On February 13, 1987, I stood in the warm sun on a tiny, nearly deserted island, some 2,000 miles southwest of Honolulu. Next to the bed in my trailer were the remains of two damaged Peacekeeper MX (unarmed) nuclear warheads. And just hours later, two reinforcements arrived by chopper with the news that a Russian recon security team (Spetsnaz) was coming ashore that night.

This journal was kept from 1986-88 when the Soviet Union was on the verge of collapse but their presence at Kwajalein was intense, requiring critical decisions at the highest level of our government.