The United States invasion of the Dominican Republic (code-named Operation Power Pack) occurred in 1965. The Marines landed on April 28 and were later supported by elements of the Army?s 82nd Airborne Division. The intervention ended in September 1966. After a period of political instability following the assassination of long-time Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo in 1961, candidate Juan Bosch, a founder of the anti-Trujilloist Dominican Revolutionary Party, was elected President in December, 1962 and inaugurated in February 1963. His left-leaning policies, including land redistribution and the nationalization of certain foreign holdings, led to a military coup seven months later by a right-wing faction of the military led by General El?as Wessin. Wessin controlled the Centro de Entrenamiento de las Fuerzas Armadas (Armed Forces Training Center or "CEFA"), an elite group of about 2000 highly trained infantry. Stationed at the San Isidro Air Base, it was unlike the...