Today's pics - Thursday, Aug. 26

[Trigger]

Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class Jeff L. Pursley (foreground), a Corpsman with 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment's sniper platoon, and Cpl. Olen P. Thyssen, a 27 year-old scout sniper, took part in an operation that foiled a team of insurgents attempting to set an improvised explosive device on a road near Mahmudiyah, Aug. 23.
(USMC Photo by Cpl. Shawn C. Rhodes)

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U.S. Army soldiers remain alert in the courtyard as other members of their unit search a house during Operation Grizzly Forced Entry on Aug. 21, 2004. Operation Grizzly Forced Entry is a battalion-sized cordon, search and seizure mission to capture high value targets who have launched attacks against coalition forces. DoD photo by Tech. Sgt. Scott Reed, U.S. Air Force. (Released)

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[Raistlin]

Wow, 2 pics for the whole day


(no offense, j/k)

[2RHPZ]

Sgt. Darren Cockerham, who spent seven months in Iraq, patrols Captiva Island, Fla. In the distance, a glow from the lights of Fort Myers.

[[AFSOC]]

for a second i thought those MARINES were Canucks, cuz of them boonies

[He219]

U.S. Army soldiers guard an outpost in an office complex in central Najaf, Iraq, Thursday, Aug. 26, 2004. A ceasefire was called Thursday afternoon while demonstrators marched through the city.

A U.S. Army soldier looks over the destruction from an outpost in central Najaf, Iraq, Thursday, Aug. 26, 2004. A ceasefire was called Thursday afternoon while demonstrators marched through the city. Grand Ayatollah Ali Husseini al-Sistani, Iraq's top Shiite cleric, made a dramatic return to this violence-wracked city on Thursday aiming to broker a peace deal to end more than three weeks of devastating fighting between U.S. forces and Shiite militants.

A U.S. Army soldier guards an outpost in an office complex in central Najaf, Iraq, Thursday, Aug. 26, 2004. A ceasefire was called Thursday afternoon while demonstrators marched through the city.

A U.S. Army Bradley fighting vehicle is seen through a hole left by a rocket-propelled grenade that struck an Army outpost in central Najaf, Iraq, Thursday, Aug. 26, 2004. The RPG attack caused no major injuries.

Iraqi police escort the 30-vehicle convoy of sport utility vehicles travelling with Iraq's top Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali Husseini al-Sistani, as the convoy is about to leave the southern city of Basra, Iraq Thursday Aug. 26, 2004. Sistani headed to Najaf in a bid to end weeks of fighting between U.S. forces and Iraqi insurgents.

British soldiers stand guard as the 30-vehicle convoy of sport utility vehicles travelling with Iraq's top Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali Husseini al-Sistani, including the armored car carrying Sistani leaves the southern city of Basra, Iraq Thursday Aug. 26, 2004

Iraqi police escort the convoy of Iraq's top Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali Husseini al-Sistani as he arrives in to the holy city of Najaf in southern Iraq Thursday Aug. 26, 2004. Iraq's top Shiite cleric made a dramatic return to this violence-wracked city on Thursday aiming to broker a peace deal to end more than three weeks of devastating fighting between U.S. forces and Shiite militants.

Shiite faithful holding a picture of Iraq's top Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali Husseini al-Sistani chant as they head for Najaf responding to a call from Sistani to march to the holy city, on the road from Baghdad to Najaf in Iraq Thursday Aug. 26, 2004.

A militant carrying a rocket propelled grenade launcher watches a vehicle bearing a picture of Iraq's top Shiite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali Husseini al-Sistani as they head to Najaf from Kufa responding a call by the top Shiite cleric in southern Iraq Thursday Aug. 26, 2004. Iraq's top Shiite cleric made a dramatic return to this violence-wracked city on Thursday aiming to broker a peace deal to end more than three weeks of devastating fighting between U.S. forces and Shiite militants

Iraq's top Shi'ite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani (in Toyota Landcruiser at left) arrives in Najaf with a police escort, August 26, 2004. Iraq's most revered Shi'ite leader has told followers marching on the holy city of Najaf to wait on the outskirts until peace talks with rebel Shi'ite militiamen are under way, a senior aide said on Thursday.

Iraqi police and national guards secure the area around the home of Iraq's top Shiite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali Husseini al-Sistani after he arrived in the holy city of Najaf in southern Iraq Thursday Aug. 26, 2004. Iraq's top Shiite cleric made a dramatic return to this violence-wracked city on Thursday aiming to broker a peace deal to end more than three weeks of devastating fighting between U.S. forces and Shiite militants.

