Hello 8, I’m 8
May 17th, 2010 | Photography | Posted by Sheila
After escorting President Barack Obama's motorcade to the flight line at Andrews Air Force Base, Secret Service Officer Joe Vadala talks with Blue Angel #8 Lieutenant Commander Amy Tomlinson, the team's event co-ordinator, on Thursday, May 13, 2010, in Maryland. The Blue Angles were at the base for the Joint Service Open House, and delayed a brief to watch the President. Vadala, who is #8 on his motorcycle squadron, noticed the numbers on the Angels' uniforms and started scouting for number eight. "Where's eight? Is there an eight?" I'm eight!" Tomlinson stepped forward and the two shared stories about their teams.
Over the Wall
May 17th, 2010 | The Wires | Posted by Alan Lessig
United States Army Lt. Jon Lessman, of Gallatin, Tenn. flips over a mud wall while walking through grape fields while on patrol with 1st Platoon, Charlie Company, 2nd Battalion, 1st Infantry Regiment of the 5th Stryker Brigade Thursday, May 6, 2010, in Afghanistan’s Kandahar province. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)
Navy Pre-Deployment Training
May 16th, 2010 | From the Ranks | Posted by Alan Lessig
FORT LEWIS, Wash. (May 2, 2010) Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class Douglas Knapp, from Renton, Wash., tosses a training grenade during an Army Warrior training course. The training is part of a month-long pre-deployment course for Sailors deploying to Iraq and Afghanistan. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Walter M. Wayman/Released)
African Training Mission
May 15th, 2010 | The Wires | Posted by Alan Lessig
Malian special forces drill to face off an ambush as a U.S. Special Forces soldier gives instruction from a Malian truck on Monday, May 10, 2010, in Kita, Mali, during a joint training exercise. Over 200 U.S. soldiers and Marines have deployed in six African countries to take part in “Flintlock,” a three-week U.S. lead exercise to help some 600 African troops face the rising threat of drug traffickers, al-Qaida-linked terrorists and kidnappers in the vast no-man’s land of the Sahara Desert. (AP Photo / Alfred de Montesquiou.)
Protecting the Gulf Coast
May 14th, 2010 | From the Ranks The Wires | Posted by Alan Lessig
National Guard helicopters drop sand bags in a breach in the beach just west of Grand Isle, La. on Monday, May 10, 2010 in an effort to protect the delicate marsh lands from the approaching oil slick moving westward from the Deepwater Horizon spill. (AP Photo/The Times Picayune, Ted Jackson)
ST BERNARD, LA – Louisiana National Guardsmen of 2225th Multi-Role Bridge Company, 205th Engineer Battalion, constructs a 300 foot temporary wharf that will be used to load boats with booms and supplies at Campo’s Marina located in St Bernard, La on May 6, 2010 (U.S. Air Force Photo by MSgt. Toby M. Valadie, Louisiana National Guard State Public Affairs Office/Released)
A walk on the green side
May 14th, 2010 | Photography | Posted by Thomas Brown
A Marine casts a long shadow on a green bed a grass lined with marijuana along a road in Marjah, Afghanistan while on patrol Friday May 14th. With poppy season over one doesn't have to look far to see numerous plots of Marijuana growing near compounds in the area. Thomas Brown/Staff
Bling Bling Weapons
May 14th, 2010 | The Wires | Posted by Alan Lessig
Don’t expect to be issued weapons like these anytime soon.
In this image released by Mexico’s Attorney General’s Office gold-plated and diamond-encrusted weapons are seen after they were confiscated when the army seized a ranch in Zapopan, Mexico, Sunday, May 2, 2010. According to prosecutors, the weapons are believed to belong to the Valencia gang, allies of the powerful Sinaloa drug cartel, and most of the 31 pistols and machine guns found in the raid had gold or silver-plated grips or glittered with diamonds. (AP Photo/PGR)
Warrior Games
May 13th, 2010 | From the Ranks | Posted by Alan Lessig
Marines with the all-Marine Warrior Team huddle in excitement before competing in their first wheelchair basketball game against the Air Force as part of the inaugural Warrior Games in Colorado Springs, Colo., May 11, 2010. Marines beat both the Air Force and Army during the preliminary competition. (Photo by Cpl. Scott Schmidt)
Parachute Rigger 3rd Class Michael Johnston bump-passes the ball to a teammate during a sitting volleyball game against the Army team at the inaugural Warrior Games at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo. Nearly 200 wounded, ill or injured personnel from all service branches will compete in archery, cycling, track and field, swimming, shooting, sitting volleyball and wheelchair basketball. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class R. Jason Brunson/Released)
But the training videos said NOT to sit there…
May 13th, 2010 | Photography | Posted by Sheila
A member of the F-22 Demonstration Team puts protective covers on his shoes before inspecting the interior of the plane's engine. The F-22 just arrived at Andrews Air Force Base for the Joint Service Open House on Thursday, May 15, 2010.
Thunderbirds Criss-Cross
May 13th, 2010 | From the Ranks | Posted by Alan Lessig
U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds lead solo, Major Rick Goodman, and Captain Aaron Jelinek, the opposing solo, perform the crossover break May 1, 2010, during the Big Country Air Fest at Dyess Air Force Base, Texas. The air fest featured aircraft performances as well as static displays. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Stephen Reyes)