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Old 03-16-2022, 03:15 PM
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chico20854 chico20854 is offline
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March 16, 1997

Nothing official today.

The British military attache in New Dehli reaches out to the Swiss ambassador to arrange for another meeting with the Soviets.

The staff of a small gun manufacturing operation in Krotz Springs, Louisiana are informed by the company's new owners that they have received a (secret but) major order for M-16 rifles to support the war effort. They immediately ramp up production to 75 rifles per day.

The Headquarters, 14th Air Force (USAF Reserve) is ordered to remain in the US and act as a command and control headquarters for strategic reserve units and to coordinate combat use of Air Training Command assets as the emergency need may arise.

The 9th Infantry Division (Motorized)'s divisional artillery, engineer regiment, air defense artillery battalion and MP company load their vehicles and heavy equipment aboard transport ships at Tacoma, the final elements of the division to load for Saudi Arabia.

The 187th Infantry Brigade (US Army Reserve) completes unloading of its vehicles and equipment in Germany and resumes its combat-ready status, bringing its parent 43rd Infantry Division to full capability.

The Soviet overland convoy from the Black Sea Fleet arrives in Patras, Greece. They begin supporting surviving Soviet naval units in the Mediterranean, supplying food, fuel, rearmament and maintenance.

The Royal Air Force deploys No. 21 Squadron, equipped with Jaguar GR.3 attack aircraft, to Thumrait, Oman. The deploying aircraft are accompanied on their long flight (with an overnight stop in Cyprus) by RAF Tristar tankers.

Concerned with the potential of war with the US, the Cuban political leadership arranges for all Soviet military personnel on the island to concentrate in a coastal enclave in the port of Mariel, mirroring the American base in Guantanamo.

Likewise, the Venezuelan government declares its neutrality, stating that its oil will be sold to any and all customers that are willing to pay for it. Accordingly, several tankers are dispatched to Cuba, Nicaraugua and Soviet client states in Africa, as well as the stream of tankers feeding the Western-owned refineries in Aruba, St. Croix and the US Gulf Coast.

Convoy 12, carrying equipment and supplies to Romania, Jugoslavia and the Middle East, is attacked by the Soviet Echo II-class submarine K-35. The Soviet cruise missiles sink the German container ship Norasia Shanghai, the freighter Grace II and the Singapore-flag Maersk Newark. The escort commander dispatches his helicopters to follow the smoke trail back to their source, hoping to catch the sub on the surface, but they run low on fuel and the smoke disperses, allowing K-35 to escape, although it has expended all its missiles for a second time.
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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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