Sergeant First Class Clyde Conrad was a traitor of the first order, he has not recieved the condemnation he so richly deserved - this man did the free world a great favor by exposing his treachery.
The revelation that the defense plans of much of NATO's CENTAG and NORTHAG forces caused great consternation and unleased an intense dragnet to uncover the culprit. I was privileged to participate in a small way. I only regret that I was unable to serve as a one man firing squad at Clyde Conrad's execution. The German court issued its harshest possible sentence, life, in his case; but this was far too lenient. Fortunately, Clyde died before he ever again saw the light of day.
Stuart Herrington has written a great inside account of this drama. Highly recommended reading.
I was A tank company commander in the Fulda Gap (3rd Brigade), then in G-3 and later the HHC commander 83-88. I worked with Conrad, and know that he betrayed all of us. He was, indeed, a traitor. The German courts put him in a special prison, where he died a few years later. I agree that with the war plans Conrad kept selling to them for mere money they would have knew our weak points and every update of the GDP plan for many years. The German courts, in their ruling said that Clyde Conrad’s personal actions would have likely resulted in Nuclear release on German soil-—I agree with that assessment.
No knock on Regan who’s force improvements kept the Russians from trying.
The Real unsung hero was MSG Michael Barnes, the G-3 Sergeant Major who came in under cover and exposed Conrad. If you are still out there Mike, Thank you for your service to your country, both in Vietnam and in Bad Kreuznach