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San Diego, California. (May 19, 2025): The merging of humans and machines has, up until now, been the stuff of science fiction. In the above photo, the Air Force displays a prototype of the YFQ-42A uncrewed fighter, the first creation of its Collaborative Combat Aircraft program. Designed by General Atomics, the YFQ-42A ‘autonomous fighter drone’ will begin readiness and performance evaluations beginning this month.
The drone represents a new generation of unmanned fighters that can operate independently or collaboratively with human pilots. Dubbed the “loyal wingman,” the fighter is designed to operate alongside crewed aircraft to allow human operators to control, coordinate, or supervise their activities. The Air Force envisions the YFQ-42A drone augmenting crewed fighter aircraft such as the F-22 Raptor, F-35 Lightning, and the planned Next Generation Air Dominance fighter for air-to-air missions.
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Camp Pendleton, California. (May 13, 2025): No matter where they go, the Marines have an excellent tool to stay in touch. In this photo by Sergeant Patrick Katz, Lance Corporal Ricardo Ramirez, a radio operator assigned to the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit, I Marine Expeditionary Force, operates a multi-mission terminal (MMT) during a command post exercise. The MMT is a rapidly deployable, software-defined system that provides broadband connectivity across multiple satellite networks in the most extreme environments imaginable.
Officially called a Viasat Multi-Mission Terminal, the portable satellite terminal enables secure communication between Marine units during expeditionary operations anywhere in the world. The MMT employs anti-jamming technologies designed to operate in contested environments to deliver safe and reliable video and data networking.
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Marine Corps Air Station New River, North Carolina. (May 8, 2025): In this photo by Lance Corporal Mya Seymour, Marines suspend from a UH-1Y Venom helicopter during special patrol insertion and extraction (SPIE) training. The SPIE system was developed as a means to rapidly insert and/or extract a reconnaissance patrol from an area that does not permit a helicopter to land due to vegetation or other obstacles. The technique dates to the Vietnam War where helicopters were used to insert or rescue teams of troops from triple canopy jungles.
The practice was developed extensively by Recon Marines in conjunction with parachute riggers from the 1st Marine Air Wing in the 1970s. According to legend, the device was originally called a STABO (STAbilized BOdy) harness that was credited to Sergeant First Class Clifford L. Roberts with Army Special Forces. SFC Roberts came up with the idea after witnessing a wounded Special Forces Soldier fall out of the existing harnesses during a combat extraction mission. Using nylon straps, Roberts made the first prototype with sewing machines used to service and repair parachutes. Once approved, the Army ordered five hundred such rigs and awarded Roberts with a Bronze Star for the design.
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Annapolis, Maryland. (May 13, 2025): The Marines have the “Crucible”, the SEALs “Hell Week”, and the Naval Academy has Sea Trials. All are brutal tests of physical and emotional endurance that challenge recruits to their limits. In this photo by Technical Sergeant Christopher Muncy, a Naval Academy midshipman participates in the final event of their fourth year. Sea Trials are a series of training events that are designed to provide a final physical and mental challenge to midshipmen before they become officers in today’s Navy.
Devised in the spring of 1998, Sea Trials consists of fourteen straight hours of pure adrenaline. Midshipmen endure a lengthy list of physically and mentally straining activities that foster teamwork as a class.
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Great Lakes, Illinois. (May 8, 2025): In this photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Stuart Posada, Seaman Kyra Brinsfield is greeted by family after a graduation ceremony at Midway Ceremonial Drill Hall. She is one of more than 40,000 recruits who train annually at the Navy's only boot camp. For a select few American families, serving in the military is a generational thing.
Children of service members, affectionally called “Military Brats,” are twice as likely to join the military compared to their civilian counterparts. The Defense Department estimates there are approximately fifteen million Americans who are former or current military brats. They represent an important, and often invisible, subculture of the American public that is critical to our national defense.
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Atlantic Ocean. (May 8, 2025): Few people will ever forget the sting of a wasp. In this photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Justin Kemble, Seaman Nathan Kimbrough mans a fire hose aboard the flight deck of the USS Wasp during an aviation training exercise. Numerous ships have worn the name, including sloops, schooners, a steam yacht, and two aircraft carriers and every one of them delivered a vicious bite.
The first USS Wasp was a Continental Navy schooner, originally named Scorpion, which set sail in 1775 with the first American naval fleet. The vessel was later destroyed in 1777 during an unsuccessful engagement with the British. It was run aground, set on fire, and its gunpowder exploded.