Able Archer was a Training exercise in which some units play the Opposing Forces (OPFOR) and some units play the friendly forces (BLUFOR). This scenario has the units about to go out and "fight" the training OP, but it is pre-empted by an actual attack by WARSAW Pact forces. 

The training exercises were fought int he German countryside. They were not fought on a training base. I kind of missed that point the last time. They actually fight in the streets and fields where civilians can be found. Most civilians are sick of this and would love nothing more than to restrict NATO training exercises to training bases, which comes to fruition with the collapse of the Soviet Union.

If you recall, when we started the last time, I did it as if they hadn't actually deployed into the field. I wrote it as if the unit was still in garrison. The units were notified by the chain of command from Army to Corps to Division to Brigade to Battalion to Company. Then everyone rolled out to their General Deployment Positions (GDP) where they were issued live rounds and subsequently moved to their fighting positions.