DCS REFORGER’s Joint Training Server Is Open

Eagle Dynamics put DCS REFORGER in the Sep 25 newsletter as a community highlight, and the window they flagged is already open. The DCS REFORGER Joint Training Server went live September 26 for pilots, squadrons, and controllers who want a Cold War Germany setup that is meant to stick around between the big exercise weekends, not vanish when the AAR drops.

If you run a DCS squadron, this is the kind of announcement that matters more than another one-off PVP night. It is a standing training environment that host units already use to work up to the next Air Live Exercise.

What opened on the 26th

Per the Sep 25 DCS World newsletter (mirroring the official ED Forums post), the Joint Training Server runs 24/7 on the DCS: Cold War Germany map. Onboarding goes through the DCS REFORGER admin team starting that same day.

Host squadrons JaboG35 and vLwKdo 34 do all their training there. Casual pilots can use dynamic spawns at Ramstein AB when they just want to fly. Squadrons that want a permanent footprint contact the admin team for a home base and to get their template aircraft written into the mission file. A Joint Training Center Handbook is the published starting point for how that process works.

For unit leads, that split matters. Drop-in flyers get Ramstein. Groups that plan to live on the server get a real home field instead of fighting for a free slot every night.

Chart airspace, not a generic sandbox

The mission template is not a free-for-all Germany paint job. REFORGER says the 1970s airspace structure is rebuilt as closely as they can manage, using CAO VFR charts at 1:500,000 scale from 1976 and 1977 that cover both East and West Germany. Inside that frame sit historical airspaces, air-to-air and air-to-ground training areas, day and night low-flying routes, and aerial refuelling areas.

So a squadron isn't building a training plan from a blank mission editor. The airspace is already laid out from period charts.

How REFORGER frames the era

REFORGER (Return of Forces to Germany) was the real NATO exercise cycle that ran roughly 1969 to 1993, testing how fast U.S. forces could reinforce West Germany against a Warsaw Pact war. DCS REFORGER is clear it does not recreate every detail of those exercises. It uses that 1969–1993 window as the setting so the module list actually fits, they call out airframes from the F-5E and F-4E through the F-16C, with more planned as training missions expand.

The community says its goal is to share the know-how of participating milsim squadrons and lift the wider DCS scene. NATO and Warsaw Pact units are both in scope, along with air traffic and tactical controllers.

The exercise cycle behind the server

The Joint Training Server is where the day-to-day flying happens. The headline events are Air Live Exercises — invited squadrons and controllers, large-force missions of up to about 100 players, dedicated aggressors, and special controller slots. The planning cycle targets one exercise about every three to four months.

Next on the calendar: October 31, 2026, at 1700Z. Anyone eyeing that event is told to contact the admin team now, not the week of. Squadrons get invited after an introduction; aircrew are expected to be mission-qualified in their own squadron and able to fly the DCS REFORGER procedures. Select mods and a required livery pack (via mod manager) are part of the exercise package.

After each event, REFORGER posts after-action reports on the DCS Forum. They also built a REFORGER website in cooperation with Red Flag EU, and point interested squadrons and controllers at their Discord to talk to the admins.

Combined Ops lists the group as a cold-war large-force exercise series that invites milsim squadrons that fit the bar and runs those events about once a quarter — the same rhythm the newsletter describes.

Where this sits on MilSim Units

On milsimunits.com, Digital Combat Simulator (DCS) currently has 27 listed units out of 1,874 across 30 games. That is a thinner directory lane than Reforger or Arma 3, which makes a standing Cold War Germany training server with a dated next exercise worth knowing about if you lead a DCS squadron or if you are shopping for one that actually trains between events instead of only showing up for the big event weekends.

Looking for a DCS or Cold War squadron while this is live? Browse the listings on milsimunits.com.