I won’t have the opportunity to post this coming weekend, so here goes half a week of military related photos and news. (I know readers have been waiting with bated breath)
As deadly tornadoes continue to sweep though our southern states, National Guard members are assisting in the search and rescue, medical evacuation, traffic control and other first-responder duties.
They are performing their duties and assisting others even as one member of the Arkansas National guard perished when a tornado struck Vilonia, Arkansas and even though “dozens of Guard members’ homes were damaged or destroyed, and an unconfirmed number of family members were injured or hospitalized,” according to American Forces Press Service reports.
Lead photo: An aerial view shows tornado damage in Louisville, Miss., April 29, 2014, where about 50 Mississippi Guardsmen responded to help in that area.
An Arkansas Guardsman searches through piles of debris for possible survivors in Vilonia, Ark., April 28, 2014, in the wake of a killer tornado that struck April 27 in the small central Arkansas towns of Vilonia and Mayflower. By the next day, the Arkansas National Guard had 60 Guardsmen on state active duty to work recovery and relief efforts.
Arkansas Guardsmen assist a family with salvaging precious heirlooms from the debris in Mayflower, Ark., April 28, 2014, following a deadly tornado that struck small communities April 27 in the center of the state. The soldiers are assigned to Special Troops Battalion, 39th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, Arkansas National Guard.
President Barack Obama took time out of his Asia-Pacific tour to thank service members and their families for their sacrifices and their role in strengthening the U.S.-South Korean alliance.
President Barack Obama pauses for photos after speaking to service members and their families on U.S. Army Garrison Yongsan in South Korea, April 26, 2014.
As has been the case for almost two months, the U.S. military continues to support the multi-national search for the missing Malaysia Airline aircraft.
Remember the by-Russian-fighters-buzzed USS Donald Cook? Well the Donald Cook is now safely operating in the Mediterranean.
Boatswain’s Mate 2nd Class Bernard Boling signals to Sailors as the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Donald Cook conducts a replenishment-at-sea with the Military Sealift Command fleet replenishment oiler USNS John Lenthall. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Edward Guttierrez III
Yes, our troops continue to slug it out in Afghanistan. But this (half) week a somewhat of an uplifting photo and story.
U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Jerod Dalke shakes hands with an Afghan boy at a school near Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan’s Parwan province, April 16, 2014. Dalke is assigned to the 101st Airborne Division’s Company A, 502nd Infantry Regiment. Service members worked with Afghan police to distribute supplies, clothes and shoes to students.
All photos DOD
The author is a retired U.S. Air Force officer and a writer.