March 1, 1997
The 6th Air Cavalry Combat Brigade is assigned to XVIII Airborne Corps and begins to deploy by air to Saudi Arabia.
The 41st Infantry Division becomes operational and begins deployment to Korea by sea.
The 43rd Infantry Division becomes operational and begins deployment to Europe by sea. The division's 187th Infantry Brigade (US Army Reserve) is forward deployed to Iceland, requiring sealift planners to identify available ships that can fit into the island nation's harbors and direct them there.
Hamadan falls to Soviet troops. The Iranian National Security Force begins recruiting nationalist Iranians, mostly veterans of the Iran-Iraq war, for Operation Shadow, an effort to seed anti-Soviet guerrilla bands in areas likely to be occupied by the Soviets and their Tudeh allies.
Unofficially,
The US Navy assigns the training carrier Lexington in Pensacola an operational anti-raider role in the Caribbean with a scratch air wing (three squadrons of A-4s from the trainign establishment and some Sea King helicopters) and a small battle group, designated Task Force 40.1.
The Freedom-class cargo ship Arizona Freedom is delivered in Pascagoula, Mississippi.
The Spetsnaz team in Albuquerque conducts a reconniassance of the Kirtland Air Force Base nuclear weapons storage facility.
A Senior MI-5 official meets with a Ulster Volunteer Force leader in Londonderry, Northern Ireland, to convey the same message regarding sectarian terror as was delivered to the UDA in February. He also hints that MI-5 would entertain more extreme measures (beyond indefinate internment without trial, likely assassination of leadership) if the warning was ignored.
The Headquarters, 12th Air Force arrives in Orland AB, Norway to provide C3I for USAF units in Norwegian theatre.
Guards aboard the Soviet destroyer Buliny, under the command of Captain 2nd Rank Mikhail Mischenko, replenishing and receiving minor repairs in Luanda, Angola, detect swimmers in the harbor nearby and drop grenades in the water. The sailors' quick action disrupted an attack by 4 Reconnaissance Commando, South African Defense Force, who lost three recces in the failed operation.
Convoy 10 departs Savannah, with a dozen ships carrying the equipment and vehicles of the 24th Infantry Division (Mechanized).
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I love the smell of napalm in the morning. You know, one time we had a hill bombed, for 12 hours. When it was all over, I walked up. We didn't find one of 'em, not one stinkin' body. The smell, you know that gasoline smell, the whole hill. Smelled like... victory. Someday this war's gonna end...
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