Exercise REFORGER
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Exercise REFORGER (from REturn of FORces to GERmany) was an annual exercise conducted, during the Cold War, by the United States Army. The exercise was intended to ensure that the United States had the ability to quickly deploy forces to Germany in the event of a conflict with the Soviet Union. The first exercise was conducted in 1967, at a time when some forces were withdrawn to back to the U.S. mainland, and continued annually past the end of the Cold War, except for the years 1989, to 1993.
REFORGER was not merely for show—in the event of a conflict, it would be the actual plan to strengthen the American presence in Europe. In that instance, it would have been referred to as Operation REFORGER. Important components in REFORGER included the Military Airlift Command, the Military Sealift Command, and the Civil Reserve Air Fleet.
Operation Bright Star, the annual deployment of American army and Air Force units to Egypt serves much the same purpose as REFORGER did.