Iraqi police, met by reporters, arrive at the Najaf Sea hotel while searching for an Arab satellite television news crew to complain about their coverage August 25, 2004. In a related incident at the hotel in the southern city of Najaf on Wednesday night, police briefly detained dozens of foreign and Iraqi journalists after raiding the hotel and firing weapons in the air, witnesses said. The journalists were loaded into vans and then held for a short time at a police station before being released. Picture taken August 25.

Iraqi police officers pass Revolution Square during a patrol in Najaf, August 26, 2004.

Iraqi police officers run during a neighborhood patrol in Najaf, August 26, 2004.

A taxi drives past a damaged building near Najaf's Imam Ali shrine during a cease fire August 26, 2004. Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi said on Thursday he had ordered his forces to observe a 24-hour cease fire in Najaf from 3 p.m. (1100 GMT) to allow talks on a peaceful end to an uprising by radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr

Iraqis look at a used U.S. rocket launcher found in a battle zone near Najaf's Imam Ali shrine during a cease fire August 26, 2004. Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi said on Thursday he had ordered his forces to observe a 24-hour ceasefire in Najaf from 3 p.m. (1100 GMT) to allow talks on a peaceful end to an uprising by radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.

A U.S. Army Apache helicopter flies over an empty street in the Iraqi city of Najaf, August 26, 2004. Iraq's top Shi'ite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani arrived in Najaf Thursday to try to end a bloody three-week uprising as tensions were inflamed by attacks on Shi'ite marchers that killed at least 74 people and wounded 315.

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Assistant Commandant Gen. Spyder Nyland, August 23 at Camp Fallujah, prepares to pull the ignition rope on the Marine Corps Scan Eagle unmanned aerial vehicle; for a demonstration of its warfighting capabilities at I Marine Expeditionary Force Intelligence Headquarters.

Lance Cpl. Nicole M. Henderson, VMU-2 S-1, greets her son, Jonathan, after spending six months in Iraq.

Joint Air-to-Surface Standard Missile (JASSM) manufactured by Lockheed Martin. Missile being launched from a B-2 bomber aircraft.

Joint Air-to-Surface Standard Missile (JASSM) manufactured by Lockheed Martin. Missile striking a trial target.

Australia’s F/A-18 Hornet fighter and AP-3C Orion maritime patrol aircraft will be equipped with long range missiles capable of destroying land and sea targets, Defence Minister Robert Hill announced today.

Taurus Systems KEPD 350 Missile. Missile being carried underwing of a F/A-18 Hornet aircraft.

Taurus Systems KEPD 350 Missile striking a target.

The Stand-off Land Attack Missile – Expanded Response (SLAM-ER) manufactured by American-based Boeing that is modelled on the Harpoon anti-shipping missile, currently used by the Australian Defence Force and has a range of more than 250 kilometres.

Dome!

(Aug. 24, 2004) - A plane captain prepares an F/A-18C Hornet assigned to the "Mighty Shrikes" of Strike Fighter Squadron Nine Four (VFA-94) for a full day of flight operations aboard the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN 68). Nimitz recently completed a Planned Incremental Availability (PIA) period and is currently conducting sea trials off the coast of Southern California.

A Naval Aviator assigned to the “Diamond Cutters” of Sea Control Squadron Three Zero (VS-30), conducts a flyby over the aircraft carrier USS John F Kennedy (CV 67).

The nation’s newest and most advanced nuclear-powered attack submarine PCU Virginia (SSN 774) passes the skyline of Portsmouth, Va., on its the way to Norfolk Naval Shipyard upon completion of Bravo sea trials. Virginia is the Navy’s only major combatant ready to join the fleet that was designed with the post-Cold War security environment in mind and embodies the war fighting and operational capabilities required to dominate the littorals while maintaining undersea dominance in the open ocean.

Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy (MCPON) Terry Scott and Sgt. Maj. of the Marine Corps John Estrada receive a tour of Al Basrah Oil Terminal, off the coast of Iraq.

Seaman Carson Corbin of Miami, Fla., readies his 60mm machine gun on the deck of the United States Coast Guard cutter Thunder Bay, which hails from Rockland, Maine, during a demonstration on the Hudson River in New York, Thursday, Aug. 26, 2004.

A United States Coast Guard security patrol craft, right, moves in at high speed to cut off a would be incursion into a estabkished security zone during a demonstration in the Hudson River in New York Thursday, Aug. 26, 2004. The USCG along with U.S. Department of Homeland Security are preparing for the republican National Convention in N.Y.

