February 9, 1997
France, Belgium, Italy and Greece legally leave NATO; their participation had ended 60 days earlier.
Unofficial:
The 123rd Army Reserve Command, from Indianapolis, Indiana and activated at nearby Fort Benjamin Harrison, is redesignated HQ, XI US Corps, receiving a new commanding general, Lieutenant General Albert Savage, former commander of III Corps.
SEAL Delivery Vehicle Team One makes a predawn raid on the Soviet air defense radar on Matua in the Kurile Islands. They subsequently engage the defenders of the island's small airstrip, overwhelming them with the volume and accuracy of their gunfire, and detonate demolition charges in the runway. They evacuate by SDV before they can be caught by the the remnants of the garrison or reinforcements flown in from nearby islands.
With the arrival of the 7th Infantry Division in Korea, I Corps is able to pull the 2nd Infantry Division off the front lines, where it has been fighting for over six weeks, for rest and to receive reinforcements. (The replacement system is now feeding over 1000 trained troops, both new draftees and recalled inactive reservists, into the Korean theatre each week.)
US Navy Patrol squadron VP-60 arrives at the recently improved Cocos Islands, Airport, Australia and begins flying patrols looking for Soviet raiders and submarines. Australian authorities impose a near-total communications blackout on the inhabitants to prevent news of American combat missions being launched from Australian territory from becoming public.
The Freedom ship Idaho Freedom returns to San Francisco Bay, calling at the Oakland Army Terminal to load its next cargo. The Pennsylvania Freedom, delivered on the 5th is ordered to Tacoma, Washington, from Portland, to load its first cargo.
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The Mainz Army Depot in Germany returns its 200th M1-series tank damaged in the Battle of Germany to 7th Army after repair, testing and certification as combat ready.
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Soviet Su-24 bombers strike Danish targets, including the Gedser port facility (terminus of a ferry to Germany).
Soviet forces make a maximum effort to eliminate the Gubin and Frankfurt-on-Oder bridgeheads, which once again fail.
US Marines of the 8th Marine Expeditionary Brigade raid the Libyan Gamal Abdul El Nasser Air Base and adjacent SA-5 missile regiment launch stations, destroying the missiles and radar, cratering the runway and collapsing many of the hardened aircraft shelters.
The Soviet destroyer Buliny, under the command of Captain 2nd Rank Mikhail Mischenko, sinks the Greek-owned bulk carrier Archimedes, expending the last of its complement of SS-N-22 Sunburst missiles.
A combined military and civilian force on Ascension extinguishes the fire in the island's aviation fuel tank farm that was ignited by the Kirov's shelling three days prior.
The American transport ship Marine Reliance arrives in Split, Croatia with a load of Ti-67 tanks for Romania.
The last aircraft of the Iranian 32nd Tactical Fighter Wing arrive in Iran and the F-20 Tigershark unit begins flying combat air patrols over the areas of Iran controlled by the Iran Nowin government. The 41st Tactical Figher Wing hands over its remaining F-5s to the 22nd Wing, its pilots and ground staff boarding Iran Air 747s bound for Hunter Army Airfield, Georgia to pick up new F-20s.
The US Transportation Command issues a warning order to airlift units and sealift planners, alerting them to an imminent need to deploy troops to Saudi Arabia and Iran.