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Pacific Ocean. (July 27, 2023) In this photo by MC2 Joshua Samoluk, Sailors assigned to the amphibious transport dock ship USS John P. Murtha and Explosive Ordnance Disposal Expeditionary Support Unit 1 launch the Vehicle Advanced Demonstrator for Emergency Recovery, or VADR, during an Underway Recovery Test at sea. VADR is a replica of the crew module that will be used during NASA's Artemis II mission to send four astronauts to the Moon and beyond.
NASA and the Navy will conduct a series of tests to demonstrate and evaluate the processes, procedures, and hardware used in these recovery operations for lunar missions. The U.S. Navy has unique capabilities that make it an ideal partner to support NASA, including its amphibious capabilities and the ability to deploy helicopters, launch and recover small boats, three-dimensional air search radar, and advanced medical facilities.
Artemis II is the second scheduled mission of NASA’s Orion spacecraft due to launch in November 2024. This will be the first crewed spacecraft to travel beyond earth’s low orbit to return to the moon since the Apollo 17 mission in 1972.
Artemis II will carry four astronauts, including the first woman, first person of color, and first non-American to travel beyond low Earth orbit. The first woman is to be Christina Koch, who will serve as a mission specialist and the first person of color is to be Victor J. Glover, who will pilot the aircraft. The non-American is Jeremy Hansen from Canada.
This will be the second flight into space for Astronaut Koch who set a record for the longest single space flight by a woman (328 days) and she participated in the first all-female space walks.
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Queensland, Australia.(July 24, 2023): In this photo by Corporal Brayden Daniel, Marine 1st Lieutenant Joshua Watson, executive officer with Lima Company, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment watches as an MV-22B Osprey tiltrotor aircraft lands during Exercise Southern Jackaroo 23. Southern Jackaroo is a trilateral exercise involving the Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force, observers from South Korea, and the Australian Defense Force.
Each year, hundreds of Australian soldiers, troops from the Japanese Ground Self Defense Force, and U.S. Marines conduct major warfighting exercises at Queensland’s Shoal Water Bay training area. The goal is to share tactics, techniques, and procedures while also improving interoperability among their military capabilities. This year’s event featured shooters cycling through training lanes consisting of small arms close combat, patrolling, and infantry live fire and tank integration involving the three distinct forces.
Unique to Southern Jackaroo 23 was the addition of a long-range casualty evacuation from Shoal Water Bay to Darwin using a care team aboard an MV-22 Osprey to transport and treat a simulated casualty. The Osprey flew from the Queensland training area back to RAAF Base Darwin using aerial refueling and staffed by a critical care team from MRF-D’s Role II facility.
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Moody Air Force Base, Georgia. (July 25, 2023): In this photo by Air Force Captain Katie Tamesis, a 45th Security Forces Squadron military working dog handler and K9 partner conduct fast rope insertion and extraction training from a HH-60W Jolly Green II helicopter. The 45th Security Forces Squadron, based at Patrick Space Force Base, came to the 93rd Air Ground Operations Wing headquarters at Moody AFB to train with the 820th Base Defense Group. The goal was to bolster air mobility employment capabilities of military working dog teams.
Most dog owners have witnessed their pet’s fear and anxiety brought on by sudden loud noises like thunder or fireworks on the 4th of July. There are even companies that sell “thunder shirts” to calm pets during these noisy events.
Which begs the question; “How in the world do these military K-9 teams get their dogs to join them as they fast rope to the ground amid the roar of helicopter blades and bombs exploding all around?”
That is the specialty of the Air Force Dog Handler Team program which trains the 1300 working dog teams worldwide including those from the Army, Navy, and Marine Corps. In addition to traditional explosives and drug detection duties, the Dog Handler Team Program exposes K-9s to the sight, sound, smell, feel, and raw environment of a helicopter while its handler rappels the team to the ground.
The teams begin by familiarizing their dog with the entry and exit of the aircraft and, once they are comfortable with moving in and out of the chopper, the pilot fires up the engines and the real challenge begins. Both working dogs and handlers are equipped with hearing protection and as they practice boarding and exiting the chopper multiple times before the helicopter blades come to a stop.
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Naples, Italy. (July 20, 2023): In this photo by Lance Corporal Jack Labrador, U.S. Marine Corps Corporal Eduardo Garcia, Data System Administrator, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade, recites the Oath of Enlistment during his reenlistment ceremony under the under the Commandant’s Retention Program (CRP) at Naval Support Site Naples, Italy. The CRP expedites the reenlistment process for selected Marines and offers them meaningful incentives to reenlist, such as assignment prioritization, to help retain the most talented first term marines.The overall military retention rate for the US is 55% with the Army having the highest overall attrition rate and the Marine Corps having the lowest. According to data from the Defense Manpower Data Center, the reenlistment rates for the four US military branches in Fiscal Year 2021 were as follows:
- United States Air Force: 66.8%
- United States Navy: 59.6%
- United States Coast Guard: 59.1%
- United States Marine Corps: 56.2%
- United States Army: 48.3%
One factor having a significant impact on retention is the number of deployments servicemembers are asked to make.
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INDIAN OCEAN (July 19, 2023): In this photo by MC3 Natasha Chevalier-Losada, Aviation Boatswain’s Mate (Aircraft Handling) 1st Class Jarred Scifert, from Monticello, Indiana, directs aircraft on the flight deck aboard the U.S. Navy’s only forward-deployed aircraft carrier, USS Ronald Reagan in the Indian Ocean. The Ronald Reagan is the flagship of Carrier Strike Group 5, a combat-ready force that protects and defends the United States in the Indo Pacific region.
Aviation Boatswain’s Mate (Aircraft Handling) is one of the most important roles in naval aviation and is responsible for helping launch and recover aircraft quickly and safely aboard ships at sea. Their duties also include firefighting, salvage, and rescue operations.
Aircraft handlers work outdoors on the deck of aircraft carriers that launch aircraft every 20 seconds in all climatic conditions in fast-paced and often potentially hazardous environments. They are called the “salt of the deck” by pilots as they supervise the safe movement of aircraft on busy flight decks in all-weather day and night. In the event of a crash, the Aircraft Handlers help rescue personnel, perform firefighting duties, and do debris removal.
To become a Navy Aircraft Handler, a candidate must pass ten weeks of Basic Recruit Training at Great Lakes, Michigan and then complete four weeks specialized training at Pensacola, Florida. Upon graduation, the Boatswain’s Mate (Aircraft Handling) may be assigned to an aircraft carrier or other types of ships with airplanes or helicopters.
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Patrick Air Force Base, Florida. (July 7, 2023): Few homecomings are as joyous as those of servicemembers returning to their families after a long deployment. In this photo by Senior Airman Dakota Raub, Combat Rescue Airmen with 920th Rescue Wing return from deployment and are reunited with their family and friends.
The 920th Rescue Squadron is America’s premier combat search and rescue unit with over 2,500 airmen trained and equipped to locate and recover U.S. personnel in military operations. Additional missions include supporting NASA crewed flights by providing rescue support during water landings and they also rescue civilians in distress or lost at sea. The 920th plays a major role during disasters and in American humanitarian relief efforts around the world.
Air Force Pararescue are America’s elite combat forces specifically organized, trained, equipped, and postured to conduct full spectrum Personnel Recovery. These Battlefield Airmen execute the most perilous, demanding, and extreme rescue missions anytime, anywhere across the globe. Whether shot down or isolated behind enemy lines; surrounded, engaged, wounded, or captured by the enemy; Pararescue forces will do whatever is required to deny the enemy a victory and bring our warriors home to fight another day.