Members of HMCS Montreal's naval boarding party during Exercise NARWHAL, taking place August 13-24 in the Cumberland Peninsula area of Baffin Island.

For a bit of levity ..

Irish Guardsman Martyn Walters, right, of the 1st Battalion Irish Guards, who is 7ft 3 ins (2.21m) tall, and Guardsman Matthew Else, at 5ft 2ins (1.57m), face the media at Wellington Barracks in central London, Thursday Aug.26 2004, when it was revealed that 21-year-old Walters has become the tallest ever member of the Guards in their 362 year history. He starts work next week as part of Queen Elizabeth's bodyguard.

Irish Guardsman Martyn Walters of the 1st Battalion Irish Guards, who is 7-foot and 3 inches (2.21m) tall, speaks to the media at Wellington Barracks in central London, Thursday Aug.26 2004, when it was revealed that the 21-year-old soldier has become the tallest ever member of the Guards in their 362-year history.

Nihangs or Holy Sikh warriors practice Gatka, a traditional martial art, before a procession to mark the 400th year of Guru Granth Sahib (the holy book of Sikhs), at Gurdwara Sant Sar Sahib in the northern Indian city of Chandigarh, August 26, 2004. Sikhs will be celebrating the 400th anniversary of the installation of the Granth Sahib on September 1, 2004.

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OHRID, MACEDONIA: Members of the new Ranger Batallion of the Army of the Republic of Macedonia (ARM) make airborne insertion during a military drill in Ohrid , 26 August 2004. The new Batallion, part of the Macedonian Special Operations Detachment, is preparing to deploy to Iraq in early December as the current Macedonian contingent in Operation "Iraqi Freedom" finishes it's six-months rotation.

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JAKARTA, INDONESIA: Indonesian Police demonstrate their skills during an anti-terror drill in Jakarta, 26 August 2004. The drill was part of a showcase demonstrating the capability of anti-terror squad to defend the country's capital from terror attack.

General Ralph Eberhart, commander of NORAD and USNORTHCOM speaks to reporters at his headquarters at Petersen Air Force Base in Colorado Springs, Colorado August 25, 2004. Eberhart said he feels that Al Qaeda still has a desire to attack the U.S. before the November presidential elections

Col. Stu (last name omitted and name tag obliterated at military request), Commander of the Combined Intelligence and Fusion Center speaks to reporters while standing in front of video screens showing New York City (L) and the Bering Strait off of Alaska (R) at the CIFC at Petersen Air Force Base in Colorado Springs, Colorado August 25, 2004. The analysts at the CIFC provide intelligence support to Homeland Defense.

Preparations for presidential election in Grozny

[Ratamacue]

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Seaman Carson Corbin of Miami, Fla., readies his 60mm machine gun on the deck of the United States Coast Guard cutter Thunder Bay, which hails from Rockland, Maine, during a demonstration on the Hudson River in New York, Thursday, Aug. 26, 2004.

[He219]

60mm! nice piece of artillery ..

3rd Brigade Combat Team Psychological Operations personnel patrol the streets of Baghdad's Karada District, countering Muqtada al-Sadr supporters.

[Locked N Loaded]

All HI RES links are under captions:

Capt. David Henderson with the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit pilots a CH-46E Sea Knight during terrain flight training. Henderson, 32, is a native of ********, Texas, and a CH-46E Sea Knight pilot with Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 263, the Aviation Combat Element of the 24th MEU. Terrain flight training is performed in order to certify pilots to instruct techniques such as low-altitude flying, which masks the aircraft below the terrain while performing mission oriented operations in Iraq.

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A CH-46E Sea Knight with the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit performs a main-mount landing during terrain flight training. The Sea Knight belongs to Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 263, the Aviation Combat Element of the 24th MEU. Terrain flight training is performed in order to certify pilots to instruct techniques such as low-altitude flying, which masks the aircraft below the terrain.

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A CH-46E Sea Knight with the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit cruises over a bridge inside the Majarrah Canyon near Camp Al Taqaddum, Iraq, during terrain flight training. The Sea Knight belongs to Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 263, the Aviation Combat Element of the 24th MEU. Terrain flight training is performed in order to certify pilots to instruct techniques such as low-altitude flying, which masks the aircraft below the terrain.

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A CH-46E Sea Knight with the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit descends inside the Majarrah Canyon near Camp Al Taqaddum, Iraq, during terrain flight training. The Sea Knight belongs to Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 263, the Aviation Combat Element of the 24th MEU. Terrain flight training is performed in order to certify pilots to instruct techniques such as low-altitude flying, which masks the aircraft below the terrain.

