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Camp Pendleton, California. (May 16, 2025): When an American aircraft goes down in enemy territory, the military must move fast to recover air crews and any extremely sensitive information on board. In this photo by Sergeant Bryant Rodriguez, Marines cut into a vehicle during the Tactical Recovery of Aircraft and Personnel (TRAP) course, a program specifically designed for the recovery of aircraft, personnel, and equipment in the event an aircraft goes down either due to mechanical failures or by enemy fire.
The course teaches how to develop and execute plans to recover the personnel, aircraft, and any sensitive material in the event that they go down. Once assembled, a highly skilled team of professionals will safely extract downed aviators while destroying downed aircraft to prevent sensitive materials from falling into the wrong hands.
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Okinawa, Japan. (May 26, 2025): A weapon invented to lay siege to castles continues to serve today as a Marine Platoon’s personal artillery piece. In this photo by Lance Corporal Rodney Frye, Corporal Juan Garcia employs an M224 60mm mortar during a field training exercise. Corporal Garcia, a native of the Dominican Republic, is a mortarman with 12th Littoral Combat Team, 12th Marine Littoral Regiment, 3rd Marine Division.
The use of mortars in combat dates to the invention of gunpowder during the 13th century. The Koreans were reportedly the first to use mortars in a naval battle in 1413. These early gunsmiths fashioned a gourd shaped weapon called a wan'gu that quickly became a fortress-defense weapon.
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Arlington, Virginia. (May 22, 2025): In this photo by Elizabeth Fraser, a Soldier from the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard) places flags at gravesites at Arlington National Cemetery for Memorial Day. Nearly 1,500 troopers placed over 260,000 American flags over the headstones of the fallen during the 77th annual “Flags In” ceremony.
To most Americans, Arlington National Cemetery is a symbol of our commitment to honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice, but it did not start out that way. In fact, the land that would become the world’s most famous graveyard was originally in “enemy” hands. The property was originally owned by George Washington Parke Custis, the step-grandson of Washington himself. His daughter married then Union Army 1st Lieutenant Robert E. Lee (yes, that Lee) who later led the Confederate States Army in the Civil War. Federal forces seized the property when the owner failed to pay property taxes, and the government declared Arlington a national cemetery.
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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.