Okay, having done my research to the point that I've grasped the situation, I now have the following question:

This RP starting mid-Able Archer? Or at the very start of it? I'm trying to gauge the mood of the situation that my guy is going to be caught up in. Obviously by the time this exercise came about, the Soviets were already scared that NATO were planning a nuclear strike, but I imagine at the outset, the PACT ground forces would have been kept in relative dark over what was happening. However, with the exercise in full swing, and the Soviets deploying their nuclear and conventional arms in response, I imagine that the PACT soldiers would be much more aware of what was on the table. 

Would it benefit me to read the old RP and assume that this one is more or less following the same groove?