Field Artillery Officer and nuclear disarmament diplomat reflects on his career both at the brink of nuclear war, and his role in pulling the US and Soviet Union back
COL Ronald P. Forest
United States Army (Retired)
Campaign: Vietnam War
Years of Service: 1963–1993
Early Years
Clemson A&M University
(Graduated 1962)
BS Textile and Industrial Management
ROTC Graduate
Field Artillery Basic Course
[1963]
17th Field Artillery
I Corps, Republic of Korea
[1963–1964]
Battalion Ammunition Officer
Special Weapons
Firing Battery Executive Officer
17th Field Artillery, 2nd Infantry Division
[1964–1965]
Fort Benning, Georgia
Battalion Fire Direction Officer
Vietnam War
[1965–1966]
21st Field Artillery, 1st Cavalry Division
Battalion Forward Air Observer
2-7th Cavalry, 3rd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division
Artillery Fire Support Officer
Field Artillery Officer's Advanced Course
[1966–1967]
Fort Sill, Oklahoma
78th Field Artillery, 2nd Armored Division
[1967–1969]
Fort Hood, Texas
Firing Battery Commander
Headquarters and Service Battery Commander
Battalion Executive Officer/Operations Officer (S-3)
Ballistic Missile Course
[1969]
Fort Sill, Oklahoma
56th Field Artillery Group
[1969–1972]
Heilbronn, West Germany
3-84th Field Artillery, Pershing Missile (PI-A)
Battery Commander
Battalion S-4
Assistant Professor of Military Science
[1972–1976]
Furman University, South Carolina
Army Command and Staff College
[1976–1977]
Fort Leavenworth, Kansas
33rd Field Artillery, Lance Missile
[1977–1979]
Fort Sill, Oklahoma
Battalion Executive Officer
Group Operations Officer (S-3)
56th Field Artillery Group
[1979–1982]
Heilbronn, West Germany
3-84th Field Artillery, Pershing Missile (PI-A)
Battalion Commander
Army War College
[1982–1983]
Carlisle, Pennsylvania
Army Staff
[1983–1985]
Pentagon, Washington, D.C.
Action Officer, Nuclear Division
Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), J-5
[1985–1988]
Pentagon, Washington, D.C.
Branch Chief, Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF)
JCS Representative to the NATO Special Consultative Commission (1985–1987)
JCS Military Advisor to the INF Treaty Negotiations in Geneva, Switzerland
Led to the INF Treaty with the Soviet Union, signed December 1987
On-Site Inspection Agency
Office of the Secretary of Defense
[1988–1993]
Washington, D.C.
(HQ at U.S. Coast Guard Facility)
Director of Operations (1988–1991)
Virginia
(HQ at Dulles International Airport)
Chief of Staff (1992–1993)
Retirement
Fort Meyer, Virginia
Military Awards
Defense Superior Service Medal
Legion of Merit
Bronze Star
Defense Meritorious Service Medal (1 OLC)
Air Medal (2 OLC)
Army Commendation Medal (1 OLC)
Presidential Unit Citation—Army
Joint Meritorious Service Unit Award
Vietnam Service Medal (3)
Army Overseas Service Ribbon (3)
Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal
Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross Citation
Badges/Tabs
Aircrewman Badge
Office of the Secretary of Defense Identification Badge
Joint Chiefs of Staff Identification Badge
Army Staff Identification Badge
Military Order of the World Wars
Dallas Chapter
Commander
Senior Vice Commander
Junior Vice Commander
During his more than 3 decades of service to the Dallas Chapter, COL Forest has recruited 43 Companions, of which 5 eventually became chapter commanders.
Photos taken by COL Forest (then 1LT) while serving as a FWD OBS over LZ X-Ray (Battle of Ia Drang Valley).
CH-47 shot down; one KIA; wounded survivors were rescued by PVT Joe Scarborough and others.
COL Forest (then 1LT) ready for combat, Dec 1965, Republic of Vietnam.
