March 7, 1997
Nothing official today...
The 30th Armored Brigade, 44th (my 20th) Armored Division (Tennessee National Guard) completes Rotation 97-4 at NTC-3 at the Yuma Proving Grounds in Arizona and is declared combat ready. It begins rail loading its vehicles for transit to East Coast load ports.
A FBI-USAF team surrounds the Spetsnaz team in New Mexico after it is picked up by a sypathizer. The team is disarmed and handled as POWs, the sympathizer is arrested on treason charges.
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The Spetsnaz team under Col Mikhail Tumanski attacks the fuel depot at Avonmouth near Bristol. The team uses its 82mm mortar to split open some of the massive tanks and fires a pair of AT-4 missiles into the resulting spill to start a massive fire.
The 265th Engineer Group (Combat) (Georgia National Guard) enters combat in Korea under command of IX Corps.
As part of the unification of the German Army from the prewar NVA and Bundeswehr, the 17th Motor-Rifle Division (a mobilization-only unit) is retitled the 217th PanzerGrenadier Division.
The 142nd Field Artillery Brigade (Arkansas National Guard) fires it first shots in anger along the Oder-Niesse line.
The Soviet raider Buliny sinks the Liberian-flag bulker Galet, carrying bulk wheat to Capetown. The loss of the cargo further heightens the hunger crisis in Africa.
Convoy 8.2.2 arrives at Port Said, Egypt and is officially ended. (Many of the ships will continue on to the Arabian Sea and Persian Gulf under escorts provided by local navies and the US 5th Fleet). Convoy 8.2.1. arrives at the Turkish port of Izmir and begins unloading supplies of food, munitions and light vehicles.
The 18th Field Artillery Brigade loads its guns and trucks onto aircraft at Pope Air Force Base, North Carolina for deployment to Saudi Arabia.
The Soviet 40th Army, advancing west out of Afghanistan (from marshalling areas near Shindand and Herat) links up with troops of the 45th (my 32nd) Army at Bardaskan, in the harsh desert southwest of Mashad (and cutting off the last overland connection to the isolated Pasdaran garrison).