U.S. Soldiers of Headquarters and Headquarters Company, Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, guide a concrete barrier into position at Joint Security Station Loyalty, eastern Baghdad, Iraq, on May 17, 2009. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. James Selesnick/Released)
Iraqi Sgt. Maj. Saadon Muhsen demonstrates the recoil of firing a rifle to a female Iraqi Police officer during a weapons familiarization course at Staff Sgt. Darren Cunningham Memorial Range in Baghdad, Iraq, on May 21, 2009.(Photo by U.S. Army Spc. Donte Baltimore/Released)
Army Lt. Col. Harold Turner, logistics planner in the plans cell of the 34th Infantry Division, prepares to swear his son, Brett, into the U.S. Army via a webcam connection on the Internet between Baghdad and Iowa. Courtesy photo
Army Lt. Col. Harold Turner, logistics planner in the plans cell of the 34th Infantry Division, returns a salute from his son, Brett, after swearing him into the U.S. Army via a webcam connection over the Internet between Baghdad and Iowa. Courtesy photo
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A C-17 Globemaster III assigned to the 97th Air Mobility Wing at Altus Air Force Base, Okla., takes off from the Tonopah runway May 20 near Nellis AFB, Nev., while participating in the Mobility Air Forces Exercise. Approximately 12 U.S. Air Force bases participate in the exercise twice a year, testing the crew ability of C-17 Globemaster IIIs and C-130s to join together in formation at a specific time and location to drop a brigade-size force anywhere in the world. (U.S. Air Force photo/Airman 1st Class Brett Clashman)
Col. John D. Bansemer takes the 70th Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Wing flag from Maj. Gen. Bradley A. Heithold, Commander, Air Force Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Agency, signifying the colonel's assumption of command. The ceremony took place at McGlachlin Field on Fort Meade and was attended by local Army, Navy and Air Force leaders. Col. John D. Stauffer (right) relinquished command of the wing, and is now vice commander of the AF ISR Agency.
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PACIFIC OCEAN (May 22, 2009) Navy Diver 2nd Class Chet Schroeter, assigned to Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit (EODMU) 11, Platoon 1131, explains how explosive ordinance and demolition personnel use robots to investigate explosives to Sailors aboard the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN 68). Nimitz and Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 11 are conducting a Composite Training Unit Exercise off the coast of Southern California in preparation for a scheduled deployment to the western Pacific Ocean. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Amara R. Timberlake/Released)
U.S. Army soldiers rehearse dismounting a CH-47 Chinook helicopter before a recent air assault operation on Bagram Air Field, Afghanistan, May 15, 2009. The U.S. soldiers, assigned to the 509th Infantry Division's 3rd Battalion, participated in a joint effort with Afghan soldiers and border police. U.S. Army photo by Pfc. Derek L. Kuhn
TUCSON, Arizona - Lieutenant Colonel H.T. Rakgantswana (second from left) of the Botswana Defense Force (BDF) observes flight crew operations in a C-130 aircraft embarking on a firefighting training mission in Arizona, May 6, 2009. U.S. Air Force airmen from the North Carolina Air National Guard introduced the aerial firefighting program — called Modular Aerial Fire Fighting System (MAFFS) — to representatives from the air arm of the BDF. The Botswana military may adopt a similar firefighting program of its own. Botswana, North Carolina's partner in the National Guard's State Partnership Program with African nations, is one of seven African nations participating in the partnership program. (Photo by Staff Sergeant Richard Kerner)
A role-playing Iraqi commander briefs Iraqi and American leadership for a night mission to pick up a high-value target in the fictional Iraqi town of Sadiq during a training exercise for 82nd Airborne Division's Company D, 2nd Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team on Joint Readiness Training Center, Fort Polk, La., May 12, 2009. The brigade is scheduled to be the first externally augmented advise-and-assist brigade to deploy to Iraq to train and enable the Iraqi Security Forces to assume the leadership role in the security of their country.
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U.S. Army 1st Lt. Jacob Lopez, attached to Crazy horse Troop, 4th Squadron, 9th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division inspects barrels filled with car parts during a recent combined reconnaissance patrol with counterparts of the Iraqi Police in the industrial sector of the town of Taza, in Kirkuk, Iraq, on May 16, 2009. DoD photo by Sgt. Gustavo Olgiati, U.S. Army. (Released)
KENITRA, Morocco - A Royal Moroccan Air Force F-5 jet approaches the refueling basket May 22, 2009 during a fixed wing aerial refueling mission in support of Exercise AFRICAN LION 2009. Throughout the exercise, Fort Worth, Texas-based Marines with Marine Aerial Refueler Transport Squadron 234 have been working with Moroccan C-130 pilots, aircrew and mechanics to conduct aerial refueling, low-level flight and other training. The annually scheduled, combined U.S.-Moroccan exercise is designed to improve interoperability and mutual understanding of each nation's tactics, techniques and procedures and is scheduled to run until June 4. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sergeant Rocco DeFilippis)
A U.S. Army flying crewchief scans the skies while en route to Forward Operating Base Airborne, in the Wardak Province of Afghanistan, May 8, 2009, during a recent support mission for U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates. (DoD photo by Master Sgt. Jerry Morrison, U.S. Air Force/Released) VIRIN: 090508-F-6655M-106
PACIFIC OCEAN (May 20, 2009) Aviation Ordnanceman Airman Apprentice Donald Goodall III, from Olongapo City, Philippines, waves to his father from the bridge of the aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74) as the fleet replenishment oiler USNS John Ericsson (T-AO 194) conducts a replenishment at sea. John C. Stennis is on a scheduled six-month deployment to the western Pacific Ocean. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Josue L. Escobosa/Released)
A U.S. Air Force pararescueman jumps out of a U.S. Marine Corps CH-53E Super Stallion helicopter during freefall swimmer deployment training in the Gulf of Aden, Djibouti, May 9, 2009. The pararescueman is assigned to the 82nd Expeditionary Rescue Squadron, and the helicopter crew is assigned to Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 461. U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Joseph L. Swafford Jr.
