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Keflavik, Iceland. (October 9, 2023): They were responsible for nearly half of all U.S. combat deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan costing over 2,600 brave Americans their lives. These killers are improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and the Marines are determined to end this scourge on our troops. In this photo by Corporal Kyle Jia, Staff Sergeant Mark Frick, a native of Baltimore, Maryland, and explosive ordnance disposal team leader with the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit, photographs a neutralized simulated IED during Exercise Northern Challenge 2023.
Northern Challenge 23 involved 430 participants from Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Iceland, Lithuania, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Slovakia, United Kingdom, the United States, and partner nations Austria, New Zealand, and Sweden evaluating their skills dealing with simulated IEDs in realistic scenarios.
The training covered the full spectrum of bomb disposal technology and techniques including using advanced tools like innovative robotic technology. Attendees learned explosives chemistry and how to safely detonate hazardous munitions, pyrotechnics and to neutralize various ordnance, including sea mines, torpedoes, or depth charges.
Marine bomb disposal professionals undergo 42 weeks training to perform missions that require incredible bravery, from jumping out of airplanes to blowing up underwater mines, all while wearing a 70-pound EOD suit. These fearless warriors use their nerves of steel to save lives from these insidious killers.
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Chuuk, Federated States of Micronesia. (October 10, 2023): It appears the Marines are looking for a few good men an extraordinarily long way from American shores. In this photo by Corporal Trent A. Henry, U.S. Marine Corps Lance Corporal Megan Roundpoint, a motor transport operator with Task Force Koa Moana 23, speaks to Chuuk High School students during a recruiting event.
A former American territory, Micronesia is an Indo-Pacific nation made up of six hundred islands and islets that signed a compact in 1985 with the United States to provide financial assistance and to defend Micronesia’s territorial integrity. In return, the island nation provides the U.S. with unlimited and exclusive access to its land and waterways for strategic purposes. The U.S. has recently expanded its support for Micronesia – and the nearby Marshall Islands and Palau – in part because of Chinese efforts to build influence in the Indo-Pacific.
For citizens of Micronesia, this agreement opened multiple avenues to American citizenship including serving in the military. Most immigrants who serve with the U.S. military must first secure a legal permanent resident card, but Micronesians can serve without that requirement because the country is considered a trusted territory. That means its residents can work in the U.S. indefinitely without becoming legal permanent residents.
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Hurlburt Field, Florida. (October 5, 2023): Under our Constitution, America’s military is responsible to civilian leadership and their support is critical in a free society. For ninety-three years, the Department of Defense has sponsored the Joint Civilian Orientation Conference (JCOC) to reach out to American business and community leaders to give them a fully immersive experience with their military.
In this photo by E.J. Hersom, Special Operations Airmen land at Hurlburt Field during an exhibition demonstrating the strength and readiness of Air Force specialty units. This weeklong event involved groups of civilians travelling to the Pentagon and military bases to engage with troops and leaders from each of the armed services to observe their work on land, at sea, and in the air.
This prestigious program was established in 1948 to allow participants a chance to engage closely with all branches of the United States military—Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. The DOW hopes to educate Americans about the complexities of military service and to foster a deeper understanding of the people in uniform.
This year’s participants included top business and community leaders, CEOs, presidents, vice presidents, as well as professors, music and entertainment artists, and other influential community representatives from cities and towns across the country. These events help Americans understand the challenges that service members encounter on and off the battlefield.
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Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia (October 12, 2023): It is a spectacular sight, an airplane appearing to be engulfed in smoke, as if about to explode. Fortunately, the plane is ok and the effect we are witnessing is a fascinating piece of physics. In this photo by Senior Airman Zachary Rufus, an F-22 Raptor assigned to the 27th Fighter Squadron takes off during the 2023 William Tell Air-to-Air Competition held at the Savannah Air National Guard base in Savannah, Georgia.
The apparent “smoke” consuming the Raptor is really water droplets forming around the plane which creates a drop in air pressure at extremely high speeds. The phenomenon is called a vapor cone or shock collar and it occurs when the fighter passes through "high transonic" speeds, probably going more than seven hundred miles per hour.
This spectacular spray of vapor around a fighter differs from high altitude contrails, or condensation trails, that form streaks of condensed water vapor that form behind larger aircraft at high altitudes. Also, fossil fuel combustion (as in piston and jet engines) produces carbon dioxide that mixes with the water vapor and frigid air to form these remarkable displays of physics.
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Koror, Palau. (October 5, 2023): In this photo by Staff Sergeant Courtney G. White, U.S. Marines with Task Force Koa Moana 23 and Palauan Maritime Law Enforcement Officers pose for a photograph at the conclusion of a RQ-20B Puma Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) Training Course. The program was part of Task Force Koa Moana 23, a joint 1st Marine Expeditionary Force and Palauan Fish and Wildlife service exercise to improve cooperation between our two nations.
Palau is an enormous chain of over five hundred islands that make up the Micronesia region in the western Pacific Ocean. Koror Island is home to the former capital, also named Koror, and is the islands’ commercial center. Palau is strategically located between the Philippines and Guam, vital bases for U.S. bombers . It is one of three Pacific island countries that ceded their defense and security to the United States in 1982 in exchange for economic assistance and other benefits under what are called “compacts of free association”.
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Fort Irwin, California. (October 6, 2023): In this photo by Army Major Jason Elmore, a soldier physically launches the RQ-11B Raven, a small, unmanned aircraft system that has become the military’s solution to intelligence gathering. Deployed at the Company level, AeroVironment’s Raven system proved its worth in U.S. operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The Raven provides real-time direct intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance of targets using advanced cameras to relay data to one of two ground control stations. This “packable” aircraft is launched by hand and gives soldiers day or night aerial intelligence, surveillance, and target acquisition. This remote-controlled system consists of three aircraft using two ground control stations and is operated by a specially trained two-person crew. The Raven can be controlled manually or can autonomously navigate a preplanned route flying up to six miles at 450 feet and at speeds up to sixty mph.
The aircraft includes gimbaled electronics for a 360-degree view and uses electro-optical or infrared cameras depending on the situation. Of exceptional value to soldiers is the Raven’s ability to land itself by auto-piloting to a pre-defined landing point and can be commanded to immediately return to its launch point by pressing a single button.
The Raven has become so popular with foreign customers that they are currently operated by Australia, Estonia, Italy, Denmark, Spain and Czech Republic. Today, the Raven is the most widely adopted UAS system in the world.