On this day 25 years ago

[chico20854]

January 3, 1997

The US 2nd Infantry Division's 1st and 2nd Brigades (both mechanized) engage North Korean mechanized forces, composed largely of the 820th Mechanized Corps, northeast of Seoul.

unofficial:

The North Korean command commits the 815th Mechanized Corps as a follow-on force. USAF surveillance aircraft note the movement of vehicles, and G Battery, 37th Field Artillery, 2nd ID's MLRS battery, plasters the area with submunitions, slowing the North Korean reinforcements. The US commander then lands 2nd ID's 3rd (light) Brigade in rough terrain to the North Korean flank, where they unleash a hail of Viper/Tank Breaker missiles into the attacking armored troops.

Convoy 109 departs New York, bound for Newfoundland before starting the North Atlantic crossing.

The Turkish 1st Army receives reinforcements, largely taken from 2nd Army on the Mediterranean coast. Bulgarian resistance is stiffening as more troops are shifted from the Romanian front. The Bulgarian Communist Party sends an urgent request to the USSR for military assistance as the impovershed country's economy slows following the callup of so many men of prime working age and the nation's stockpiles are rapidly being depleted.

Fighting continues in the eastern oukstirks of Berlin, with NATO gains measured by hundreds of meters. Along the Baltic coast progress is more rapid, as Polish troops fall back to their border and the ports of Stralsund and Sassnitz fall, shutting down Pact supply/evacuation points.

Following a disappointing rotation at the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, California by the 1st Brigade, 49th Armored Division, the Department of the Army decides to pull the entire division from the deployment timeline and re-equip it with M1-series vehicles rather than the M60A4s it fielded. In a separate but related action, the brigade commander, two battalion commanders and seventeen other officers are relieved and the entire division is ordered to begin an intensive re-training regime in addition to the retraining and reorganizing needed for the transition to new Tables of Organization and Equipment with the new tanks.

[chico20854]

January 4, 1997

nothing official for today, but unofficially:

After refuelling and restocking, Convoy 202 (including the Idaho Freedom) sails from Honolulu, destination Guam. The convoy includes 38 cargo ships, a rescue vessel and five escorts and its passage is cleared by P-3 aircraft and long-range sonar surveillance from a supporting SURTASS ship.

NATO troops in Norway consolidate their gains, rounding up the last Soviet stragglers, clearing lines of communications, establishing support facilities and replenishing stocks from truck convoys. Naval units begin clearing harbor of Kirkenes of mines and debris, including a sunken Soviet landing craft.

The East German 18th Marine Regiment, isolated in Sasnitz since the beginning of the war, joins the NATO forces driving along the Baltic Coast. The US 11th Aviation Brigade launches a nighttime deep-penetration raid across the front line, disabling a pair of pontoon bridges over the Niesse river north of Gorlitz and wreaking havoc on the masses of Pact vehicles awaiting passage into Poland as Soviet forces evacuate East Germany.

The 1st and 2nd Brigades, 2nd ID are locked in fierce combat against North Korean armored forces, which outnumber the American force by nearly 5 to one. The superior American tanks with lavish artillery and air support inflict heavy losses on the North Koreans, but are forced to give ground by the sheet quantity of enemy armor as their ammunition supply runs low as congestion, awful weather, refugees and enemy commando action delay their resupply convoys.

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The American containership Sea-Land Mariner, carrying containerized supplies for American troops, is struck by a Soviet SSM in the North Sea and set afire. Dutch emergency vessels respond and after 14 hours extinguish the fire.

AFRICOM secures two C-141 flights to Morocco to transport military equipment and supplies that will be distributed to anti-Soviet guerilla groups throughout the continent.

Scattered skirmishes erupt on the Turko-Soviet border, as Soviet KGB Border Guards and Turkish gendarmes trade shots. Neither nation has the resources to escalate the fighting.

The Soviet Ministry of Fisheries issues an order for its deep draft trawlers and support vessels in the southen Pacific, Atlantic and Indian Oceans to rendevous at pre-designated points (well away from established shipping lanes) and await further orders, relayed from the Navy. Given the situation off the Soviet coasts, fishing craft are not to attempt the return voyage.

