NATO Double-Track Decision

Along with the 1973 Agreement on the Prevention of Nuclear War these arms control measures caused European NATO members, especially West Germany to feel overlooked.

[4] According to Noel D. Cary, "unless America was unswervingly prepared to risk the sacrifice of one of its cities to save a German one, West Germany might be vulnerable to Soviet political blackmail.

"[9] The decision was prompted by the continuing military buildup of Warsaw Pact countries, particularly their growing capability in nuclear systems threatening Western Europe.

In November 1980, German Green Party politician Gert Bastian and footballer Josef Weber drafted the Krefeld appeal [de] calling for the federal government of West Germany to retract its support for the deployment of Pershing II missiles in the country and GLCMs across Europe.

[17] Formal talks began on 30 November 1981, with the U.S. negotiators led by President Ronald Reagan and those of the Soviet Union by General Secretary, Leonid Brezhnev.

[19][20] The US delegation was composed of Paul Nitze, Major General William F. Burns of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Thomas Graham of the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency (ACDA), and officials from the US Department of State, Office of the Secretary of Defense, and US National Security Council.

The West German government announced on 13 December 1985 that the US Army 56th Field Artillery Brigade was equipped with 108 Pershing II launchers across three missile battalions stationed at Neu-Ulm, Mutlangen and Neckarsulm.