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Annapolis, Maryland. (May 13, 2025): The Marines have the “Crucible”, the SEALs “Hell Week”, and the Naval Academy has Sea Trials. All are brutal tests of physical and emotional endurance that challenge recruits to their limits. In this photo by Technical Sergeant Christopher Muncy, a Naval Academy midshipman participates in the final event of their fourth year. Sea Trials are a series of training events that are designed to provide a final physical and mental challenge to midshipmen before they become officers in today’s Navy.
Devised in the spring of 1998, Sea Trials consists of fourteen straight hours of pure adrenaline. Midshipmen endure a lengthy list of physically and mentally straining activities that foster teamwork as a class.
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Great Lakes, Illinois. (May 8, 2025): In this photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Stuart Posada, Seaman Kyra Brinsfield is greeted by family after a graduation ceremony at Midway Ceremonial Drill Hall. She is one of more than 40,000 recruits who train annually at the Navy's only boot camp. For a select few American families, serving in the military is a generational thing.
Children of service members, affectionally called “Military Brats,” are twice as likely to join the military compared to their civilian counterparts. The Defense Department estimates there are approximately fifteen million Americans who are former or current military brats. They represent an important, and often invisible, subculture of the American public that is critical to our national defense.
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Atlantic Ocean. (May 8, 2025): Few people will ever forget the sting of a wasp. In this photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Justin Kemble, Seaman Nathan Kimbrough mans a fire hose aboard the flight deck of the USS Wasp during an aviation training exercise. Numerous ships have worn the name, including sloops, schooners, a steam yacht, and two aircraft carriers and every one of them delivered a vicious bite.
The first USS Wasp was a Continental Navy schooner, originally named Scorpion, which set sail in 1775 with the first American naval fleet. The vessel was later destroyed in 1777 during an unsuccessful engagement with the British. It was run aground, set on fire, and its gunpowder exploded.
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Fort McCoy, Wisconsin (May 17, 2025): A single miscommunication between Air Force pilots in the air and Army troops on the ground can be catastrophic. To prevent this, the Air Force operates a special school, hosted by the 435th Training Squadron, designed to eliminate such confusion between air and ground units.
Officially called the Air Mobility Liaison Officer (AMLO) Qualification Course, the program focuses on drop zone control and landing zone safety. To qualify for the training, Students must be rated pilots or navigators and are hand selected. During the course, students study everything from doctrine and command relationships to the complexities of aircraft landing and drop zones. They also learn proper radio procedures and the cultural differences between the Air Force, Army, and Marine Corps.
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Kadena Air Base, Japan. (May 6, 2025): When the Air Force does the “Elephant Walk”, America’s enemies take notice. In this photo by Senior Master Sgt. Nadine Barclay, Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps aircraft along with Army Patriot missile batteries line up on the runway for an elephant walk. The term elephant walk dates to World War II when large fleets of allied bombers would conduct attacks in missions containing 1,000 aircraft. Those who observed the taxiing of these large numbers of aircraft to take off in single file in nose-to-tail formations said that they looked like elephants walking to the next watering hole.
During a recent routine operational readiness exercise, Kadena Air Force Base showcased more than 100 aircraft taxiing right before takeoff in close formation. Doing the Elephant Walk not only demonstrates the U.S. military’s ability to act as a team, but it prepares squadrons for wartime operations and pilots to launch in one mass event.
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Gantioqui, Philippines. (May 8, 2025): As we witness the devastating use of unmanned aerial vehicles by Ukraine against the Russians, it is only natural to ask, “What are WE doing about drones.” In this photo by Sergeant Mitchell Johnson, Marines with 3d Littoral Anti-Air Battalion, 3d Marine Littoral Regiment, 3d Marine Division, prepare a Marine Air Defense Integrated System (MADIS) for training.
MADIS is a mobile, maneuverable, short-range air defense platform developed to protect against aerial threats like drones but also fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and even cruise missiles. The MADIS system is mounted on two Joint Light Tactical Vehicles and consists of two variants, Mk1 and Mk2, that work in tandem.