Today's Pix - Tuesday, August 21st, 2012

**He219** · 08-21-2012

A Japan Ground Self-Defense Force anti-land mine missile is launched during the annual live-firing exercise at the Higashi Fuji training range in Gotemba, southwest of Tokyo, Tuesday, Aug. 21, 2012.

A Japan Ground Self-Defense Force Type 74 tank fires its gun during the annual live-fire drill at the Higashi Fuji training range in Gotemba, southwest of Tokyo, Tuesday, Aug. 21, 2012.

A soldier of Japan's Ground Self-Defense Forces fires an anti-tank missile from an armoured personel carrier during an annual live fire exercise at the Higashi-Fuji firing range in Gotemba, at the foot of Mt. Fuji in Shizuoka prefecture on August 21, 2012. The annual drill involves some 2,400 personnel, 80 tanks and armoured vehicles and 30 aircraft and helicopters.

A Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force soldier holds a Panzerfaust 3 anti-tank weapon during an annual training session near Mount Fuji at Higashifuji training field in Gotemba, west of Tokyo, August 21, 2012.

An armoured vehicle from the Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force fires an anti-tank missile during an annual military exercise at the Higashi-Fuji firing range in Gotemba, at the foot of Mt. Fuji in Shizuoka prefecture on August 21, 2012. The annual drill involves some 2,400 personnel, 80 tanks and armoured vehicles and 30 aircraft and helicopters.

A Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force airborne soldier lands with a parachute during an annual training session, with Mount Fuji in the background, at Higashifuji training field in Gotemba, west of Tokyo, August 21, 2012.

Japanese Ground Self-Defense Forces tanks move amongst an umbrella of barrage during an annual live fire exercise at the Higashi-Fuji firing range in Gotemba, at the foot of Mt. Fuji in Shizuoka prefecture on August 21, 2012. The annual drill involves some 2,400 personnel, 80 tanks and armoured vehicles and 30 aircraft and helicopters.

Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force 'Type-10' tanks take part in an annual military exercise at the Higashi-Fuji firing range in Gotemba, at the foot of Mt. Fuji in Shizuoka prefecture on August 21, 2012. The annual drill involves some 2,400 personnel, 80 tanks and armoured vehicles and 30 aircraft and helicopters.

A 'Type-10' tank of the Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force fires a round during an annual military exercise at the Higashi-Fuji firing range in Gotemba, at the foot of Mt. Fuji in Shizuoka prefecture on August 21, 2012. The annual drill involves some 2,400 personnel, 80 tanks and armoured vehicles and 30 aircraft and helicopters.

A Cobra attack helicopter from Japan's Ground Self-Defense Force fires a missile during an annual military exercise at the Higashi-Fuji firing range in Gotemba, at the foot of Mt. Fuji in Shizuoka prefecture on August 21, 2012.

Geopard?

Self-propelled anti-aircraft guns from Japan's Ground Self-Defense Force are fired during an annual military exercise at the Higashi-Fuji firing range in Gotemba, at the foot of Mt. Fuji in Shizuoka prefecture on August 21, 2012.

Members of Japan Ground Self-Defense Force rappell down from a UH-60JA helicopter during the annual live-fire drill at the Higashi Fuji training range in Gotemba, southwest of Tokyo, Tuesday, Aug. 21, 2012.

Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force troops operate a 203mm self-propelled Howitzer during an annual military exercise at the Higashi-Fuji firing range in Gotemba, at the foot of Mt. Fuji in Shizuoka prefecture on August 21, 2012.

Ammunition explodes in the shape of Mt. Fuji, seen in the background, during the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force annual live-fire drill at the Higashi Fuji training range in Gotemba, southwest of Tokyo, Tuesday, Aug. 21, 2012.

**Aznthang** · 08-21-2012

Thanks a lot He! Haven't seen JGSDF pics like these in a long while!

**He219** · 08-21-2012

Cheers, Aznthang!