[chico20854]

January 5, 1997

photo
The US 25th ID(L) begins its deployment by air to Korea from its home station in Hawaii. Troops move on a fleet of US and Korean Air widebody jets, while the division's vehicles are carried aboard C-5, C-17 and C-141 airlifters.

unofficially:

The Freedom-class cargo ship Rhode Island Freedom is delivered in Portland, OR.

The Politburo decides to try to convince the Dutch and Danish publics of the high cost of their support of the war (and scare them out of continued support for the war) by demonstrative strikes on their nations. A Spetsnaz team scuttles a chemical tanker (loaded with poisonous benzene) in the mouth of Rotterdam harbor, booby traps it and lights it on fire, at the same time that a Soviet air raid bombs the refinery and chemical plant in the city and mines the harbor, followed by a Scaleboard strike with persistent chemical munitions on the port and the main rail junction. One of the Su-24s, dodging Dutch F-16s, accidentally releases its munitions onto the historic center of the city. A similar strike targets Aarhus in Denmark. Thousands are killed in both countries, overwhelmingly civilians.

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AFNON and X Corps launch an attack into the USSR, acting on the authorization by NATO heads of state a few days prior. (This is the first time American troops have fought Red Army troops on Soviet soil since 1919). Border guards offer stiff resistance, but the main opposition comes from the remnants of 6th Army, which is still reeling after the long retreat across northern Norway. The strongest resistance comes from paratroopers brought in to shore up the border defenses.

The attack submarine USS Bluefish sinks the Soviet frigate Deyatelny in the Black Sea, the first of several Pact ships it will attack as it patrols the generally hostile Black Sea.

Turkish troops cut the road and rail routes to the Bulgarian port of Burgas; the garrison and population there is sustained by stores on hand and what can be brought in the city's port.

Soviet commerce raiders sortie from havens in the Seychelles, Angola, Mozambique and Guinea.

[chico20854]

January 6, 1997

photo
Responding to the prior day's attacks on Rotterdam, the Dutch government orders the Netherlands I Leger Korps into Germany to fight Warsaw Pact forces.

Unofficially:

The Dutch and Danish populations are outraged about the previous day's attacks and demand retribution against the USSR.

In Korea, the US 2nd ID's lines begin to strain as 1st Shock Army commits its third and final armored corps (the 806th) to the breakthrough. Some relief comes as VII ROK Corps releases the 20th Mechanized Infantry Division to reinforce the beleaugered Americans.

Pact forces begin pell-mell retreat from Berlin towards the Oder-Niesse line; poor weather prevents Allied airpower from devastating their columns. To the north, German troops reach the Polish border west of Szczecin and clash with outposts of the Polish 12th Armored Division. The Czech expeditionary force withdraws to home territory.

On the Kola Peninsula, X Corps troops are astride the Kola Highway west of Zapolyarny, threatening the road junction that leads to Nikel.

The Soviet Tango-class sub Novosibirsk Komsomolets sinks the Filipino bulk carrier Southern Princess carrying grain to Antwerp.

[chico20854]

January 7, 1997

The Dutch 4th Mechanized Division enters Germany.

Unofficial:

The 278th ACR loads the last of its vehicles on ships assigned to Convoy 110 in Savannah, Georgia for transit to Germany.

Nine MC-141s of the 76th Military Airlift Squadron arrive at Clark, AFB, Phillipines.

The first contingent of East German POWs captured the prior year in China arrive in Hickam AFB, Hawaii for a week of leave before continuing their journey home.

British forces reach Frankfurt-an-Oder on the Polish border. They enter the city, but are unable to seize the bridges over the Oder.

photo
182nd Tactical Fighter Squadron begins combat air patrols over Turkey from the airbase at Batman. Its F-16Cs are initially tasked with air defense of Southeastern Turkey but soon will receive orders to interdict Soviet supply lines in northwestern Iran.

