That would probably be true. I was with 3/7 Cavalry stationed in Schweinfurt 1978-1980 and our mission was border patrol/ speed bump.
Our job was to keep a sharp eye on any ops on the far side of the wire that might indicate a build up of military forces for a possible invasion by the Combloc, and then if necessary sacrifice our young butts to slow them down enough for the German forces to blow the bridges behind us to stop their armor.
We were young then, and soldiers...
Some don't know that the Iron Curtain outside of Berlin was actually about 20 meters inside the East German border; the double walls of barbed wire containing a mine field. There were corridors through it and the East German soldiers guarding it were often only seperated from us by a line of blue and white plastic poles that marked the actual border between East and West Germany.
Those border guards were thoroughly vetted for their loyalty to the regime; they had only to step aside to defect , and some did. But most understood what would happen to their families if they betrayed the State....
