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Colorado Springs, Colorado. (May 18, 2024): That’s right, you can join the military and learn to rodeo. The Air Force Academy operates a rodeo club where cadets learn to ride and rope like the ranch hands of the old west. In this photo by Trevor Cokley, Cadet 1st Class Robert Ball, team captain of the Air Force Academy Rodeo Club, rides his horse, Ferg, during practice at the Academy's Equestrian Center. The club participates in five rodeo events each semester that include bull riding, team roping, barrel racing, calf roping, and steer wrestling.
Started by cadets in 2009, the 50-member Rodeo Club competes at the highest level of competition in a state known for its cowboy history. The club meets twice a week to focus on horsemanship and the care and conditioning of their steeds. Cadets manage it all, from grooming to cleaning up after the horses, as they share experiences with their horses. The Air Force believes the rodeo teaches essential skills like thoroughness, teamwork, and leadership.
Today’s cadet cowboys are following a tradition that dates to the 1800s in the old West and the Mexican “vaqueros”, or horse-mounted herders. These men were mostly itinerant ranch hands, constantly on the move working one spread after another with no other belonging than what they could carry on the saddles. They created the rodeo fashions of leather boots, chaps, and big hats along with the roping and riding skills we see in today’s competitions. In fact, the term “rodeo” is derived from Spanish verb “rodear” which means to encircle or round up.
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Batan, Philippines. (May 6, 2024): When the Cold War ended in the 1990s, America withdrew its forces from the Philippines ending decades of American military presence in the country. In response to increasingly aggressive behavior by the Chinese, the United States is returning to the Philippines in great strength. In this photo by Specialist Benjamin Anderson, Army Sergeant Mariana Vincent, and Specialist Wangae Popeh, both assigned to 2nd Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, pull security during Exercise Balikatan 24.
Balikatan 24 is an annual exercise between the Armed Forces of the Philippines that has taken on greater urgency given recent Chinese harassment of Filipino vessels in international waters. In April 2012, the Philippine Navy attempted to apprehend Chinese fishermen on the disputed Scarborough Shoal in the West Philippine Sea. Chinese Naval vessels intervened, and the resulting standoff has aggravated relations between these Indo-Pacific neighbors ever since. The Philippines also accuses China of illegally occupying the nearby Spratly Islands which it considers within its economic zone.
The United States and the Philippines are longtime allies and operate under an Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement signed in 2014. The agreement grants America access to Filipino territory to establish military installations. The bulk of American forces will rotate out of the Philippine city of Santa Ana on the country’s northern coast. Here they will establish camps and store weapons and equipment needed should a conflict with China erupt.
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Camp Shelby, Mississippi. (May 15, 2024): Force Recon Marines are among the best spies… and killers in the world. In this photo by Corporal JVonnta Taylor, Lance Corporal Anthony Silva, a basic infantry Marine with 3rd Force Reconnaissance Training Platoon, 4th Marine Division, participates in a water survival screening as part of the grueling Recon Physical Assessment Test (RPAT). Force Reconnaissance Marines supply military intelligence through deep reconnaissance and perform direct action raids during large-scale operations. Through its Force Recon Battalions, the Marines are building warriors capable of spying on enemy forces, the terrain and their activities without being detected yet are highly capable of bringing the fight to the enemy.
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Camp Humphreys, South Korea. (May 13, 2024): Many of the articles we publish concern the high-speed doings of America’s elite special forces, and for good reason. The ordinary non-infantry types, however, also have a way to demonstrate that they too are highly skilled warriors. In this photo by Sergeant Gwang Neung Kim, Major Grace Lee, assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 23d CBRNE Battalion, 2nd Infantry Division ROK-U.S. Combined Division, receives her Expert Soldier Badge (ESB) from her spouse.
The ESB is a special skills badge awarded to soldiers who are neither infantry, special forces, nor combat medics who want to demonstrate their competence in various warrior tasks. These include land navigation, marksmanship, and physical fitness as part of a tough and realistic combat skills course. Candidates must perform thirty warrior tasks with additional mission essential skills chosen by their unit commander, complete a twelve-mile foot march, and pass land navigation and physical fitness tests.
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Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. (May 9, 2024): As the war in Ukraine has vividly demonstrated, drone warfare will dominate the battlefields of the future and America needs to be ready. In this photo by Lance Corporal Anakin Smith, Master Sergeant Todd Grindstaff, a weapons and tactics training chief with Headquarters and Service Battery, 2nd Low Altitude Air Defense Battalion, prepares drones for launch at a counter-unmanned aircraft firing range. The 2nd LAAD Battalion provides low altitude surface-to-air defense to a Marine Ground Task Force including the latest in counter drone technology.
On the range, Marines had to shoot, maneuver, and coordinate fires while countering multiple drone attacks simultaneously. Using advanced radar, the Marines can detect incoming drone aircraft and disrupt or destroy the threat. Under a unified command and control system, units can connect shooters with targets at combat speed under the most extreme conditions.
Some of the tools used to defeat these drones include kinetic (munitions), jamming the drone’s Global Navigation Satellite System signals, or sending blasts of microwave radiation to knock them from the skies.
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Oceanside, California. (May 6, 2024): For civilians, wind tunnels are an exhilarating thrill. For Special Forces personnel, they are a vital training tool to prepare for dangerous free fall operations into enemy territory. In this photo by Lieutenant Junior Grade Rae Timberlake, Sailors assigned to West-coast explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) units practice body control techniques during free fall training in a wind tunnel.
Using these devices has several advantages over jumping from an actual airplane. First, wind tunnels are safer. Free fall conditions are simulated in a controlled environment and participants are carefully monitored by an experienced jumpmaster. What is more, vertical wind tunnel training increases a jumper’s survivability by simulating malfunctions and in-air emergencies that could occur.
Another advantage is that participants can practice a series of body positions, corrective actions, and emergency procedures in a controlled manner. These multiple “jumps” are recorded and reviewed afterward with instructors. The tunnel generates 1600 horsepower using four fans to create a cushion of air on which participants safely float. This cushion gives the realistic experience of falling through the air at 125 miles per hour. Jumpers work on staying stable, making 360 degree turns, and sliding back and forth in the air. Once these basic movements are mastered, jumpers concentrate on managing the in-air emergencies they may encounter, including helping fellow sky divers in trouble.
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