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Cheyenne, Wyoming. (January 10, 2025): The Air National Guard has joined local California authorities battling wildfires that have devastated Los Angeles. In this photo by Senior Airman Zachary Herold, Airmen from the 153rd Airlift Wing load and install a Modular Airborne Fire Fighting System (MAFFS) onto a C-130H Hercules aircraft. The Air National Guard has activated all eight of its firefighting units to support local efforts.
Earlier this month, multiple wildfires broke out in Los Angeles County, the largest one encompassing almost 3,000 acres in Pacific Palisades. Local officials have ordered the evacuation of about 150,000 residents and opened nine shelters to house displaced families. As of this writing, the fires have killed at least twenty-six people and the death toll is likely to grow. Experts estimate the economic losses of this event to be in the range of $135 to $150 billion dollars, making it one of the costliest natural disasters in U.S. history.
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Atlantic Ocean. (January 11, 2025): The Ukrainians used them to nearly destroy the mighty Russian Black Sea fleet yet they don’t even have a navy. They accomplished this amazing feat using unmanned undersea vehicles (UUVs) in the emerging new battlefield beneath the waves. In this photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Justin E. Yarborough, a Mission Specialist Defender Mark IV UUV is put through its paces during exercises with our Australian allies. As drones are dominating the skies, so too will their underwater cousins play a decisive role in future naval battles.
Undersea submersibles enjoy several advantages over human piloted craft that can be critical to success on the battlefield. The primary advantage of UUVs is their ability to operate for extended durations without the need for human-present logistical support or maintenance. Today’s Navy fields dozens of UUVs dedicated to various tactical purposes. UUVs conduct surveillance and gather intelligence in ways that are impossible for a crewed vessel. Their stealthy design allows them to approach and observe an enemy undetected. Even if discovered, many UUVs can simply drop to severe depths to avoid countermeasures.
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Narva, Estonia. (January 3, 2025): It is a rocket system that has become the star on the battlefields of Ukraine and is much sought after by our allies. In this photo by Sergeant Rose Di Trolio, Sergeant Cade England and his team showcase the high mobility artillery rocket system (HIMARS) capabilities to local residents. HIMARS can launch multiple, precision-guided rockets to strike targets more than forty miles away with high accuracy. Besides precision and range, the other thing that sets HIMARS apart is its mobility.
Mounted on a standard five-ton truck, the launcher can be transported by aircraft to different locations and be ready to fire within minutes. On the battlefield, HIMARS can fire multiple rockets at once and then quickly relocate to another location, reload, and fire again. This “shoot and scoot” tactic makes it difficult for the enemy to locate and target the system. Developed in the late 1990s, HIMARS can fire either six Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System rockets or one ATACMS missile. It is used primarily to disrupt enemy supply lines or to strike high-value targets at long range.
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Surigao Strait. (January 10, 2025): In this photo by MC1 Jacob I. Allison, the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson transits the Surigao strait, the site of the largest naval battle of World War II. Located between the southern Philippines and the Leyte Gulf, the Strait is a major economic artery for the world and a region that is hotly contested between the U.S. and China.
The Battle of Surigao Strait took place on October 25, 1944 and it turned out to be the last major naval contest between battleships. In the one sided battle, over two hundred thousand Sailors of the U.S. 7th Fleet took on the Imperial Japanese Navy which had mobilized all its remaining major naval vessels to defeat the Allied invasion of the Philippines.
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Anchorage, Alaska. (January 11, 2025): To little kids, an Air Force member in a crisp uniform is the perfect role model, especially when it comes to resisting the lure of drugs and alcohol. In this photo by Alejandro Peña, Sergeant Latavia Despojo with the 176th Security Forces Squadron teaches a Klatt Elementary School student to use her radio during Red Ribbon Week. The nation's largest and longest-running drug awareness and prevention program, Red Ribbon Week promotes a healthy and drug-free lifestyle among the nation's youth.
The tradition has dark roots, however. Red Ribbon Week began after the kidnapping, torture, and murder of Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agent Enrique "Kiki" Camarena and his pilot Captain Alfredo Zavala-Avelar in 1985. Camarena had been working undercover in Guadalajara, Mexico for over four years before his kidnapping and slaying by drug traffickers. Camarena was targeted after he exposed a multimillion-dollar marijuana manufacturing operation.
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Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms, California. (January 9, 2025): It is called an “explosive breach” and involves a Marine literally blowing your door down. In this photo by Lance Corporal Orion Stpierre, Marines ignite an explosive to breach an obstacle during a squad urban fundamentals course. Explosive Breaching uses pyrotechnics to blast an opening in walls, doors, or other barriers to entry and it is a deadly science. Operators must determine the best kind of explosives to use, how much is needed, and where to place them safely.
This involves developing a detailed plan based on a deep knowledge of material science, types of structures, and the physics of explosives. The explosive option is used when dealing with extremely fortified targets or in high-stakes operations like urban combat, hostage rescues, and counterterrorism.
After determining the type and power of the explosives to be used, operators then decide the method to direct the energy of the blast. This often involves a breaching frame, a device to direct the energy of the explosive into the target structure while limiting damage to the surrounding area.