gear for the event, are bringing a military truck, or happen to restore something like the V2LC here, it’s all a piece of the puzzle that makes East Wind the event that it is. When you form the environment around you as much as we do here at East Wind, it really makes an event that you feel you are a part of. East Wind creates memories that you will not forget.

I hope that some of you will make the trip out to be part of it.

 

[Stagg]

Eastwind is why I bought a CUCV and then my Deuce.... now I'm looking for a 5 ton Dump. As a combat engineer, you just have to be a little nuts.