In this image released by the U.S. Department of Defense and taken Monday, Aug. 20, 2012, Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, prepares to board a CH-47 at Kabul International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan.

Top U.S. general’s plane damaged in Afghanistan attack

A plane belonging to the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff was apparently attacked by insurgents in Afghanistan on Tuesday. Militants fired rockets at the Bagram Airfield outside Kabul, and shrapnel hit U.S. Army Gen. Martin Dempsey’s C-17 military plane, according to NATO officials. Dempsey was not in the plane at the time of the attack. Several members of the maintenance crew sustained minor injuries. A helicopter was also damaged.

“The chairman was in his room at the time of the incident and was unharmed,” said Maj. Lori Hodge, a spokeswoman for NATO forces. “Due to some exterior damage to Gen. Dempsey’s aircraft, he left Afghanistan on a different military plane.”

Officials say that indirect hits from rocket attacks on the airfield are not uncommon and that they do not think the plane was targeted because it belonged to Dempsey.
During Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta’s latest trip to Afghanistan in March, an Afghan civilian stole a military pickup truck and rammed it through a fence near the airfield in an apparent attempt to attack Panetta’s plane.

Dempsey devoted much of his visit Monday to a discussion of so-called “insider attacks” — in which Afghan soldiers and police officers target their NATO counterparts. Nine U.S. soldiers have been killed in such attacks in the past two weeks.

**Dave76** · 08-21-2012

A Lebanese army tank patrols a street at the Sunni Muslim dominant neighbourhood of Bab al-Tebbaneh in Tripoli, northern Lebanon, August 21, 2012. Two people were killed and more than 60 wounded in clashes between Sunni Muslims and Alawites in Lebanon's northern city of Tripoli in another spillover from the war in neighbouring Syria, security and medical sources said on Tuesday. Chronic Sunni-Alawite tensions in Tripoli have been heightened by the 17-month-old, mainly Sunni, uprising in Syria against President Bashar al-Assad, an Alawite. *******/Stringer

Lebanese security forces sit atop a tank as they take position in the northern city of Tripoli following clashes between pro- and anti-Syrian regime supporters on August 21, 2012. Clashes erupted days after a wave of kidnappings targeting Syrians in Lebanon, in a new sign that violence in neighbouring Syria is exacerbating tensions in the small Mediterranean country. AFP PHOTO/STR

Lebanese army soldiers in armored personnel carriers deploy in the area where a clashes erupted between supporters and opponents of the Syrian regime, in the northern port city of Tripoli, Lebanon, Tuesday, Aug. 21, 2012. The civil war in Syria has been spilling across the border, security officials said clashes between supporters and opponents of President Bashar Assad have left two dead and as many as 45 wounded. The army said the injured include nine Lebanese soldiers. (AP Photo)

Lebanese army deploy military vehicles at the Sunni Muslim dominant neighbourhood of Bab al-Tebbaneh in Tripoli, northern Lebanon, August 21, 2012. At least 22 people were wounded in overnight clashes between Sunni Muslims and Alawites in Lebanon's northern city of Tripoli in another spill-over from the war in neighbouring Syria, security and medical sources said on Tuesday. *******/Omar Ibrahim

Lebanese army soldiers patrol on a armoured vehicle at the Sunni Muslim dominant neighbourhood of Bab al-Tebbaneh in Tripoli, northern Lebanon, August 21, 2012. At least 22 people were wounded in overnight clashes between Sunni Muslims and Alawites in Lebanon's northern city of Tripoli in another spillover from the war in neighbouring Syria, security and medical sources said on Tuesday. *******/Omar Ibrahim

Lebanese army soldiers on their armored personnel carriers deploy at the area where a clashes erupted between supporters and opponents of the Syrian regime, in the northern port city of Tripoli, Lebanon, Tuesday, Aug. 21, 2012. The civil war in Syria has been spilling across the border, security officials said clashes between supporters and opponents of President Bashar Assad have left two dead and as many as 45 wounded. The army said the injured include nine Lebanese soldiers. (AP Photo)