A F-16A of the 482nd Tactical Fighter Wing's 89th Tactical Fighter Squadron (AFRES) intercepts a Soviet Be-12 anti-submarine patrol aircraft over the Black Sea and downs the lumbering flying boat.

A Soviet raider sinks a Cypriot-flagged ore carrier leaving Durban, South Africa with a cargo of chrome ore.

[chico20854]

January 8, 1997

Feeling emboldened by Turkish success in Bulgaria, Cypriots of Turkish descent hold a rally in Nicosia. Some fly the Turkish flag, despite the reunification of the island in 1994. Greek youth heckle and jeer the rally, and the situation escalates into scuffles and broken glass.

Unofficially:

US Pacific Command launches Operation Steel Bandit - US Navy and USAF units, with support from allies, launch raid on Soviet naval station at Cam Ranh Bay, Vietnam. The air strikes from the carriers Ranger and Abraham Lincoln and Clark AFB in the Philippines are nearly disastrous, but US Army Rangers from the 6th Ranger Battalion and allies land at the airfield and destroy vital facilities and tangling with responding troops from the 50th GMRD. Overall the costly raid is successful in halting the Soviets' use of the former US base for missions over the South China Sea and ferry bombing missions across China to Siberia.

The 163rd ACR (MT and TX NG) completes loading its troops, vehicles and heavy equipment on ships in Tacoma, Washington for transit to Korea. The group of ships is designated Convoy 205 and heads out that evening, escorted by a force of the destroyer Towers, frigate Lang and Coast Guard cutter Jarvis.

Remaining Pact troops are driven out of East German territory. German troops, a combination of the Schleswig-Holstein Territorial Command and East German 5 Armee, cross the Polish border west of Szczecin, intent on securing a solid front line along the Oder-Niesse line and giving the Polish Government in Exile a slice of Polish territory to bolster its legitimacy.

The Soviet destroyer Buliny, damaged early in the war in the Norwegian Sea but repaired and replenished, under the command of Captain 2nd Rank Mikhail Mischenko, slips across GIUK gap by hiding in iceberg fields in the Arctic night.

The attack submarine USS Bluefish takes up station off Burgas, Bulgaria to interdict the city. It sinks the Soviet troop transport Shota Rustaveli but is spotted by a Bulgarian Mi-14 helicopter, beginning a three-day ordeal to escape a Pact ASW task force vectored onto it.

[chico20854]

January 9, 1997

Nothing official today, but unofficially:

The first units from the US 25th ID(L) enter combat in Korea, reinforcing the battered 3rd Brigade, 2nd ID as they strive to contain the North Korean advance.

Open rebellion breaks out in scattered Polish Army units, mostly in individual battalions or regiments within a division, in response to the Pact defeat in East Germany and emergence of a Free Polish government.

The Dutch Red Army attempts to ambush a truck convoy leaving the Stegerveld ammunition dump; the convoy guards suppress the attackers and the convoy moves on.

photo
Unrest in Nicosia, Cyprus continues. Greek and Turkish youth engage in street battles while nationalist leaders call for calm.

The 126th MRD enters Romanian territory, assigned to the 5th Guards Army, and is almost immediately in action.

The 482nd TFW (AFRES) launches an offensive fighter sweep over Turkish troops in Bulgaria, drawing out Bulgarian Air Force fighters and allowing American ELINT aircraft orbiting over Anatolia to identify the electronic emissions of Bulgarian air defense units. One F-16, two MiG-21s and a MiG-29 are shot down.

The Ranger and Abraham Lincoln carrier battle groups steam east at high speed, while the Boat Troop of NZSAS made a more leisurely exit from the Cam Ranh region aboard the late Admiral Selevinskis barge, enjoying the liquor and company aboard.

[chico20854]

January 10, 1997

Nothing official today, but unofficially:

photo
The 202nd Tactical Fighter Squadron (SC Air National Guard) is reported ready for action following its conversion from F-4Es (which had been transferred to the Luftwaffe's JBG-36 in November to replace their losses) to F-20A Tigersharks.

