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Old 12-23-2021, 10:50 AM
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December 23, 1996

NATO offers full membership to Jugoslavia and Romania, which they accept.

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A Jugoslav expeditionary force of three divisions and five brigades arrives at the front outside of Timisoara, Romania. The force, composed of units from central Serbia under the command of the 37th Corps, is placed under command of the hard-pressed Romanian 4th Army.

The Siege of Berlin is broken when the Bundeswehr 3rd Panzer Division is the first NATO unit to enter the city. Battle continues to rage in and around the battered city.

Taking advantage of the devastation wrought upon the Polish Air Force (which has been largely swept from the skies), US and British strike aircraft hit the oil fields and refineries near Uscie Solne (east of Krakow) in an attempt to hamper Polish military operations and defense industry operations.

US Green Berets increase their support of Eritrean and Tigrayan rebels as Cuban troops focus on evacuating, leaving a few dozen overburdened Soviet advisors to support the Ethiopian regime.

Unofficial:

AFRICOM and CENTCOM agree to the reassignment of the Horn of Africa from CENTCOM to AFRICOM, reflecting the demands being placed on CENTCOM's few troops in the region as a result of the Soviet invasion of Iran. 5th Special Forces Group B-teams in the Horn of Africa are reassigned to 3rd Special Forces Group, while the 2nd Battalion, 3rd SF Group is redesignated 2nd Battalion, 5th SF Group and deployed by air from Ft Bragg, NC to Oman. This allows the Green Berets embedded with local guerillas and friendly militaries to continue working alongside those allies without a disruptive change of personnel.

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The 185th Tactical Fighter Group (Iowa Air Nationa Guard)'s force of A-16 attack aircraft is declared fully operational. The 111th Fighter Interceptor Squadron (Texas Air National Guard) is ordered to Loring AFB, ME to bolster the northeastern USA's air defenses after an assessment that Cuba was, in fact, complying with its stated intention of remaining neutral and that therefore it was a reasonable risk to dilute Texas' air defenses.

Peace activists outside RAF Upper Heyford are caught by MI-5 radio-direction finding unit broadcasting takeoff and landing notifications for F-111 strikes from the base. A series of arrests begin.

USAF Europe launhces Operation Speed Bump, which has USAF F-117s strike bridges across the Wisla River in Poland being used to tranport Soviet reinforcements to the front.

The USAF orders the 112th Tactical Fighter Group (Pennsylvania Air National Guard) and its 24 A-7 strike aircraft to prepare to deploy to Jugoslavia as reinforcements.

The war in space heats up, when MAJ Amy "Buns" Nakamura becomes the first female ace of the war after shooting down two Soviet RORSATs with ASAT missiles.

The squadrons that were part of the air wings assigned the USS Forrestal and USS George Washington are disbanded following the loss of their carriers. The remaining aircraft and aircrew, which had been operating from bases near Trondheim in central Norway, are reassigned to other squadrons fighting in the waning clashes in the Norwegian Sea, while surviving headquarters, maintenance and administrative personnel are flown home to the US for reassignment or to rebuild selected squadrons. US Naval Aviation losses in the Norwegian Sea exceed 50 percent overall.
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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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