Lebanese army soldiers in armored personnel carriers deploy at the area where a clashes erupted between supporters and opponents of the Syrian regime, in the northern port city of Tripoli, Lebanon, Tuesday Aug. 21, 2012. The civil war in Syria has been spilling across the border, security officials said clashes between supporters and opponents of President Bashar Assad have left two dead and as many as 45 wounded. The army said the injured include nine Lebanese soldiers. (AP Photo)

Lebanese army soldiers deploy at the Sunni Muslim dominant neighbourhood of Bab al-Tebbaneh in Tripoli, northern Lebanon, August 21, 2012. At least 22 people were wounded in overnight clashes between Sunni Muslims and Alawites in Lebanon's northern city of Tripoli in another spill-over from the war in neighbouring Syria, security and medical sources said on Tuesday. *******/Omar Ibrahim

A Sunni Muslim gunman takes position behind sandbags at the Sunni Muslim dominant Bab al-Tebbaneh neighbourhood in Tripoli, northern Lebanon, during clashes with Alawites, August 21, 2012 . One person was killed and several dozen wounded in clashes between Sunni Muslims and Alawites in Lebanon's northern city of Tripoli in another spillover from the war in neighbouring Syria, security and medical sources said on Tuesday. Chronic Sunni-Alawite tensions in Tripoli have been heightened by the 17-month-old, mainly Sunni, uprising in Syria against President Bashar al-Assad, an Alawite. *******/Stringer

Sunni Muslim gunmen take position at the Sunni Muslim dominant neighbourhood of Bab al-Tebbaneh in Tripoli, northern Lebanon, during clashes with Alawites, August 21, 2012. At least 22 people were wounded in overnight clashes between Sunni Muslims and Alawites in Lebanon's northern city of Tripoli in another spill-over from the war in neighbouring Syria, security and medical sources said on Tuesday. *******/Omar Ibrahim

Sunni gunmen sit in the middle of a street where clashes erupted between supporters and opponents of the Syrian regime, in the northern port city of Tripoli, Lebanon, Tuesday, Aug. 21, 2012. The civil war in Syria has been spilling across the border, security officials said clashes between supporters and opponents of President Bashar Assad have left two dead and as many as 45 wounded. The army said the injured include nine Lebanese soldiers. (AP Photo)

Anti-Damascus regime supporters gather in the Bab al-Tabbaneh neighbourhood in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli following clashes between pro- and anti-Syrian regime supporters on August 21, 2012. Clashes erupted days after a wave of kidnappings targeting Syrians in Lebanon, in a new sign that violence in neighbouring Syria is exacerbating tensions in the small Mediterranean country. AFP PHOTO/STR

**He219** · 08-21-2012

Nice pix, Dave76!

Army Secretary John McHugh speaks to reporters at U.S. Army Pacific headquarters at Fort Shafter, Hawaii on Monday, Aug. 20, 2012. An Australian two-star general will become a deputy commander of U.S. Army Pacific, which oversees more than 60,000 American soldiers in the Asia-Pacific region, McHugh said.

Members of the public take time to look at guns on display at the Zimbabwe National Army Stand, during the Harare Agriculture Show in Harare, Zimbabwe, Monday, August, 20, 2012. The show which is an annual event will be officially opened by the Prime Minister of Lesotho, Tom Motsoahe Thabane on Friday.

A young girl fires a gun under the watchful eye of a soldier at the Zimbabwe National Army Stand, during the Harare Agriculture Show in Harare, Zimbabwe, Monday, Aug. 20, 2012. The show, which is an annual event, will be officially opened by the Prime Minister of Lesotho, Tom Motsoahe Thabane on Friday.