An explosion rocks the ATACMS missile assembly plant in Horizon, TX. Thanks to the construction of the facility only one building is destroyed, killing 8 workers.

photo
In the North Pacific, 3rd Fleet launches Operation Steel Force - a raid on the Soviet naval complex Petropavlovsk-Kamchaktiy by the carriers Nimitz and Constellation. The raid is less costly than the recent raid on Cam Ranh Bay, but succeeds mostly in knocking back the city's air defenses and mining the channel leading out of the sheltered bay, with little direct damage to Soviet naval forces.

There is chaos in the Polish Army as rebel units call on their compatriots to join them. Polish Generals order all units locked down as they attempt to regain control, furiously trying to avoid having Soviet units put down the uprisings.

There is a third night of violence in Cyprus. Rioting expands to the city of Larnaca on the south side of the island.

USAF and Turkish Air Force units launch raids on the Bulgarian air defense network, enlarging the hole that had been created the Turkish advance into southeastern Bulgaria.

The Soviet Naval Infantry's 810th Brigade loads onto amphibious shipping in Sevastopol as high-priority reinforcements for battered Bulgarian troops facing the advancing Turks.

The 116th MRD, a mobilization-only division from the Leningrad MD, is called into service.

In the central Pacific, the commander of the 7th Fleet orders the USS Ranger's air wing to transfer as many surviving aircraft and aircrew as possible to Abraham Lincoln's in order to bring it as close to full strength. Advanced munitions are to be offloaded to replenishment ships accompanying Ranger and the carrier is ordered to return to the west coast for reconstitution while Abraham Lincoln is to sail north to support the embattled allied forces in Korea.

[chico20854]

January 11, 1997

photo
NATO minelaying of the GIUK gap begins.

unofficially:

The French government files a formal protest and a request to a German court to force compliance with commercial charter contract on the German-flagged cargo ship Ariana, which France claims has an obligation to continue to transport Ariane rockets to the launch facility in French Guiana. The ship is instead en-route to the US to load military equipment. (The French government fails to note that it is intent on lofting a electronic intelligence satellite with the rocket, hence the demand for quick action.)

Texas Rangers report that they have recovered a Soviet AT-4 missile transport tube near location of prior day's explosion at the ATAMS missile assembly plant outside El Paso.

The tug boat Janet Pommet is hijacked by unknown agents and sunk in San Diego harbor channel, partially blocking it.

RAF Mildenhall is hit by Soviet cruise missiles once again launched over the Baltic Sea and overflying southern Sweden; The Commanding Generals, USAF Europe and 3rd Air Force and some of their staff are killed. A C-23 light transport and two EC-135H Command & Control aircraft are destroyed.

NATO launches Operation Thundercloud - coordinated pre-dawn landings by the British 6th Airmobile Brigade, East German 40th Air Assault Brigade and the West German 26th Luftlande Brigade to seize bridgeheads over the Oder and Niesse Rivers, opposite Frankfurt-on-Oder, Gubin and Gorlitz, taking advantage of the disarray within the Polish Army.

Canadian and British fishing boats, B-52s from the 42nd Bomb Wing and USCG C-130s are initially involved in the minelaying effort in the North Atlantic, intending to cut off the resupply routes that SACLANT suspects are being used to support Soviet commerce raiders.

A bus full of Turkish Cyptiot construction workers in Limassol, Cyprus is stopped and the passengers dragged off and beaten by a Greek mob. The subsequent rioting expands across the island.

The advance party of the 278rd Armored Cavalry Regiment is flown to Amsterdam-Schipol airport to arrange for reception of the rest of the regiment.

A shipowner reports loss of communications with the MV Diamond Cherry, carrying grain from Port Elizabeth, South Africa to Rimini, Italy.

[chico20854]

January 12, 1997

The 43rd Infantry Division HQ is formed at Ft Devens, MA, taking command of 187th & 205th Infantry Brigades and the 218th Infantry Brigade (Mech) (all USAR).