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Gunnery Sgt. William Heaton of the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit looks out the window of a CH-46E Sea Knight as it flies over the area surrounding Camp Al Taqaddum, Iraq, during terrain flight training. Heaton, 38, is a native of Chattanooga, Tenn., and an aerial observer and gunner with Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 263, the Aviation Combat Element of the 24th MEU. Terrain flight training is performed in order to certify pilots to instruct techniques such as low-altitude flying, which masks the aircraft below the terrain.

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Amid a crowd of Iraqi kids, Lance Cpl. Aaron Pluff provides security as fellow Marines load up into a humvee following a foot patrol in the central Iraqi province of Northern Babil Aug. 18. Pluff, a native of Canastota, N.Y., is a fire-team leader with 2nd Squad, 2nd Platoon, Bravo Company, Battalion Landing Team 1st Battalion, 2nd Marines, 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit. Pictured at left is Lance Cpl. Thomas Haug, a fire-team leader with 2nd Platoon’s 3rd Squad and a native of Morris County, N.J. Over the last two weeks, the Marines of Bravo Company have conducted four patrols per day in the vicinity of Forward Operating Base Kalsu in an effort to make local residents comfortable with the American presence and any militants in the area decidedly uncomfortable.

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Pfc. Jason Heflin passes out candy to local kids during a foot patrol Aug. 18 in the central Iraqi province of Northern Babil, while Lance Cpl. Andrew Annett mans the M-240G machine gun in the turret of a humvee. Heflin, a native of San Angelo, Texas, is a Squad Automatic Weapon gunner with 2nd Squad, 2nd Platoon, Bravo Company, Battalion Landing Team 1st Battalion, 2nd Marines, 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit. Annett, a spotter with the same unit, is from Los Angeles. Over the last two weeks, the Marines of Bravo Company have conducted four patrols per day in the vicinity of Forward Operating Base Kalsu in an effort to make local residents comfortable with the American presence and any militants in the area decidedly uncomfortable.

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Cpl. Hayden Kandel (center) stops to chat with local Iraqis during a foot patrol Aug. 18 in the central Iraqi province of Northern Babil. Kandel is the leader of 3rd Squad, 2nd Platoon, Bravo Company, Battalion Landing Team 1st Battalion, 2nd Marines, 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit. Accompanying Kandel, who hails from Pleasantville, Ohio, is Lance Cpl. Kristopher Jolley (right) of Valley Lee, Mo. Over the last two weeks, the Marines of Bravo Company have conducted four patrols per day in the vicinity of Forward Operating Base Kalsu in an effort to make local residents comfortable with the American presence and any militants in the area decidedly uncomfortable.

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Staff Sgt. Matthew E. Robinson, a native of Nacogdoches, Texas, and the ordnance chief for Marine Expeditionary Unit Service Support Group 24, and a soldier from the 118th Military Police Company examine and fix AK-47s and other Iraqi Police weapons at a police station just outside Forward Operating Base Kalsu, Iraq. The 24th MEU is currently conducting security and stability operations in the Northern Babil province of Iraq.

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Tracer rounds fly across the sky as Marines from the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit are engaged by Iraqi insurgents in the town of Iskandariyah, Iraq, Aug. 16. The Marines are from Alpha Company, Battalion Landing Team 1st Bn., 2nd Marines. The 24th MEU is currently conducting security and stability operations in the Northern Babil province of Iraq.

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Thats the best I can do........
L n L

[Locked N Loaded]

Yes, our's are bigger then yours are!......

[Double Tap]

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Indonesian anti-terror police practise their skills in Jakarta
Original caption: Indonesian anti-terror police practise their skills during an anti-terrorism drill at Jakarta police headquaters August 25, 2004. Some members of the team have received two months training by U.S. anti-terrorism experts, a police official said on Wednesday.

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Special police forces pass a police van following an incident in the northern German city of Luebeck
Original caption: Special police forces pass a police van following an incident in the northern German city of Luebeck August 26, 2004. Three masked intruders entered the bank Thursday morning, but it is not yet clear if they stole anything and the bank was empty when police entered, officials said.

