Airdrop

U.S. Soldiers from the 82nd Airborne Division prepare to conduct a static line airdrop from an Air Force C-17 Globemaster III aircraft during a joint forcible entry exercise over Fort Bragg, N.C., April 28, 2010. JFEX is designed to train service members for real-world contingency operations. (DoD photo by Staff Sgt. Jason Robertson, U.S. Air Force/Released)

Chinook helicopter lands

U.S. Soldiers and Afghan National Army soldiers watch as a CH-47 Chinook helicopter lands in the village of Mengal Kheyl in Paktika, Afghanistan, April 22, 2010, following an air assault mission. The Soldiers are from Charlie Company, 3rd Battalion, 172nd Infantry Regiment, Vermont Army National Guard. The mission, which resulted in the capture of the district’s largest weapons cache in three years, was the first combat air assault mission in the history of the Vermont National Guard. (DoD photo courtesy of the U.S. Army/Released)

Night fire at the Kabul Military Training Center

An Afghan National Civil Order Policeman (ANCOP) fires rounds downrange while qualifying during a night fire at the Kabul Military Training Center in Afghanistan April 26, 2010. ANCOP, which are an elite force of the Afghan police, receive additional training in civil order and urban policing. (DoD photo Senior Airman Matt Davis, U.S. Air Force/Released)

Completing the transfer

Seated from left, Iraqi Federal Police Col. Yusef M’ Shutit Mohsin, the commander of 1st Battalion, 3rd Brigade, 1st Iraqi Federal Police Division; Sameer Al Haddad, the receivership secretariat for the government of Iraq; and U.S. Army Capt. Matthew Bandi, the commander of Charlie Troop, 1st Battalion, 89th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, sign documents completing the transfer of Joint Security Station Salie from U.S. forces to Iraqi security forces at the station in Baghdad, Iraq, April 20, 2010. The station is being handed over to the Iraqi Federal Police prior to the exit of U.S. forces from the area. (DoD photo by Spc. Jesse Gross, U.S. Army/Released)

50-caliber machine gun

U.S. Navy Yeoman 3rd Class Jacob Slay fires a twin .50-caliber machine gun as Information Systems Technician 2nd Class Michael Ervin, left, and Gunner's Mate 2nd Class Joshua Pacheco help him spot his target from aboard the U.S. 7th Fleet command ship USS Blue Ridge (LCC 19) during a live-fire training exercise in the Pacific Ocean April 27, 2010. (DoD photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Daniel Viramontes, U.S. Navy/Released)

Carry a Soldier

U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Austin Hess, a medical technician with the Ghazni Forward Surgical Team, and Staff Sgt. Shante' Lopez carry a Soldier on a litter on Forward Operating Base Ghazni, Afghanistan, April 22, 2010. (DoD photo by Tech. Sgt. JT May III, Air Force/Released)

Fighting Falcon Aggressor aircraft

An F-16 Fighting Falcon Aggressor aircraft from the 18th Aggressor Squadron flies over the Alaska Range April 20, 2010, during Red Flag Alaska 10-2. The exercise provides participants 67,000 square miles of airspace, more than 30 threat simulators, one conventional bombing range and two tactical bombing ranges containing more than 400 different types of targets. (DoD photo by Staff Sgt. Christopher Boitz, U.S. Air Force/Released)

U.S. Marines

 U.S. Marines from the helicopter support team of Combat Logistics Battalion 24, 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit conduct external lifts of a water buffalo using a CH-53 Super Stallion helicopter from Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 162 (Reinforced) in Djibouti April 21, 2010. (DoD photo by Gunnery Sgt. James Frank, U.S. Marine Corps/Released)

Army security

 U.S. Army Pfc. John Gomez provides security during a patrol in Sabari, Afghanistan, April 13, 2010. Gomez is from Delta Company, 3rd Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault). (DoD photo by Sgt. Jeffrey Alexander, U.S. Army/Released)

A firing exercise

U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Juan Gomez clears Cpl. Morgan Ruffin's M-16A4 rifle during the unknown distance portion of a firing exercise at Pohakuloa Training Area in Hawaii April 13, 2010. Gomez is assigned to Headquarters Battery, 1st Battalion, 12th Marine Regiment. (DoD photo by Lance Cpl. Orlando Perez, U.S. Marine Corps/Released)

Search and seizure team

Members of a visit, board, search and seizure team from the littoral combat ship USS Freedom (LCS 1) conduct tactical exercises aboard the guided-missile cruiser USS Bunker Hill (CG 52) while underway in the Pacific Ocean on April 7, 2010. The Freedom and the Bunker Hill are supporting Southern Seas 2010, a U.S. Southern Command-directed operation that provides U.S. and international forces the opportunity to operate in a multinational environment. DoD photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Daniel Barker, U.S. Navy. (Released)

Army and Agriculture

 U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Curtis Sanford and Department of Agriculture representative Anthony Miller plant Afghan pine tree saplings on the Agribusiness Development Team demonstration farm on Forward Operating Base Ghazni, Afghanistan, April 9, 2010. The six-acre farm is used to demonstrate progressive agriculture techniques to local farmers and producers. (DoD photo by Sgt. 1st Class Ross Dobelbower, U.S. Army/Released)

The overwatch position

U.S. Army Pvt. Michael S. Walters monitors an Afghan National Army visit to Nishigam village in the eastern Kunar province of Afghanistan on April 6, 2010. The Afghan National Army-led mission involved meeting with villagers and inspecting important community gathering places, such as the school and local bazaar. The overwatch position near Combat Outpost Bar Alai is used to prevent anti-Afghan forces from attacking Afghan National Security Forces as they work with residents. Walters is a forward observer with 2nd Platoon, Charlie Troop, 3rd Squadron, 61st Cavalry Regiment. DoD photo by Staff Sgt. Gary A. Witte, U.S. Army. (Released)

Firing exercise

U.S. Marine Corps Cpl. Robert Dyke fires an M2 .50-caliber machine gun during the crew served weapons 
firing exercise on a range at the Pohakuloa Training Area in Hawaii April 10, 2010. 