Unofficial:

At the Pentagon, the Army staff announces a major change in plans as a result of the increased goegrahic size of Germany and ongoing conflict in Iran and Korea - instead of corps having command of a number of independent Reserve Component brigades, those brigades will instead be formed into divisions, using ARCOMs (Army Reserve Commands) and STARCs (State National Guard headquarters) as kernels of the divisional headquarters. Additional ARCOMs will be converted to corps headquarters.

The Freedom ship North Carolina Freedom is delivered in New Orleans, where it begins loading ammunition and replacement vehicles shipped from the Mississippi valley and the Red River Army Depot.

The Coast Guard interviews the crew of tug boat Janet Pommet, who indicate that the hijackers spoke a Slavic language and slipped away in a raft heading to Mexican waters.

Lt. Gen. Denise Alcort , XO of USAF Europe, assumes command while Lt. Gen. Carol Allby assumes command of 3rd Air Force.

Pacific Fleet launches Operation Iron Claw - At dusk, major air raids take off, targetting North Korean naval facilities in the Sea of Japan from the carriers Vinson, Constellation & Abraham Lincoln.

photo
The bridgeheads established by the prior day's airborne landings in Poland are subject to furious counterattack as both sides rush reinforcements and fire support to the areas, intent on establishing them (for NATO) and wiping them out (for the Pact).

The Polish Communist Party orders disloyal officers to be expelled from the Party and shot; enlisted personnel who rose up are to be demoted to private and sent to the front as motor-riflemen.

On the Kola Peninsula, US troops from the US 10th Mountain Division's 2nd Battalion, 22nd Infantry link up with Norwegian troops of the Vestoppland Infanteri Regiment, part of 6th Divisions 6th Brigade, along the railroad line west of Luostari, completing the encirclement of Nikel and its garrison.

Community leaders in Cyprus issue additional calls for calm; thousands turn out in rallies for unity. After dark fires return to the cities.

The 112th Tactical Fighter Wing (Pennsylvania Air National Guard) begins flying sorties in support of Jugoslav and Romanian troops in northwestern Romania from its deployment location in Tuzla, Jugoslavia.

The 113th Field Artillery Brigade (NC National Guard) completes unloading of its equipment in Bremerhaven and is released to 7th Army for deployment.

The officers of 1st Squadron, 278th ACR's advanced party are relieved of duty following the previous night's "night on the town" in search of whores, beer and the offerings of Amsterdam's famous coffee shops before going into combat.

A Soviet raider sinks the Liberian-flag general cargo carrier Navios Trader off West Africa.

The French government orders the immediate return of the naval transport Bougainville from supporting the nuclear test center in French Polynesia. The ship will be used to transport Ariane rockets to French Guiana.

[chico20854]

January 13, 1997

The 45th Infantry Division headquarters is formed at Ft Chaffee, AR, taking under command the 39th (AR), 45th (OK) and 53rd (FL NG) Infantry Brigades.

The Soviets decide to revive their flagging offensive in Iran, committing the 4th and 45th Armies. The 45th Army attacks from east of the Caspian Sea, overrunning the thin screen of Pasdaran troops still guarding the border with Turkmenistan. 4th Army advances down the coast road along the western Caspian coast, relieving elements of the 7th Guards Army from garrisoning Tehran.


Unofficially:

photo
The Battle of the Sea of Japan starts when the Soviet Kilo-class submarine B-470 spots the USS Vinson (lingering in the area after the prior days' raids on North Korean naval facilities, performing close air support strikes along the DMZ) and reports its location. Escorting helicopters, aircraft and ships sink the submarine before the Soviet air raids begin. Over the next two hours four waves of attackers approach (one of North Korean MiG-17s, one of Su-24s, one of Tu-16 Badger bombers and the last of supersonic Tu-22M Backfire bombers). The carriers' Combat Air Patrols deplete their missiles against the first several waves of attackers (which manage to disable a number of the escorting Aegis cruisers and destroyers), and the fighters are in the process of landing when the Backfire's missiles arrive, shielded by a wall of electronic interference that diminishes the range and effectiveness of the American's electronics. At the end of the day, the Constellation has been damaged and the Vinson and five escorts are sunk.