Four rebel fighters are positioned near the military airport near the northern town of Azaz August 21, 2012. Rebels say forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad have retreated to the airport and they attack it daily.

Lebanese security forces sit atop a tank as they take position in the northern city of Tripoli following clashes between pro- and anti-Syrian regime supporters on August 21, 2012. Clashes erupted days after a wave of kidnappings targeting Syrians in Lebanon, in a new sign that violence in neighbouring Syria is exacerbating tensions in the small Mediterranean country.

Sunni Muslim gunmen fire their weapons at the Sunni Muslim dominant neighbourhood of Bab al-Tebbaneh in Tripoli, northern Lebanon, during clashes with Alawites, August 21, 2012. At least 22 people were wounded in overnight clashes between Sunni Muslims and Alawites in Lebanon's northern city of Tripoli in another spill-over from the war in neighbouring Syria, security and medical sources said on Tuesday.

In this Monday, July 23, 2012 photo, security personnel guard a hotel where ethnic Circassian refugees from Syria stay at in Nalchik, Russia. Some 340 ethnic Circassians from Syria have come to Russia's Caucasus region this year. Czarist troops and Cossacks expelled hundreds of thousands of Circassians in the 1860s in what some historians call a genocide and an ethnic cleansing.

Damaged cars are seen after a suicide bomb attack in the Malgobek district in the north of Ingushetia, in this still image taken from video August 19, 2012. Seven policemen were killed and 11 wounded when the suicide bomber attacked a wake being held on Sunday for a fellow officer shot a day earlier in the Malgobek district in the north of Ingushetia, Russian news agencies reported.

A Russian-made Beriev Be-200ChS amphibious aircraft, owned by the Siberian Regional Centre of the Russian Emergencies Ministry, dumps some 12 tons of coloured water matching the Russian state flag during a demonstration flight at an air show dedicated to the Day of the Russian Air Fleet at the Yemelyanovo airport outside Krasnoyarsk August 18, 2012.

Prominent anti-corruption blogger and opposition leader Alexei Navalny (2nd L) and deputy of the Just Russia party Dmitry Gudkov (L) lay flowers at the monument to the three victims of the 1991 coup to mark the 21th anniversary of the August Putsch in central Moscow, August 19, 2012. The hardline putsch intended to halt president Mikhail Gorbachev's reforms paved the way for the collapse of the communist party, the end of the Soviet Union and the creation of the present-day Russian state.

A Moscow court today handed a two-year jail sentence to the three feminist punk rockers who infuriated the Kremlin and captured world attention by ridiculing President Vladimir Putin in Russia's main church. Various leaders of the European Union called the Russian court's sentencing excessive and disproportionate.

Police detain a supporter of the female punk band "Pussy Riot" members for violation of law and order outside a court building in Moscow, August 17, 2012. Three women from Russian punk band Pussy Riot were sentenced to two years in jail on Friday for their protest against President Vladimir Putin in a church, an outcome supporters described as the Kremlin leader's "personal revenge".

Hooded demonstrators stage a protest in solidarity with the Russian punk bank Pussy Riot on the tower of the Grossmuenster cathedral in Zurich, Switzerland, Monday, Aug. 20, 2012. A Russian judge found three members of the provocative punk band guilty of hooliganism on Friday, in one of the most closely watched cases in recent Russian history.

**bd popeye** · 08-21-2012

Excellent pix He219..

My contribution...

GULF OF ADEN (Aug. 16, 2012) A landing craft air cushion prepares to enter the well deck aboard the amphibious transport dock ship USS New York (LPD 21) during amphibious operations. New York, with the embarked 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, is part of the Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group deployed in support of maritime security operations and theater security cooperation efforts in the U.S. 5th Fleet area of responsibility. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Zane Ecklund/Released)

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Today's Pix - Tuesday, August 21st, 2012

Operation NANOOK 2012

EOD technicians from various countries participate in Tricrab 2012

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