CMH Pub. 45-1. U.S. Army in the Cold War Series. Traces the activities of the American military engineers in Europe rom the construction that began immediately after the end of World War II in 1945, through the increase in construction necessitated by the buildup of American troops during the Cold War, to the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991.

CMH Pub. 45-1. U.S. Army in the Cold War Series. Traces the activities of the American military engineers in Europe rom the construction that began immediately after the end of World War II in 1945, through the increase in construction necessitated by the buildup of American troops during the Cold War, to the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991.

Building for Peace traces the U.S. Army's engineering construction activities in Europe, beginning immediately after World War II in 1945 and ending with the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. In their fine organizational account that details the twists and turns of the Cold War's history, Robert P. Grathwol and Donita M. Moorhus describe the often less glamorous but nonetheless critical missions of conscientious Army engineers-military officers, civilians, and local-national employees and contractors-who worked tirelessly to prepare the physical infrastructure in Europe, the battleground of what was perceived as the next Armageddon. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers played a central role in building and maintaining the infrastructure in support of the U.S. and NATO forces that stood on the front lines of the Cold War. Grathwol's and Moorhus's study, covering almost a half-century of military construction in Europe that cost more than $5 billion, serves to record not only the achievements of Army engineers but also their contribution to the legacy of the peaceful triumph of democracy. This story is worth reading and remembering.

Most of the large wars between the end of World War II in 1945 and the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 were fought in Asia and the Middle East. Europe, where no war was fought, ironically was the epicenter of the Cold War. The stakes were highest there for both sides as two fundamentally opposed ideologies and political systems confronted each other across the so-called Iron Curtain. Both sides saw war in Europe as an Armageddon that could bring total victory or catastrophic defeat, and both sides focused and shaped their strategies and military forces to fight that war. By the time the Cold War ended in 1989 with the destruction of the Berlin Wall-the Iron Curtain incarnate-both sides had spent huge sums of money and devoted vast human resources to preparing for a war that never came. A major fraction of the resources expended during the Cold War were devoted to the physical infrastructure that housed, trained, fed, armed, protected, and diverted the soldiers of the United States and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) for almost half a century. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers played a central role in building and maintaining that infrastructure. This history examines the engineers' work in detail, chronicling their design and construction activities in support of the U.S. and NATO forces that stood on the front lines of the Cold War. "Building for Peace" tells the story of the often unglamorous but nevertheless critical missions of engineer officers and civilians and private contractors. It reflects the twists and turns of the Cold War's history and the effect these had on the engineering itself. Engineers, like their counterparts in other branches and services, worked tirelessly and often against great odds to defend the West.