German attacks in northwest Poland intensify; The garrison of Szczecin (Soviet 21st Motor-Rifle Division, the Polish 12th Armored Division, 12th Border Guard Brigade, Szczecin Territorial Defense Brigade and an ad-hoc brigade formed from naval personnel) is hard pressed and local officials order evacuation of civilians from the city.

DEA agents in Ciudad Juarez conduct an illegal (from the Mexican perspective!) raid on safehouse, resulting in firefight that kills three agents and four suspects. A fifth suspect is taken alive - a starshina in the Soviet Army.

Army contracting officers place an order for CH-54 helicopters from the small Oregon company that bought the design and production rights; the first buy of CH-54s since 1972. The helicopters will sustain the Alaska National Guard aviation company assigned to the 172nd Infantry Brigade and equip additional units.

Contracts are also placed for additional initial training of military helicopter pilots (US and allied) with civilian flight schools across the South; the contract reqires the training to take place on the Robinson R44 light helicopter. This move lowers the burden on the US Army Aviation school at Fort Rucker, whose airspace and facilties were continually overcrowded.

The Freedom ship Wyoming Freedom is delivered in Galveston, TX.

Convoy 202, including the Idaho Freedom, arrives in Guam undamaged.

The Soviet sub Novosibirsk Komsomolets attacks the tanker Astoria Bay leaving the Mediterranean; the submarine successfully evades P-3s sent to locate it from Rota, Spain.

A second day of rallies for unity in Cyprus is disrupted by Greek youth. Rumors swirl that the Greeks are actually agents of the Greek National Intelligence Service. The rallies turn into anti-Greek riots, with 17 killed.

[chico20854]

January 14, 1997

nothing official today, but unofficially its a busy day!

Soviet aviation commander Marshall Kuzmenko meets with the Defense Council and Admiral Tulaev, commander of the the Soviet Navy, to discuss curtailing future bomber support to the Navy following the costly raids over the Sea of Japan the prior day, in which over half of the attacking aircraft did not return. He proposes that the USSR's remaining bombers re-orient towards 1) retention of intercontinental and regional nuclear strike capabilities, 2) a continuation of the strategic bombing campaign against China, 3) supporting Pact operations in the Balkans (and trying to knock isolated Turkey out of the war) and Iran and 4) supporting the war in the west; pointedly not including tangling with the US Navy. If American fleets once again approach the Soviet coast in the north, they will be met with bombers. His plan receives a cool reception, yet none can offer a meaningful alternative and consequently, over the next several weeks, Naval Aviation is stripped of many of its bombers.

A US National Security Council interagency discussion concludes that the Horizon, Texas ATACMS plant attack, San Diego tug sinking and Ciudad Juarez firefight are evidence that Soviet spetsnaz teams have crossed the Mexican border.

Convoy 202.1 departs Guam with three escorts, 26 cargo ships and the USNS Ponchatoula, headed for Pusan, Korea. Convoy 202.2 departs with 13 cargo ships, two escorts and a rescue ship, bound for Subic Bay, Phillipines.

German troops enter the outskirts of Szczecin.

SACEUR orders his J-4 (Logistics officer) to prepare a summary of the Alliance's supply levels on the Central Front.

On the Kola Peninsula, the 7th Guards Airborne breaks out of its encirclement, penetrating thin American lines and evacuating 5,000 troops.

The Soviet destroyer Buliny, under the command of Captain 2nd Rank Mikhail Mischenko, get its first kill, the Italian-flagged Jolly Smeraldo carrying vehicles of the 13th Corps Support Command.

The rioting in Cyprus continues. Nicosia burns and dozens are killed.

The Soviet 810th Naval Infantry Brigade arrives in the encircled port of Burgas, Bulgaria and moves to the front facing Turkish troops.

The first four (of 16 scheduled) widebody airliner flights carrying troops of 278 ACR depart Charleston, SC for Amsterdam-Schipol.

