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Tampa, Florida. (March 30, 2024): Thousands of patriotic Americans turned out this week for the Tampa Bay AirFest held at MacDill Air Force Base that featured death-defying aerial performances, live commando demonstrations, and static aircraft displays. In this photo by Senior Airman Joshua Hastings, visitors get a chance to board giant transport planes and sit in a helicopter cockpit all while getting to know the servicemembers who fly them.
In addition to the Air Force’s premier air demonstration squadron, the "Thunderbirds", visitors were treated to the final season for the A-10C Thunderbolt II Demonstration Squadron. The veritable “Wart Hog” is being retired after many years as the Air Force's premier close air support aircraft credited with saving thousands American lives.
Crowds received an awe-inspiring parachute demonstration the Para-Commandos of US Special Operations Command and a performance involving men walking calmly through fire. Officially called the Firewalkers International, this team has years of experience providing exciting pyrotechnic shows around the world. The Firewalkers have recently presented shows throughout the United States, Canada, El Salvador, UAE, China, and Australia.
For thousands of Tampa Bay residents, the AirFest 24 was a chance to get to know our military and hopefully inspire a new generation to choose the field of aviation.
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Naval Support Activity, Bahrain. (April 6, 2024): The Navy has commandos, other than the SEALs, who are both FAST… and deadly. In this photo by Staff Sergeant Victor A. Mancilla, Marines with Fleet Anti-terrorism Security Team (FAST) join Royal Marines with 42 Commando to practice visit, board, search, and seizure tactics at sea. The Navy recently dispatched a FAST unit to Haiti to protect the embassy and U.S. personnel as the situation there deteriorates.
FAST units provide expeditionary anti-terrorism and security forces to embassies, consulates, and other vital national assets that are so sensitive they require an armed force for protection. Their British counterparts, the 42 Commando, is also an extreme readiness commando force with specific expertise in maritime operations. They work in small teams to build the capacity of allies to guard their territorial waters. They establish Ships Force Protection Teams and train indigenous forces to conduct maritime interdiction and boarding operations.
Beginning in the 1970s, the world saw the rise of modern terrorism and attacks against American interests overseas. The Navy realized it did not have a quick reaction security force to respond to terrorist threats at embassies around the world. The result was the FAST concept of positioning commando units at various central locations around the globe ready to respond, instantly, to threats to embassy or U.S. interests anywhere in the world.
Obviously, not everyone can join high speed units like these.
To become a member, Security Force Marines must volunteer to join and, if accepted, must pass a grueling five weeks of FAST training. From there they go through an eight-week Close Quarter Battle (CQB) School that teaches FAST Marines how to fight hand-to-hand while clearing rooms, hallways, stairways, as well as dynamic entry associated with urban combat.
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Skies Above North Carolina. (March 29, 2024): Vietnam veterans remember the courageous door gunners who protected them during numerous combat insertions. Manning the veritable M60 machine gun, door gunners “sprayed the trees” to clear enemy troops from the landing zone. Today, the door gunner’s job remains the same, but the firepower sure has changed. In this photo by Lance Corporal Orlanys Diaz, Marine Corps Gunnery Sergeant Parrish Hall II, a UH-1Y Venom crew chief with Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 67, fires a GAU-17A minigun, the latest and most powerful light aircraft weapon.
In Vietnam, door gunners were hamstrung by the M60s rate of fire of only six hundred rounds per minute. These and other light machine guns became obsolete with the advent of jet aircraft and the need for a weapon with increased range, rate of fire, and projectile lethality.
Enter General Electric and its “Vulcan” GAU-17A, a six barrel electrically operated gatling gun that can be mounted on vehicles, helicopters, and boats. It has an incredible rate of fire up six thousand rounds per minute. The “Gatling” design is based on the multi-barreled rotary weapon invented by Richard J. Gatling in the 1880s. Instead of a hand crank, today’s “miniguns” use electric motors to power the barrels and the weapon is equipped with a ""high"" (4,000 rpm) and "low" (2,000 rpm) rate of fire selector switch. They are typically mounted in the doors/windows on helicopters for self-defense in landing zones.
