What some of our troops were doing last week:
Airmen with the 455th Air Expeditionary Wing prepare a U.S. Air Force C-130H Hercules assigned to the 774th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron for an airlift mission at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan. Bagram provides tactical airlift support every day to ground forces operating in Afghanistan. (U.S. Air Force photo/Capt. Raymond Geoffroy)
U.S. Army Pfc. Westin Bonorden watches the sunset from the motor pool on Combat Outpost Chergataw after returning from a dismounted patrol in Shaway Valley in Afghanistan’s Khowst province. Bonorden, a marksman, is assigned to Company B, 1st Battalion, 501st Infantry Regiment.
Capt. James Morgan, mission commander of Pacific Partnership 2012, reaches out to a prospective pediatric surgery patient during a screening program at Siloam Hospital. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Laurie Dexter)
U.S. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Douglas Jones, 923rd Aircraft Maintenance Squadron assistant weapons section chief, is welcomed home by his daughter, Ainsley Jones, three, from a deployment at Davis-Monthan Air force Base, Ariz. A deployed rescue squadron has a total of three hours to report to an alert, the 55th RQS has that time down to 25 minutes. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Camilla Griffin)
Marines with 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, exit their plane after landing at Kadena Air Force Base, Okinawa, Japan, June 4, to join the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit. The reinforced battalion is now the battalion landing team for the United States’ expeditionary force in readiness for the Asia Pacific region.
All Images Courtesy DoD
The author is a retired U.S. Air Force officer and a writer.