THE FRIDAY FOTO (April 26, 2024)

TWO JEEPS, NO WAITING.

(U.S. Marine Corps photo by Corporal Gideon M. Schippers) Click of photo to enlarge the image.

This has got be the aerial equivalent of chewing gum while walking and juggling knives.

Here is a U.S. Marine Corps CH-53E Super Stallion helicopter, engaged in an air-to-air refueling training exercise — while lugging a couple of ground vehicles. You can see that this mid-air ballet involves another aircraft, note wing at top of the photo and fuel line back to the aerial refueling tanker.

The exercise is part of Weapons and Tactics Instructor (WTI) course 2-24, near Yuma, Arizona on March 29, 2024. WTI is an advanced graduate-level course that provides advanced tactical training to enhance and employ advanced air weapons and tactics.

The crew in this photo is assigned to Marine Aviation Weapons and Tactics Squadron One, which provides standardized advanced tactical training and certification of unit instructor qualifications in order to support Marine Aviation training and readiness. A three-minute video (click here to view) shows what they do and how they do it.