COL Forest (then 1LT) visiting a forward observer outpost, Republic of Vietnam
COL Hal Moore administering change of command for A Company, 2-7 Cav (Feb/Mar 1966), Republic of Vietnam.
COL Forest (then 1LT) in front of 2-7 Officers' Club, An Khe base camp, Republic of Vietnam.
Enemy hand grenade and COL Forest's utility knife (carried throughout his tour in Vietnam).
COL Forest's map showing his final fire-mission for the 1-21 Field Artillery, Republic of Vietnam, Jul 1966.
Farewell gift (rice-cutter), 2-7 Cav, signed by COL Hal Moore.
Left: Letter from LTG Hal Moore, USA (Ret), thanking COL Forest for sending him photographs of their time serving in the Vietnam War. Right: "Ron Forest Remembers Ia Drang, 1965"—an article penned by COL Forest for the AUSA Audie Murphy Chapter.
B Battery, 1st Battalion, 78th Field Artillery, 2nd Armored Division—under COL Forest's command—firing a 21-gun salute of 105 mm howitzers for President Lyndon B. Johnson's visit to Ft. Hood; 12 Dec 1967.
105 mm shell casings from the 21-gun salute for President Johnson, turned into commemorative cigarette ash trays.
Clockwise, from top left: Pershing IA missile test launch from Blanding, Utah to White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico, Mar 1971; Pershing II test launch, Cape Canaveral, Florida, 1982; Pershing IA missile battery; COL Forest's Change of Command Ceremony, 3-84th Field Artillery, Pershing Missile (IA), Heilbronn, Germany, May 1982.
Piece of envelope used to transfer Top Secret correspondence with the Chief of Staff of the Army, General Wickham, for a special action.
For more information on the INF Treaty negotiations, especially through primary sources, see:
"The INF Treaty and the Washington Summit: 20 Years Later," from the National Security Archive, The George Washington University.
Left: Ground-launched cruise missile (destroyed).
Right: Tip of a Pershing II missile (destroyed).
Diplomatic clearance for COL Forest to visit the US Embassy for his final visit to Moscow, Jan 1993.
Special recognition from the mayor of Heilbronn, Germany, following COL Forest's visit, made on his way back from his final visit to Moscow.
Newspaper (Heilbronner Stimme) from Heilbronn, Germany, interviewed COL Forest about the arms control activities with the Russians.
Clockwise, from bottom left: Soviet winter overcoat for a major with ushanka hat; Soviet officer's cap; Soviet officer's uniform belt with 25 Soviet rubles and flask; Soviet Navy clock (Type 5-2 ChM); Soviet winter uniform overcoat and ushanka hat with crossed-cannons Field Artillery branch insignia and epaulettes (with rank insignia for a major).
Top & middle left: COL Forest with Czech escort (a major), inspecting facilities in Czechoslovakia under the Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty.
Middle right: COL Forest presenting a souvenir book to the general in charge of a conventional forces facility; Czech Republic, following a CFE Treaty inspection.
Bottom: COL Forest and his Russian counterpart, signing treaty documents, following an INF Treaty inspection; Redstone Arsenal, Huntsville, Alabama.
Soviet/Russian missile destruction, observed by COL Forest, per the INF Treaty—while serving as a senior leader in OSIA.
Left: Letter from FBI Director William Sessions congratulating COL Forest on the occasion of his pending retirement. Right: OSIA and Russian "Friendship Dinner" for Russian representatives and OSIA officers.
Official visit by former President Reagan by COL Forest at Reagan's Los Angeles office, to present a painting of a Pershing missile in a field location.
Commemoration of COL Forest's service to the INF Treaty negotiations and OSIA.
COL Forest with his wife, Redon, at a military ball; Heilbronn, Germany, 1980.
Left: COL Forest and CPT Weldon having a beer while serving together in the 17th Field Artillery, I Corps, Republic of Korea.
Right: COL Forest and CPT Weldon reunited in Dallas, 1993; article for the 17th Artillery Association.
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