Dyke is assigned to the Bravo Battery, 1st Battalion, 12th Marine Regiment. 






















(DoD photo by Lance Cpl. Orlando Perez, U.S. Marine Corps/Released)

Loading of generator light sets

U.S. Soldiers and Airmen secure a load of generator light sets on a flatbed trailer in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, April 13, 2010. The light sets, which were supplied by U.S. Agency for International Development, will be installed in various internally displaced persons camps in Haiti in an effort to mitigate gender-based and violent crimes that have been occurring at night.(DoD photo by Spc. William R. Begley, U.S. Army/Released)

Returninf fire during an attack on Combat Outpost

U.S. Army Pfc. Timothy D. Prescott returns fire during an attack on Combat Outpost Bari Alai in the Kunar province of Afghanistan April 10, 2010. Members of the Afghan National Army and International Security Assistance Force fought off an estimated 30 anti-Afghan forces (AAF) that fired on a dismounted patrol near Nishigam village, wounding three. The AAF attacked Bari Alai with small arms and heavy machine gun fire from the surrounding territory. ANA and ISAF suppressed the attackers with direct and indirect fires, as well as air-to-ground missiles and bombs. Prescott is a squad automatic weapon gunner with 2nd Platoon, Charlie Troop, 3rd Squadron, 61st Cavalry Regiment. (DoD photo by Staff Sgt. Gary A. Witte, U.S. Army/Released)

Pre-fire checks

U.S. Navy Fire Controlman 3rd Class Ryan Dawson performs pre-fire checks on a Phalanx 20 mm close-in weapons system aboard the guided missile destroyer USS Laboon (DDG 58) while under way in the Atlantic Ocean April 1, 2010. Dawson is performing a check on the defensive weapon system to ensure no live rounds are loaded into it. Laboon is in transit to participate in Joint Warrior 10-1, a semi-annual event that encompasses multinational and multi-warfare exercises designed to improve interoperability between allied navies. The exercise is designed to prepare participating crews to conduct combined operations during deployment. (DoD photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Darius O. Jackson, U.S. Navy/Released)

Assaults the objective during training

Iraqi commandos pull security as another platoon assaults the objective during training at the Regional Training Center in Dhi Qar, Iraq, March 24, 2010. (DoD photo by Spc. Robert Sheets, U.S. Army/Released)

Combined Security Force search for a weapons cache in Kirkuk, Iraq

U.S. Army Spc. Brad Ullrich helps members of Green Platoon, Combined Security Force search for a weapons cache in Kirkuk, Iraq, March 27, 2010. Ullrich is assigned to the Charlie Company, Special Troop Battalion, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armor Division. (DoD photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Matthew D. Leistikow, U.S. Navy/Released)

Iraqi soldiers conducting a foot patrol

Iraqi soldiers from the 52nd Infantry Battalion conduct a foot patrol in Al Madinia, Iraq, March 27, 2010. (DoD photo by Staff Sgt. Adelita Mead, U.S. Army/Released)

Make their way down a set of stairs

U.S. Army Cpls. Levi Day, foreground, and Stanley Piecuch, both Security Forces members from the Kunar Provincial Reconstruction Team, make their way down a set of stairs in the city of Asadabad in the eastern Kunar province of Afghanistan March 29, 2010. The team is performing a routine foot patrol through the city to inspect past and possible future locations for PRT projects in the area. (DoD photo by Senior Airman Nathan Lipscomb, U.S. Air Force/Released)

Search and seizure team

 Members of a visit, board, search and seizure team from the guided-missile destroyer USS McFaul (DDG 74) inspect the Indian-flagged vessel Faize Osamani off the coast of Oman April 5, 2010. The vessel is a suspected pirate mothership accused of firing small arms and rocket-propelled grenades at the motor vessel Rising Sun. The Sailors took ten suspected pirates into custody and rescued eight crewmembers that had escaped from the dhow. McFaul is supporting maritime security operations and theater security cooperation operations in the U.S. 5th Fleet area of responsibility. (DoD photo courtesy of the U.S. Navy/Released)

looking through a phoropter

U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Gennifer Sauter, a debts remissions branch chief with the Air Force Financial Service Center, looks through a phoropter during her pre-retirement eye exam at Ellsworth Air Force Base, S.D., April 7, 2010. (DoD photo by Airman 1st Class Joshua J. Seybert, U.S. Air Force/Released)

Task Force disembark from Landing Craft

U.S. Marines assigned to a Security Cooperation Marine Air-Ground Task Force disembark from Landing Craft Utility 1660 assigned to Assault Craft Unit 2 in Guereo, Senegal, April 6, 2010, during an offload of U.S, Spanish, Portuguese and British marines and Seabees assigned to Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 7. The service members will be working with the Senegalese army as part of Africa Partnership Station West, an international initiative developed by U.S. Naval Forces Europe/Africa to work on improving maritime safety and security on the African continent. (DoD photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Martine Cuaron, U.S. Navy/Released)

Next Fire Mission

U.S. Soldiers prepare for their next fire mission at Forward Operating Base Bostick, Afghanistan, March 30, 2010. The Soldiers are from Bravo Company, 3rd Battalion, 321st Field Artillery Regiment, 18th Fires Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division. (DoD photo by Sgt. Corey Idleburg, U.S. Army/Released)