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Joint Base Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. (March 24, 2024): You know the U.S. effort to save endangered sea turtles is serious when the Navy gets involved. In this photo by Melvin J. Gonzalvo, Naval staff and civilian specialists from the Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center complete telemetry tagging of an endangered hawksbill sea turtle. The Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command Hawaii and the National Marine Fisheries Service have an inter-agency agreement to conduct small boat surveys and turtle capture operations to tag specimens and track their movements. This is the first ever turtle tagging study to document the ranges of Endangered Species Act listed sea turtles inside Pearl Harbor.
Naval Facilities Hawaii, established in March 2005, provides a full range of facilities engineering, real estate, and environmental management services to Navy and other DoD tenants on Hawaii. The command employs over 1,400 highly skilled civilian federal workers plus two hundred military personnel including Navy Civil Engineer Corps Officers, enlisted Seabees, and members of the Air Force 647th Civil Engineer Squadron.
The National Marine Fisheries Service monitors U.S. fisheries of the Pacific Islands and oceanic waters of the central and western Pacific. The Pacific Islands region encompasses the largest geographical area within NOAA Fisheries’ jurisdiction, some 1.7 million square nautical miles. The agency assesses the status of exploited fish stocks and provides scientific advice to fishery managers in the region.
According to the World Conservation Union, the sea turtle is endangered primarily as a result of human fishing practices and that their shells were once the primary source of tortoiseshell material used for decorative purposes.
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Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada. (March 31, 2024): Responding to the unacceptable loss of American pilots during the Vietnam War, the Air Force created a series of advanced aerial combat training exercises held at multiple locations several times a year. Officially called Red Flag, these two-week training events offer realistic air combat training for military pilots and flight crews from the United States and allied countries. In the above photo by William R. Lewis, Major Nathan Persons and Captain Annie Braun, weapon systems officers assigned to the 366th Fighter Wing, Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho, depart an F-15E Strike Eagle after finishing their Red Flag mission at Nellis AFB.
Air combat over North Vietnam between 1965 and 1973 led to an overall exchange ratio (ratio of enemy aircraft shot down to the number of own aircraft lost to enemy fighters) of over two to one. This unacceptable performance by U.S. Air Force fighter pilots and weapon systems officers in air-to-air combat led to losses that were much higher during the Vietnam War in comparison to previous wars.
Red Flag was created in 1975 to offer USAF pilots and weapon systems officers the opportunity to fly ten realistically simulated combat missions in a safe training environment with measurable results. The exercises bring together aircrews from the Air Force, Navy, Marines, and Army and numerous NATO and allied nations. The training scenarios include a variety of fighter interdiction, attack/strike, and air superiority missions. Other groups practiced enemy air defense suppression, airlifting supplies, and mid-air refueling. In a 12 month period, more than 500 aircraft flew more than 20,000 sorties while training more than 5,000 aircrews and 14,000 support and maintenance personnel.
Read more: Unacceptable losses… Red Flag Exercises Sharpen Air Combat Skills
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Travis Air Force Base, California. (March 25, 2024): In a job that truly requires a “Jack of All Trades”, Air Force Propulsion Journeymen are charged with repairing and maintaining some of the most sophisticated aircraft in the world. In this photo by Airman Colleen Anthony, Airman 1st Class Lyric Kennedy, an aerospace propulsion journeyman with the 62nd Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, performs maintenance on one of the four engines on the giant C-17 Globemaster III transport plane.
Aerospace Propulsion specialists are the prime reason our aircraft keep flying.
They evaluate, maintain, and repair jet engines on virtually anything the Air Force flies. Their duties include troubleshooting engine problems and determining repair procedures and can even replace entire engines “on the fly.” These talented mechanics also install, inspect, and repair a variety of engine components including propellers. Their knowledge of the intricacies of complex propulsion systems is vital to keeping aircraft serviced so they can be ready to go at a moment’s notice.