[chico20854]

April 18, 1997

Nothing in the canon for today.

Exploiting resentment of the Soviet government's decades-long effort to Russify and settle the semi-nomadic Saami people of the Kola, American Special Forces troops open a training camp in Kautokeino, Norway to train Saami that slipped over the borders as anti-Soviet partisans.

A checkpoint on New York Route 9 stops a car carrying a Soviet spetsnaz team heading into New York City. The commandos kill three state guardsmen as they escape.

Troops of the German 27th Panzer Division move over 10 kilometers to the north and south, while making minimal forward progress. The US III Corps commits the 1st Cavalry Division to action in Poland, taking the northern portion of the bridgehead gained by the 1st Infantry Divsion over the prior few weeks.

NATO airpower returns to skies over Katowice to continue working over military industry in the city.

In the Mediterranean, Operation Sand Storm winds down with the predawn evacuation of the last marines. The carriers America, Enterprise and John F Kennedy provide cover for the withdrawing amphibious force as they move west, heading to Gibraltar for reconstitution. Libyan coastal defense units strike the American frigate Miller with a SS-C-3 Styx cruise missile as the American task force retreats, sinking the ship.

The Independence battle group in the Indian Ocean turns north, heading back towards the Iranian coast.

Third US Army reports that the 9th Infantry Division (Motorized) has cleared the ports and is combat ready. The Army's G-4 (Logistics Officer) reports that shipping allocations are being cut back in favor of moving supplies to Europe, which will slow the buildup of supplies needed for Third Army to sustain combat operations.

The pair of Soviet destroyers that struck Midway retreat at high speed, heading west until over the horizon, then turning north to raid the shipping lanes following the Great Circle Route from the US west coast to Asia. They plan to link up with their sister the Vertkiy in the Aleutians so they can strike the major American air base at Shemya, with its complements of F-15 fighters, P-3 patrol aircraft, early warning radar and spy planes. The commander of the US Third Fleet dispatches a carrier task force composed of the carriers Constellation and Midway to hunt down the raiders.

Air strikes by the USAF 24th Tactical Air Support Squadron, guided by an A-Team of the 1st Battalion, 8th Special Forces Group, hit a large FARC base in the jungle in northwestern Colombia.