[chico20854]

January 15, 1997

The British 6th Infantry Division enters China and comes under Chinese command. It is initially assigned counter-insurgency duties in southern China.

unofficially:

The last Polish units are released from lockdown to contain NATO bridgeheads, although some commanders have new "minders" in their headquarters. The first pontoon bridge across the Oder is set up, leading into the Gorlitz bridgehead.

The 130th Tactical Airlift Wing (West Virginia Air National Guard) is brought into Federal service and ordered to deploy to Sacheon, ROK.

The 343rd Tactical Fighter Wing's alert orders, at Eielson AFB, AK, to prepare for deployment to Korea are rescinded; the 343rd is instead ordered to maintain its A-10 tank killers as part of a strategic reserve or for possible deployment to Norway in addition to Korea.

Detachment 2, 99th Strategic Reconnissance Squadron deploys 2 U-2s to Howard AFB, Panama to support SOUTHCOM.

The 202nd Tactical Fighter Squadron (SC ANG) is ordered to Gander, Newfoundland with its F-20As to augment continental air defense.

Interrogation of the Soviet spetsnaz soldier captured in Ciudad Juarez reveals that at least four other Spetsnaz teams arrived in Mexico in December.

The 48th Infantry Brigade, Georgia NG, completes its rotation at the National Training Center at Ft. Irwin, CA and is declared combat ready, while the 3rd Brigade, 26th ID(L) completes Rotation 97-2 at the Joint Readiness Training Center at Ft. Polk, LA and is declared combat ready.

President Tanner signs National Security Directive 97-3, authorizing the detention/internment of Warsaw Pact nationals and setting up a process for detainees/internees to appeal their status with the FBI.

Headquarters, 5th Air Force is ordered to relocate to Kadena AB, Okinawa, to be closer to the Korean Theater of Operations.

Major air battle rages over the East China Sea, as Frontal Aviation's 114th Bomber Regiment (with Su-24 Fencers operating out of China), headed to attack Taiwan, is intercepted by F-15s of the 67th TFS. 12 Su-24s are downed and 13 others damaged, the air raid called off, at the cost of two F-15s, whose crews are rescued by helos from the 31st Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Suadron. The Soviets' diversionary attack against Hokkaido is launched late, leading to another fierce air battle simultaneously over the Sea of Japan as Soviet fighters tangle with elements of the 13th & 14th Tactical Fighter Squadrons. The 39th ARRS rescues 6 downed Soviet aircrew, including the first Soviet female MiG-29 and Su-27 pilots captured in the Pacific.

The 25th US Infantry Division enters combat in Korea, coming to the aid of the embattled 2nd Infantry Division.

Convoy 202.1 meets the eastbound Convoy 402 and its escort force composed of Japanese destroyers and frigates. The American escorts turn around, picking up Convoy 402 while the Japanese guide Convoy 202.1 the rest of the way into Pusan.

The Headquarters, 928th Tactical Airlift Wing (Illinois Air National Guard) is disbanded, its subordinate units assigned to the 440th TAW at Bremen IAP, Germany. The move brings the 440th up to full strength and streamlines command and control of airlifters supporting USAF and NATO operations in northern Germany.

In Cyprus, there are battles on the outskirts of Larnaca as gangs of Turkish youth attempt to enter the city, intent on trouble.

The American attack submarine USS Bluefish takes up station outside the Kerch Strait, the exit to the Sea of Azov.

Convoy 110 attacked by a Soviet submarine 150 miles off the Icelandic coast. Two ships (the Cape Edmont and the Baltic Breeze), carrying half the vehicles of the 278th ACR, are sunk.

The first Lufthansa flight carrying 250 released East German POWs arrives in Frankfurt; the returnees are to be evaluated and reassigned to East German units as loss replacements.

[chico20854]

January 16, 1997

Unrest across the island of Cyprus continues as bands of Greek and Turkish Cypriots travel from their homes to isolated communities of the other group. Police commanders, their forces riven by ethnic unrest, seek military intervention.

Unofficially:

German troops reach the center of Szczecin after Soviet armored vehicles are evacuated by ferry. The remainder of the city's garrison withdraws at night in small boats.

