CAPTION ONLY: FIRST U.S. TROOPS HEADING HOME FROM SOMALIA

Members of the 2nd Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment, arrive at the Mogadishu airport Friday to board a plane for the flight back to their base in Fort Drum, N.Y. The 2nd Battalion is the first combat unit to be redeployed after President Clinton ordered U.S. troops out of Somalia by March 31. Meanwhile, the United Nations is scrambling to patch together a military coalition to make up for the loss of Americans. Prospects for the future U.N. presence, its size and mandate, are as uncertain as the prospects for stability and political reconciliation in Somalia. African and Arab nations are expected to take up some of the slack, but they want to focus on humanitarian efforts and political and economic rehabilitation. Therefore, troop commitments may depend heavily upon reconciliation among Somali factions. The U.N. mission includes more than 30,000 troops from 28 nations, including 2,900 U.S. soldiers. Another 8,800 Americans are under a separate command.