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Iraqi boy passes near U.S. armored vehicles in Baghdad
Original caption: An Iraqi boy passes near U.S. armored Bradley vehicles patrolling a street in eastern Baghdad's Shi'ite suburb of al-Sadr city August 26, 2004. A mortar attack on the main mosque in the town of Kufa on Thursday killed at least 25 people as Iraq's most influential Shi'ite cleric headed to the nearby holy city of Najaf to try to end a bloody three-week uprising

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Iraqi police officers clear the way for convoy of Ayatollah al-Sistani to depart from Basra
Original caption: Iraqi police officers clear the way for the convoy of Grand Ayatollah Assahola, Iraq's most influential Shi'ite cleric, to leave a mosque in the southern city of Basra August 26, 2004. Sistani headed for Najaf early on Thursday to try to get rebels inside a holy shrine to leave and bring an end to three weeks of bloody fighting that has killed hundreds. The cleric urged his supporters converging on Najaf not to enter the battered holy city until he arrived, a senior aide said.

Members of the First Battalion, Fourth Marines took cover Wednesday as they moved closer to the Imam Ali Mosque in Najaf, Iraq. The marines were closing in on militia members loyal to the cleric Moktada al-Sadr.

An Iraqi militiaman inside a dust-filled room in Najaf yesterday as the building was hit by American shells

Militiamen loyal to the rebel cleric Moktada al-Sadr took cover yesterday as American shells hit a building in Najaf.

[He219]

"You go first!"

U.S. soldiers from Company A, 579th Engineering Battalion, led by their Iraqi National Guard counterpart, enter a house to capture high-value targets during Operation Grizzly Forced Entry, Aug. 21, 2004. Operation Grizzly Forced Entry was a battalion-sized cordon, search and seizure mission to capture high-value targets who have launched attacks against Logistics Support Area Anaconda, Iraq.

U.S. Army Sgt. Stephen Edwards, Company A, 579th Engineering Battalion Bravo Team leader, applies flexcuffs to an Iraqi man suspected of being a high-value target during Operation Grizzly Forced Entry, Aug. 21, 2004.

U.S. Army Lt. Jim Jack, platoon leader with Company A, 579th Engineering Battalion, 2nd Platoon, uses an Iraqi National Guard translator to explain to an Iraqi woman the reason her son and grandson are being taken into custody during Operation Grizzly Forced Entry, Aug. 21, 2004.

U.S. soldiers from Company A, 579th Engineering Battalion, secure a rooftop during Operation Grizzly Forced Entry, Aug. 21, 2004. Operation Grizzly Forced Entry was a battalion-sized cordon, search and seizure mission to capture high-value targets who have launched attacks against Logistics Support Area Anaconda, Iraq.

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NATO's Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR), General James L. Jones, talks to Iraqi Special Forces under training by the Multinational Forces during a visit to Iraq on 18 August

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SACEUR (2nd left) discusses the mission with members of the NATO Training Implementation Mission. The team commander, Maj. Gen. Karel Hilderink is on the right.

With some NATO training for Iraqi forces already underway in Baghdad the newly arrived NATO Training Implementation Team (NTIM) received an early visit from the SACEUR, General James Jones. The team, led by Major General Karel Hilderink of the Netherlands, is in Iraq to assist in the training of Iraqi Security Forces following a decision of NATO’s North Atlantic Council.

The NAC decision followed a request from the Iraqi Interim Government. The NATO team is about 50 strong and is assessing the needs of the Iraqi Security Forces in order to develop options for presentation to the NAC on future training both inside and outside Iraq. The NTIM was also authorized to begin immediate training of Iraqi headquarters personnel, and within a few days of arriving advisory training started for selected personnel with the Iraqi Joint Headquarters. The team has already established working groups to liaise and coordinate with the Ministries of Defence and Interior

During his visit General Jones received detailed briefings from the team and also emphasized to the personnel the importance of their mission for both Iraq and NATO, and said they had made an excellent start. The NTIM is distinct from, but closely coordinated with the Multinational forces training effort, and during his two day tour General Jones visited Iraqi forces under training, accompanied by the Iraqi Acting Chief of the General Staff, Lt General Babekir, and the head of the Multinational training mission, Lt General David Petraeus.

AH-1W Super Cobra pilot 1st Lt. Fletcher L. Tidwell, a 28-year-old from Nashville, Tenn., performs a preflight inspection of his helicopter at Al Asad, Iraq Aug. 11. The 'Viper' from Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 169, Marine Aircraft Group 16, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, has deployed to Iraq to fly missions in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

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- An MH-53M Pave Low flight engineer from the Air Force Special Operations Detachment at Camp Lemonier in Djibouti, Africa, keeps an eye on the ground as the aircraft performs "dust-out" training. The special operators are deployed supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.

[He219]

Great teamwork everybody. I'm really liking this much better!

[Ratamacue]

Awesome pics everyone.

[He219]

Grand Ayatollah Assahola

[Locked N Loaded]

HE....you're still my hero!....