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Chateauroux, France. (August 9, 2024): An Army Soldier set an Olympic record this week and secured a spot in the finals in the 2024 games. In this photo by Army Sergeant First Class Kulani Lakanaria, Sergeant Sagen Maddalena, a shooting instructor assigned to the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit, fires her rifle from a standing position during the Women's fifty-meter Three Position Rifle Qualifier. Maddalena defeated bronze medalist Qiongyue Zhang of China in a shootout enroute to winning the Silver in her second Olympic appearance. She competed in the same event during the 2020 Tokyo Summer Games where she placed fifth overall.
Maddalena walked on at the University of Alaska-Fairbanks where she earned her Bachelor of Science in Natural Resource Management in May 2018. She joined the rifle team and earned eight All-American selections in air rifle and small-bore shooting before joining the Army.
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Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington. (August 3, 2024): When asked whether they would recommend military service to a friend or family member, only a slim majority of American (51%) said they would encourage them to join according to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation. Which begs the question: “Where will our next generation of warfighters come from?” In this photo by Airman 1st Class Benjamin Riddle, 12-year-old McCoy Cannon gets to play “Pilot for a Day” while riding in an aircraft rescue and firefighting truck. This program is one of many that the armed forces are using to acquaint young people with careers available in the U.S. military.
According to the Pew Research Center, most Americans continue to express positive views of the military: 60% say it has a positive effect, while 36% say its effect is negative. Unfortunately for recruiting, adults under thirty were the only age group in which a larger share says the military has a negative (53%) than positive (43%) impact.
These attitudes are showing up in the numbers. Last year, the U.S. military fell more than 41,000 people short of its enlisted recruiting with the Army short by about 10,000, the Air Force recruited only 24,100 of the 26,877 it wanted, and the Navy shortfall was well short of its goal of 37,000.
What accounts for these dismal recruiting numbers?
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Fort Indiantown Gap, Pennsylvania. (July 31, 2024): Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) are responsible for killing or maiming thousands of American troops and the Army is determined to smoke them out. In this photo by Sergeant First Class Brandon Nelson, Sergeant Brandon Danner advances toward an opposing force through smoky concealment during an improvised explosive device awareness exercise.
Between 2010 and 2022, 14,242 incidents involving IEDs were recorded with a staggering 147,482 civilian casualties (40,840 killed, 106,642 injured). Many of these attacks occurred in populated areas where ninety percent of the victims were civilians. These incidents chiefly took place in Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Nigeria. In Iraq, IEDs were responsible for approximately 63% of coalition deaths.
An improvised explosive device is a "homemade" bomb or military ordnance converted for such use. Terrorists use them to destroy, incapacitate, harass, or distract their opponent. These bombs are usually constructed of conventional military explosives such as an artillery shell and have an attached detonating mechanism.
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Fort Indiantown Gap, Pennsylvania. (August 2, 2024): It is ironic that military recruits with previous firearms experience are often at a disadvantage to those who have never held a gun in their life. In this photo by Sergeant First Class Shane Smith, Specialist Jamie Zenker, center, engages targets to “zero in” or adjust her weapon’s sights. The advantage novice shooters have is not having any bad habits to unlearn. Youngsters who grew up hunting with firearms develop tendencies that pose a genuine problem when firing today’s precision rifles.
Those experienced with shotguns or high-powered civilian rifles anticipate the “kick” or recoil of these weapons, for example, which interferes with accurately firing weapons like the M-16 or M-4. But this isn’t the only issue. Self-trained marksmen tend to violate one of the four key components of proper marksmanship: steady position, aiming, breath control, and trigger squeeze.
Steady position refers to adopting a stance and grip that creates a stable firing platform.
The body position and hold should give the shooter a relaxed grip yet be firm enough to support the weapon. Aiming involves pointing the weapon to develop a “sight picture” of the target using the front and rear sights. It is important to place one’s cheek on the rifle stock in the same location every time to obtain a reliable “picture” in your sights.
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Limón, Costa Rica. (July 28, 2044): Costa Rica is a beautiful country that, like many nations in the southern hemisphere, suffers from national disasters and often finds itself in need of humanitarian help. In this photo by Chief Petty Officer Mark Logico, Petty Officer 3rd Class Jefferson Arpi Ordóñez assesses a patient’s vision in a temporary medical facility set up by the U.S. Navy. Sailors are participating in Continuing Promise 25, an exercise hosted by the Southern Command to foster goodwill and strengthen partnerships with Jamaica, Costa Rica, Honduras, Colombia, and Panama. The exercise seeks to improve medical readiness to respond to public health disasters and humanitarian crises.
Since 2007, American medical personnel treated more than 600,000 people including approximately 7,300 surgeries to citizens of host nations free of cost. This year’s event featured subject matter expert exchanges, engineering projects, community relations events, and even band performances. For the next few months, medical teams will be working alongside partner nation medical personnel to provide direct patient care and technical expertise through community clinics. The Navy dispatched thirty medical professionals including general practitioners, nurses, pharmacists, radiologists, dentists, optometrists, and biomedical technicians to collaborate with local experts. The teams will focus on disaster preparedness topics like medical evaluation and treatment, preventive medicine, and pharmacy services.
Each visit concludes with a concert by the Fleet Forces Navy Band, “Uncharted Waters,” which also conducted classes at community schools. The U.S. Navy says Continuing Promise has positively impacted more people in partner nations than any other deployment series in its history.
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Camp Pendleton, California. (August 1, 2024): No matter how many bombs you drop on something, at some point you have to go in and take the place. That is the harsh reality facing Marines in urban combat and is the subject of the Marine Raid Leaders Course. In this photo by Corporal Brian Knowles, Private First-Class Ardeth Maldonado, left, and Lance Corporal Brecken Wilcoxen set up a machine gun while clearing a building.
The Marines are no strangers to urban combat going back to the Battle for Hue City in the Vietnam War. Marines have fought bloody battles door-to-door in places like Falluja and Ramadi during Operation Iraqi Freedom making them experts at urban warfare. During the three-week course, Marines learn how to conduct raids in urban environments including setting up a perimeter, clearing rooms, and planning for extrication if necessary. The course refines combat marksmanship skills, teaches advanced Military Operations on Urban Terrain, and ensures every Marine understands their role in close quarter combat.
Fighting in-close and personal is the Marine’s way.