A Czech special operations team (that had slipped across the border on December 28) ambushes the commander of the German IV Territorial Command and kill him, leaving his command temporarily leaderless.

On the Kola Peninsula, the Soviet 6th Armys last resistance collapses and General Dzhidzhilava, who slipped away from his command in a helicopter, is arrested.

The US National Security Council requests that border states activate their State Defense Forces to protect vital war production and mobilization/ deployment sites. The FBI issues a counter-intelligence warning to law enforcement nationwide on the Spetsnaz threat.

The US Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) orders the disbandment of ROTC Cadet Command, the collegiate officer training program. College seniors enrolled in the program had been commissioned in October and were beginning to reach units in the field as new second lieutenants. Juniors were transfered to Officer Candidate Schools established at various sites around the country, to be commissioned after completion of a six-week course. Sophomores were reclassed as infantry corporals or sergeants and fed into the replacement system, while freshmen were sent to basic training as privates first class. Junior cadre (Officers below Lieutenant Colonel, NCOs below Master Sergeant) were also fed into the replacement system, while senior cadre remained on their assigned college campuses, tasked to interview students (senior undergraduates and graduate students) to identify candidates for direct commissioning.

The 31st ARRS rescues four Soviet aircrew downed over the East China Sea, including the first Soviet female Su-24 pilot and navigator captured.

In the Pacific, Convoy 202.1 is attacked by the Soviet submarines B-220 and Komsomolets Tadzhikistan, lurking in shallow waters at slow speed. Three cargo ships and the frigate Noshiro are sunk before the B-220 is located and sunk, the Komsomolets Tadzhikistan slinking away to fight another day.

Over the Norwegian Sea, four F-16s of the 465 TFS intercept a flight of 12 Tu-22 Blinders attempting to launch a cruise missile strike on Keflavik and in 4 minutes managed to down all 12 aircraft, with the loss of only a single F-16.

F-16As of the 89th TFS (AFRES) strike a Soviet supply convoy headed for Varna, Bulgaria.

The submarine USS Bluefish is damaged by mine when it wanders into a minefield protecting Soviet transit lane and begins slow withdrawal from area.

A C-141 aircraft of the 702nd Military Airlift Squadron crashes shortly after takeoff from McGuire AFB, New Jersey. Investigators quickly determine that the crash was caused by fatigue, although it is unclear whether the fatigue was in the structure of the 31-year old aircraft or in the exhausted aircrew or maintentance crews, who had been working nonstop for months with inadequate rest.

[chico20854]

January 17, 1997

Czech and Soviet troops launch an attack against the German covering force in Bavaria, attempting to divert forces from Polish border.

Cypriot Army units leave their barracks and attempt to restore order.

Unofficial:

The Freedom ship New Jersey Freedom is delivered in Galveston, TX while its sister the Delaware Freedom is delivered from Pascagoula, MS.

At Ft. Stewart, GA the 118th Field Artillery Brigade (Georgia National Guard) is certified unready for deployment by evaluators.

The US submarine USS Tunny arrives in port in San Diego to load a Dry Deck Shelter, a specialized structure to transport Seal Delivery Vehicles.

Convoy 202.1 arrives in Pusan, losing an additional ship (the Taiwanese-flag Wan Hai 203) to a mine in the shipping channel. The Idaho Freedom has completed its first voyage and moves to a berth to unload its cargo of munitions.

In the Northwestern USSR, the 69th Naval Infantry Brigade is formed from personnel of the Litsa naval base complex

The frigate USS McDonnell (FF-1043) is sunk by missile launched by an Echo II SSGN.

A month after being struck by Soviet anti-radar missiles, the Aegis cruiser USS San Jacinto, stabilized in Scapa Flow, begins a tow back to shipyard in US.

British garrisons in Cyprus close their gates to all visitors and offer refuge to their local employees and their families.

The 32nd GMRD, a Category C division from the Moscow Military District, is ordered to mobilize, while the 96th MRD in the Volga Military District is upgraded to Category B, receiving an influx of equipment and men although not slated for imminent deployment.