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Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (October 21, 2023): During the early years of the Revolution, Washington’s Army lacked the structure and discipline to fight superior British forces. In 1778, German born Baron Friedrich von Steuben instituted our nation’s first military drill program to instill order and discipline among Contiental Soldiers. In this photo by Sergeant Kelsey Dornfeld, members of the Silent Drill Platoon perform their elegant and precise movements to the delight of their fellow citizens.
Von Stueben knew that drill movements, done precisely and repetitively, instill discipline, teamwork, and the ability to instantly follow orders. This 24-man ceremonial rifle platoon, which began in 1948 after a one-night performance, now excites audiences around the country.
The Silent Platoon performs with hand-polished, ten-and-one-half pound M1 Garand rifles with fixed bayonets which they spin and toss with amazing accuracy. The routine concludes with a unique rifle inspection sequence that requires hundreds of hours of practice to do properly.
Members of the Silent Platoon are selected from the Schools of Infantry at Camp Pendleton, California and Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. Members serve a 2-year ceremonial tour while also continuing to train as infantry at nearby Quantico, Virginia. Once selected, candidates begin their rigorous training at Marine Barracks Washington and later move to Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, Arizona to perfect their routines.
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Will Rogers Air National Guard Base, Oklahoma. (October 19, 2023): In this photo by Airman 1st Class Erika Chapa, Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force JoAnne Bass shares a laugh with members of the 137th Special Operations Wing of the Oklahoma Air National Guard during a combat skills demonstration. Pictured with the top NCO is Technical Sergeant Jaboree Kiel (Left), Mission Sustainment Team trainer, Staff Sergeant Tyrone Harrison (Right), a civil engineer Airman, and Chief Master Sgt. John Alsvig, the Air Force First Sergeant Special Duty Manager.
Chief Bass is the first female to hold the highest senior enlisted rank in any United States military branch and the first person of Asian-American descent to hold such a lofty rank. Chief Bass was raised as a “military brat” living in multiple locations stateside and overseas before joining the Air Force herself in 1993.
She has held a variety of increasingly responsible leadership positions including significant Special Operations experience. Having served as a squadron, group, and wing commander, She deployed to Operations Southern Watch, Enduring Freedom, and Iraqi Freedom. Prior to this assignment, she served as the Command Chief Master Sergeant, Second Air Force, Keesler Air Force Base, Mississippi. She has been awarded the Air Force Legion of Merit and the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, among numerous other decorations.
The 137th Special Operations Wing is a unit of the Oklahoma Air National Guard that provides light tactical manned intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance to the national Special Operations Command.
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San Diego, California. (October 19, 2023): Some folks seem determined to test fate. In this photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Adam Stanton, a Coast Guard Sector San Diego boarding team stops an illegal charter that is clearly overloaded and poses a serious risk to its passengers and crew. These types of incidents typically involve the heavy use of alcohol and a total disregard for basic safety procedures, especially when transporting commercial passengers at sea.
The Coast Guard is the leading federal maritime law enforcement agency with both the authority and capability to enforce national and international law on the high seas. Coast Guard cutters regularly patrol the nearshore waters of America’s coasts seeking to interdict smugglers and undocumented immigrants but also run into these types of situations.
For those boaters willing to tempt their fate in an unpleasant exchange with the Coast Guard, the first thing is to remember the extent of their enforcement authority.
Under Title 14 Federal Statutes, the Coast Guard may make inquiries, examinations, inspections, searches, seizures, and arrests upon the high seas and for the prevention, detection, and suppression of violations of laws of the United States.
This covers a lot of ground. If found in violation of the law, you may be arrested, have your boat impounded, and any equipment or illegal substances will be seized. If convicted of crimes at sea, a violator could face years in a federal penitentiary and severe economic penalties.
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Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada. (October 18, 2023): In the 1991 thriller Backdraft, New York firefighters battle terrific blazes and perform daring rescues. Despite the Hollywood dramatics, however, no other firefighter faces the types of fires, from minor explosions to flaming aircraft, that Air Force firefighters do. In this stunning photo by Senior Airman Zachary Rufus, Staff Sergeant Alex Urrutia, a lead fire protection specialist with the 99th Civil Engineering Squadron, extinguishes a blaze during structural fire training.
The 99th Civil Engineer Squadron manages all types of hazardous materials, from jet fuels to explosives, making their mission unique among the firefighting community. Like their civilian counterparts, Air Force firefighters’ main mission is the protection of life and property, but that is where their duties really begin. Unlike civilian fire departments, the Air Force must be capable of rescuing downed aircraft crews, on land or sea, in all weather, night and day.
To become a fire protection specialist or firefighter for the Air Force, candidates must complete 7.5 weeks of basic training and then 68 days of technical training at Goodfellow Air Force Base, Texas.
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Wewak, Papua New Guinea. (October 17, 2023): In this photo by Chief Petty Officer Eric Chan, Seabees remove a water container during a renovation project, one of many civic projects completed during Pacific Partnership 2023. Now in its 18th year, Pacific Partnership is the largest annual multinational humanitarian assistance and disaster relief preparedness mission conducted in the Indo-Pacific.
The storied history of America’s Seabees begins in 1942 during the darkest hours after the attack on Pearl Harbor. The Navy needed skilled construction workers, who could also fight, to build advanced bases in combat zones during World War II.
The more than 325,000 members of this new Naval Construction Force, better known for their initials “CB” as the Seabees, constructed airfields, conducted underwater construction, and built roads, bridges, and other support facilities across the Pacific.
After World War II, the Seabees played a vital role in the Korean War, Vietnam War, and in the Philippines. Most recently, they provided critical tactical construction support in Iraq and Afghanistan.
In addition to their wartime exploits, the Seabees also respond when disaster strikes. The Seabees were first on the scene to give relief after hurricanes Camille, Andrew, George, Mitch, Katrina, Ivan, and Maria. They also provided construction support and disaster relief in the wake of the Haiti earthquake. For the last sixty years, detachments of Seabees have deployed to third world countries around the globe to improve lives.
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Bridgeport, California. (October 18, 2023): For scenic value, few places can compare to this remote training area near Lake Tahoe and Yosemite National Park with its numerous lakes and streams that are a fisherman’s paradise.
For the Marines, however, it serves a vastly different purpose.
In this photo by Lance Corporal Juan Torres, a Marine with 1st Battalion,1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, uses a zipline to cross a canyon during Mountain Training Exercise 5-23 at the Marine Corps Mountain Warfare Training Center.
Nested in the Toiyabe National Forest, some 6,800 feet above sea level, the Mountain Warfare Training Center (MWTC) is a United States Marine Corps installation that trains Marines and allied forces to fight and survive in cold weather at high altitudes.
The center was established in 1951 to give cold-weather training for replacements bound for the mountain battlefields of frigid South Korea. After the war, the school was renamed the "Mountain Warfare Training Center" and dedicated to preparing Marines to defend NATO’s northern front.
This unique facility features stables with pack animals, specialized technical mountaineering and ski equipment, and multiple small arms and stream crossing sites.
Conditions are harsh.
With elevations as high as 11,500 feet, the Center is an exceptionally dry environment and winters here are long and unforgiving. The mountains accumulate up to eight feet of snow for trainees to negotiate as they evaluate wintry weather clothing and equipment traversing streams and other mountainous obstacles.