Operation Golden Pheasant

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Operation Golden Pheasant was an emergency deployment of U.S. troops to Honduras in 1988, as a result of threatening actions by the forces of the (then socialist) Nicaraguans.

In early March, 1988, the Nicaraguan Sandinista government launched Operation Danto to overrun Contra rebel supply caches in the San Andres de Bocay region, crossing into Honduran territory in their drive. The United States, under President Ronald Reagan, dispatched elements of the 82nd Airborne and 7th Infantry Division (Light) to Honduras on a no-notice deployment and show of force. The deployment evolved into a joint training exercise, but the paratroopers and light infantry soldiers deployed ready to fight, causing the Sandinistas to withdraw back across their border.

The 1st and 2nd Battalions of the 504th Parachute Infantry Regimentand 3rd Battalion of the 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment 82nd Airborne Division, were joined by soldiers from the 2d Battalion 9th Infantry Regiment, 2d and 3d Battalions of the 27th Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division (Light) from Fort Ord, California. On 17 March, 1st Battalion landed at Palmerola Airfield, a Honduran Air Force base that was the headquarters for the U.S. military presence in Honduras. The 2nd Battalion jumped onto the airfield a day later, and the troopers of the 504th began rigorous training exercises with orders to avoid the fighting on the border. Had those orders changed, the paratroopers were prepared to fight, but the invading Sandinista troops had already begun to withdraw. Within days, the Sandinista government negotiated a truce with Contra leaders, and by the end of March the paratroopers of the 504th had returned to Fort Bragg.