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Great Lakes, Illinois. (December 31, 2023): In this photo by MC2 Stuart Posada, Navy recruits practice handling and firing procedures during weapons familiarization training at the USS Missouri Small Arms Marksmanship Trainer at Recruit Training Command (RTC). The RTC is the Navy’s only “boot camp” that trains more than 40,000 recruits a year to defend America at sea.
What is Basic like for America’s Sailors?
It begins with “Sailorization,” the process a recruit goes through to adjust to the war-fighting culture of the Navy. Enlistees are taught self-discipline and to live by the core values of honor, courage, and commitment to America’s defense.
The first week involves in-processing including physical and psychological assessments of a recruit’s fitness to serve. The real training begins in weeks two and three, which are considered the most difficult for most trainees as they adjust to Navy life.
Weeks four through six are the “hands on” portion of recruit training that includes the essentials of knot tying and line handling, firefighting, firearms training, and first aid. Week seven is an extensive evaluation of a recruit’s academic and physical skills. The final week is called “Battle Stations” where Sailors demonstrate their knowledge and skills as they would aboard ship.
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San Diego, California. (January 1, 2024): The greatest fighter ace in American history kept his exploits a secret from everyone… for 50 years. Retired Captain E. Royce Williams (above) was awarded the Navy Cross this week for his actions as a fighter jock during the Korean War. His solo dogfight with seven Soviet MiG-15s has been called "one of the greatest feats in aviation history" by military experts. Unfortunately for Captain Williams, he would not be able to tell his story for decades for national security reasons.
It was November 18, 1952, when the National Security Agency, using a variety of eavesdropping technologies, listened in on Soviet Navy communications and learned they were sending fighters south to observe the American aircraft carrier USS Oriskany which was operating in the Sea of Japan. Captain Williams and his comrades were dispatched to intercept the MiGs but, to keep the Soviet Union from learning how good their covert listening systems were, the NSA demanded they erase all traces of the resulting dogfight.
US Intelligence reports believed the MiGs were seeking revenge after Williams and other American aircraft had conducted an attack in northeastern North Korea near the Soviet border, early that morning.
Once airborne, two of the four U.S. planes developed mechanical issues that forced them to return to the carrier leaving Williams and his wingman, Dave Rowlands, to defend the carrier against the incoming MiGs.
After a MiG fired on Williams, the longest solo aerial dogfight in history was underway. When his wingman’s guns jammed, Williams found himself alone surrounded by seven enemy fighters. In the thirty plus minute battle that ensued, Williams shot down four of the MiGs while another crashed on its way back to its base in Vladivostok, Russia.
Williams’ plane was so severely damaged in the encounter that it could only pitch up and down and had to perform a high-speed landing to prevent stalling. Repair crews reported his plane was peppered with 263 holes.
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Arabian Gulf. (December 16, 2023): Wanted: Mechanic to repair multi-million-dollar aircraft, anytime, anywhere. Must be willing to travel. In this photo by Mikayla Alley, Aviation Structural Mechanic 2nd Class Afton Burris prepares the propellers of an E-2C Hawkeye from the "Screwtops" of Airborne Command and Control Squadron 123 aboard the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower. Aviation Structural Mechanics, AM’s for short, are a vital link that keeps the air wing flying.
The AM’s maintain and repair all types of aircraft structural components, from cockpit control panels to landing gear, under the most stressful conditions imaginable. Pilots and air crews depend on the AM’s to perform daily preflight/postflight inspections of brakes, pneumatic systems, landing gear, and emergency equipment. They repair fuselage, wings, and airfoils while also rigging aircraft flight controls. They are experts at fashioning metal components to repair aircraft blades and surfaces. They even volunteer to serve as aircrew on the jets and helicopters they repair.
Talk about backing your work!
To become an AM, candidates must complete Basic at Recruit Training Command Great Lakes, Illinois, and then report for 9 weeks specialized training in Pensacola, Florida. Here candidates learn basic aviation, structural mechanics, aviation theory and gain hands-on experience. After completing training, AM’s may be assigned to an aviation squadron, an aircraft carrier, a naval air station, or other aviation shore facilities in the U.S. or overseas.
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Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. (December 27, 2023): In this photo by Pfc. Eric Valerio, Marines with 3rd Battalion, 2d Marine Regiment, 2d Marine Division scan for targets as a flare illuminates the field during the Marine Corps Combat Readiness Evaluation (MCCRE) held here. The MCCRE is a top to bottom assessment of an infantry unit’s readiness to perform its assigned tasks. Using a series of simulated combat situations, the MCCRE assesses a unit’s ability to plan, coordinate, and execute complex missions including defense, logistics, and communications.
Commanders may choose to do their evaluation based on one major exercise or through a series of events whose combined results represent the unit’s overall readiness for combat. These exhaustive appraisals of front-line units typically happen at least every two years and are a requirement before deployments.
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Pacific Ocean. (December 24, 2023): When we think of a military chaplain, we see a fearless man streaking from foxhole to foxhole caring for dying men while totally disregarding his own safety. Today, chaplains provide just as important a role as counselor/confessor to the troops. In this photo by Corporal Carl Matthew Ruppert, Navy Lieutenant Commander Austin Grimes, a chaplain with 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit, leads a chapel service aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Makin Island. American troops know that no matter what branch or where you serve, there will be a highly trained and experienced chaplain as a confidant should they need it.
Chaplains have accompanied military units since the Continental Army during the American Revolution and their mission continues to be to tend to the spiritual needs and moral well-being of unit members and their families.
Besides their traditional duties conducting worship services, today’s chaplains help commanders deal with work-related issues, particularly the stress of deployments on marriages and families. Although not licensed clinical counselors, military chaplains adhere to absolute confidentiality and are prepared to help people with many life challenges including marital problems, substance abuse, and financial difficulties typically faced by young servicemembers. Commanders’ view chaplain services as a crucial way to relieve stress and maintain harmony in the ranks.
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Pohnpei, Micronesia (Dec. 18, 2023) In this photo by MC1 Jacob I. Allison, Captain Marco Ayala, an ear, nose, and throat surgeon (right) and Lieutenant Jeffrey Nunez, a certified registered nurses’ anesthetist, perform surgery at Pohnpei State Hospital, Micronesia. These incredibly talented surgeons are but a small part of this year’s Pacific Partnership, an annual exercise in which medical teams collaborate with local officials and civic organizations to be ready for the next natural disaster.
In its’ 19th year, the Pacific Partnership was born out of the devastation brought by the December 2004 tsunami that swept through parts of South and Southeast Asia. Initially a military-led humanitarian response, the partnership today includes some 1,500 personnel from allies and partner nations including Australia, Chile, the United Kingdom, Japan, Germany, and New Zealand.
The Federated States of Micronesia is a country of 13,000 souls spread across the western Pacific Ocean comprising more than six hundred islands. Operating aboard the USNS Mercy, a combined eight hundred military and civilian personnel will embark to participate in humanitarian activities and planning. The medical teams working at the Pohnpei Hospital are providing tailored medical care focusing on surgical techniques, clinical care, and training for first responders. Each country will provide subject-matter experts in engineering, sanitation, and transportation and participate in a series of cultural events.