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Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti (November 1, 2023): The Red Sea, between Iranian ally Yemen and the impoverished nation of Eritrea, is a tough neighborhood for America’s Navy. In this photo by MC1 Maria A. Olvera Tristan, Builder 2nd Class Payton Carl, a gunner from Navy Maritime Expeditionary Security Squadron 11, stands watch at Dorahleh, Djibouti. Based at Camp Lemonnier, Squadron 11 is charged with protecting thirty-eight tenant commands and visiting naval vessels with around the clock port security and escort operations. The base is home to the three warfare specialties including Military Working Dog teams, Army Quick Reaction Forces, and Djiboutian port police.
Now called MSRON forces, today’s riverine community can trace its roots to the fearless small boat teams that plied the deltas of Vietnam. Since the bombing of the USS Cole in 2000, MSRON11 has used its small boat fleet to police one of the world’s busiest shipping routes. The unit patrols the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait which is the gateway from the Red Sea to the Indian Ocean.
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Naval Air Station Key West, Florida. (November 2, 2023): In a display of incredible stamina and skill, Team 4 from the Army’s 5th Special Forces Group won the Best Combat Diver Competition at the Special Forces Underwater Operations School, beating out the Navy SEALs.
The three-day event featured13 two-person teams from U.S. Army special operations and Navy SEALs competing in events that assessed their academic rigor, physical grit, and mental agility. Founded in 1964, the Special Forces Underwater Operations School is the premier institution developing expert special operators in underwater and maritime operations.
The school trains more than three hundred service members annually and assists another thousand troops in preparing for deployment or obtaining certifications. The school’s instructors are made up of the nation’s elite; Army Special Forces, Army Rangers, Navy SEALs, and Air Force pararescue men who are experts at submarine exfiltration and infiltration. The school offers a Combat Dive Qualification Course, a Combat Diving Supervisor's Course, and a Diving Medical Technician Course.
The advantage of using submarines to insert or recover special operators is the difficulty of the enemy detecting them. Done properly, these insertions occur and the adversary doesn’t know these commandos and the subs carrying them have ever been there.
Submarine-borne infiltration and exfiltration is one of the most dangerous missions in the military and requires diving from a submarine’s “lock-out” chamber. A certain number of Navy submarines are equipped with these so-called “trunks” that are used to get operators into and out of a submerged submarine. When the sub arrives at the infiltration point, the special operators enter the trunk wearing their scuba gear and the trunk is flooded to match the outside pressure. Once equilibrium has been achieved, operators open the trunk's hatch and head to their target, taking with them any necessary gear, such as inflatable boats.
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Twenty-Nine Palms, California. (November 12, 2023): We have heard a great deal about robotic dogs but the U.S. Marines have gone one better, a tactical “goat”. In this photo by Lance Cpl. Justin J. Marty, an M72 Light Anti-Tank Weapon mounted on a robotic platform fires at a target during an evaluation at the Marine Corps Air-Ground Combat Center. A concept developed by the Marine Tactical Training and Exercise Control Group, scientists with the Office of Naval Research hope to develop a system that carries both weapons and sensors for Marines to operate remotely.
Designed to support Marine ground forces, this robotic quadruped can carry different payloads and is designed to reduce the load of individual Marines. Instead of having a Marine handle the weapon system, the goat can acquire targets, release safety, and fire a missile, all done remotely.
Fielded in 1963, The M72 LAW weighs just 5.5 pounds and is still in use by multiple services. The weapon is light, cheap enough to discard after firing, and simple to use. Mounted on a robotic platform, the operator can use a video game like controller to adjust an on-board camera. The driver can then fire the weapon from a safe distance and, if the unit survives, use its camera eye to view the damage.
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Travis Air Force Base, California. (November 8, 2023): The Air Force has a new plan when it comes to deploying its forces and it means more predictability for the average Airmen. In this photo by Nicholas Pilch, Senior Airman Osvaldo Rodriguez Matias, 860th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron C-17 Globemaster III crew chief, spends time with a loved one before he and more than four hundred other Airmen become the first to deploy under the new Force Generation model.
Force Generation is designed to end the practice of “crowdsourcing” Airmen for overseas deployments and will add stability while improving readiness. Under the previous “Expeditionary” model, Airmen would be assembled from dozens of locations and were expected to arrive in the combat zone ready to perform as a team. In future conflicts, however, there won’t be time to work out the kinks before units must be operating as a high-performance team.
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Rosecrans Air National Guard Base, St. Joseph, Missouri. (November 7, 2023): In this photo by Senior Airman Janae Masoner, Koda, the latest support dog for the 139th Airlift Wing, Missouri Air National Guard, poses during a photoshoot while beginning her training as a psychiatric service dog. She is a four-month-old goldendoodle who will assist servicemembers suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) as a therapy and comfort animal. Unlike emotional support animals (ESA), which provide comfort through their presence but require no specialized training, PTSD service dogs are granted specific rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act. These rights include allowing them access to public places where other dogs may be prohibited, such as restaurants, stores, hotels, and on airplanes.
The specialized training these dogs receive helps troops with flashbacks, nightmares, severe anxiety, and uncontrollable thoughts tied to the trauma they suffered.
Typical tasks for PTSD service dogs include waking their handler when they are having nightmares or interrupting flashbacks by responding to signs of stress. These dogs offer comfort during panic attacks and often function as a buffer in crowds to reduce anxiety. They are even trained to intervene to stop self-harming behaviors.
Research has shown these animals help give PTSD sufferers a sense of security and constant companion for twenty-four-hour therapy.
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Washington, D.C. (November 7, 2023): This Veteran’s Day, Support Our Troops would like to recognize the service of Native Americans to our national defense. Many Americans may not know that a Native American helped raise old glory on Mount Suribachi on Iwo Jima during World War II. In this iconic Associated Press photo by Joe Rosenthal, Marine Corps PFC Ira Hayes, a 22-year-old Pima Indian from Arizona, helps raise the American flag in an act that saved lives and rallied a nation.
PFC Hayes is on the far left with his hands reaching up toward the flagpole, one of six flag raisers that fateful day. Three of the six were killed on Iwo. A member of the 5th Marine Division, Hayes landed on February 19, 1945, and participated in five days of intense fighting to reach the summit.
Native Americans have served in every U.S. military conflict since the battlefields of the Revolutionary War and have a distinguished record of service. In addition to exploits of PFC Hayes, some four hundred native Navajo “Code Talkers” used their unique, Indigenous language to transmit vital messages on the front lines in the Pacific War. Today nearly nineteen percent of Native Americans have served in all branches of the armed forces, carrying on a 200-year tradition.
Read more: Support Our Troops Celebrates Native American Military Service