Soldiers from the U.S. Army's 82nd Airborne Division wait to load into U.S. Air Force C-130 Hercules aircraft at Pope Air Force Base, N.C., on Jan. 29, 1998. Nearly 80 aircraft will airdrop almost 3,000 personnel and their equipment into a Fort Bragg landing zone in one of the largest airborne operations since World War II as part of Joint Task Force Exercise 98-1. More than 30,000 U.S. military personnel are participating in the exercise which is testing joint forces on their ability to deploy rapidly and conduct joint operations during a crisis. All branches of the armed forces are training side-by-side using the latest advances in technology in a simulated high-threat environment that involves air, naval and ground operations.