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Today’s Photo of the Day is also the Top Corps Shot from the Marines’ Facebook page. MC2 Gragg said he had never seen a helo so close to the water. Tremendous downdrafts come from the rotor blades forcing water from the surface to swirl and spray. Gragg had to underexpose the photo just so the helo and boat could be seen through the water cloud. “As a photographer, it’s always a great feeling to be able to capture the moments that people may have had trouble seeing in real-time,” Gragg said.

Marines assigned to the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit conduct insertion exercises from a CH-53E Super Stallion helicopter into a combat rubber raiding craft. The 11th MEU is embarked aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Makin Island, deployed supporting maritime security operations and theater security cooperation efforts in the U.S. 5th Fleet area of responsibility. Photo by Mass Communications Specialist 2nd Class Alan Gragg

The Army is the only military service that specializes in Medical Evacuations (MEDEVAC). While other services will also extract wounded, they don’t have dedicated choppers to just provide medical evacuation. Army MEDEVACS are equipped with life-saving equipment and personal specially trained to stabilize casualties en route to combat hospitals. That’s not to say that other services’ platforms, like the Air Forces Pedro crews, can’t provide first aid and valuable life-saving assistance, but their capabilities aren’t as robust as Army’s.

Afghan Local Police and members of coalition special operations forces load an ALP member needing medical care onto an MH-60 Blackhawk helicopter during a medical evacuation in Shah Joy district, Zabul province, Afghanistan, Jan. 27. Helicopters provide the fastest way to transport personnel with medical needs from rural areas of Afghanistan to medical facilities located at larger coalition bases.

This post is my personal opinion and not representative of the Army, the Department of Defense, The United States Government, the 82nd Airborne Division, the 3rd Infantry Division, III Corps, the 101st Airborne Division, the 504th Battlefield Surveillance Brigade, the 511th MI Company, the School of the Americas, ISAF, RC(S), RC(E), RC(N), RC(W), CENTCOM, TRADOC, FORSCOM, Recruiting Command, The United States Marine Corps, the United States Air Force, the United States Navy, The United States Coast Guard, The Boy Scouts of America, the Department of Education, or any other unit, department, office, Section, squad, platoon, company battalion, brigade, division, Corps, any branch of service, rank, MOS, or any other segment of official military or government, real or imagined.

A Navy corpsman with Company A, 1st Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, greets a patient during a medical initiative at Patrol Base Florida. The initiative was aimed at providing the civilian populace with an opportunity to receive diagnosis, assistance and guidance from health care professionals, and served to bolster the community’s confidence in their local doctor. For more information see Medical initiative brings hope to isolated communities.

This post is my personal opinion and not representative of the Army, the Department of Defense, The United States Government, the 82nd Airborne Division, the 3rd Infantry Division, III Corps, the 101st Airborne Division, the 504th Battlefield Surveillance Brigade, the 511th MI Company, the School of the Americas, ISAF, RC(S), RC(E), RC(N), RC(W), CENTCOM, TRADOC, FORSCOM, Recruiting Command, The United States Marine Corps, the United States Air Force, the United States Navy, The United States Coast Guard, The Boy Scouts of America, the Department of Education, or any other unit, department, office, Section, squad, platoon, company battalion, brigade, division, Corps, any branch of service, rank, MOS, or any other segment of official military or government, real or imagined.

Since I wrote about the potential elimination of 5 A-10 squadrons earlier, I wanted to come clean and show some of the love I have for the plane. Yes all of these are and have been on my computer as part of my desktop wallpaper and screensaver rotation.

They are just too good not to share.

I love the sound of jet fighters in the morning. JUST NOT AT 0200 IN THE MORNING!! Living on an airbase has it’s ups and downs. Among the downs is having your entire chu shaken to the core and ripping you out of a dead sleep (when it comes) thinking the world is ending. I’m still not sure why afterburners are needed to takeoff from a nearly 2-mile runway, but I guess that’s the sound of freedom. I’m just glad I don’t live in a mud hut nearby. Otherwise, I’d probably be living ON a mud hut.

This is another picture I think is pretty cool. SSG Joseph Harwood did an awesome job with positioning the F-15 perfectly with the lights behind it.

A U.S. Air Force F-15E Strike Eagle receives early morning maintenance, Bagram Air Field, Afghanistan, January 28, 2012. The aircraft is deployed here to support coalition forces providing close air support. These maintainers and this aircraft are deployed from Seymour Johnson AFB, S.C. One Seymour Johnson aircraft just reached 10000 hours in combat.

This post is my personal opinion and not representative of the Army, the Department of Defense, The United States Government, the 82nd Airborne Division, the 3rd Infantry Division, III Corps, the 101st Airborne Division, the 504th Battlefield Surveillance Brigade, the 511th MI Company, the School of the Americas, ISAF, RC(S), RC(E), RC(N), RC(W), CENTCOM, TRADOC, FORSCOM, Recruiting Command, The United States Marine Corps, the United States Air Force, the United States Navy, The United States Coast Guard, The Boy Scouts of America, the Department of Education, or any other unit, department, office, Section, squad, platoon, company battalion, brigade, division, Corps, any branch of service, rank, MOS, or any other segment of official military or government, real or imagined.

If I were to show you this picture without explanation and ask you what you’re looking at, what would you say? Odds are, you’d think this was a photo of a Taliban insurgent. The sad part is that you COULD be right. But, this picture is of an Afghan Local Police officer. This is the difficulty that our troops face here in Afghanistan. It’s a dangerous prospect if we see this guy and we’re wrong about him.

One of the things we’re trying to instill in the Afghan people is a sense of the rule of law of land warfare. Uniforms display a certain level of professionalism and, with experience and history, will instill in the populace trust and confidence.

Other than that, this is just a cool picture from PO1 Matthew Leistikow.

An Afghan Local Police member patrols a checkpoint in Kajran district, Daykundi province, Afghanistan, Jan. 27. Afghan National Army Special Forces soldiers and coalition special operations forces visited checkpoints throughout the district to assess security in the area.

This post is my personal opinion and not representative of the Army, the Department of Defense, The United States Government, the 82nd Airborne Division, the 3rd Infantry Division, III Corps, the 101st Airborne Division, the 504th Battlefield Surveillance Brigade, the 511th MI Company, the School of the Americas, ISAF, RC(S), RC(E), RC(N), RC(W), CENTCOM, TRADOC, FORSCOM, Recruiting Command, The United States Marine Corps, the United States Air Force, the United States Navy, The United States Coast Guard, The Boy Scouts of America, the Department of Education, or any other unit, department, office, Section, squad, platoon, company battalion, brigade, division, Corps, any branch of service, rank, MOS, or any other segment of official military or government, real or imagined.