FRIDAY FOTO Extra (February 15, 2013)

The Best Valentine’s Day

U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Erik Anderson

Rosalyn Cisneros gives her father, Army Specialist Jose Cisneros, a hug inside Freedom Hall at Fort Benning, Georgia yesterday ( Feb. 14). Cisneros was among  300 soldiers with the 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division who returned from a nine-month deployment to Kuwait in time to celebrate Valentine’s Day with loved ones

FRIDAY FOTO (February 15, 2013)

Boom in a Box

Defense Department photo by Glenn Fawcet

U.S. soldiers stand beside a Patriot anti-missile missile battery awaiting the arrival of U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton Carter who was visiting a Turkish army base in Gaziantep, Turkey, last week (Feb. 4).

Two PAC-3 Patriot anti-missile systems and about 400 U.S. personnel to operate them began providing missile defense along Turkey’s southwestern border with Syria since late January. Other missile defense batteries are being provided by the Netherlands and Germany. They along with the United States and Turkey are all NATO members.

NATO foreign ministers agreed in late November to Turkey’s request for the air defense support. The request came after shells from Syria’s political unrest -– which a recent United Nations report estimated has claimed 60,000 lives — spilled into Turkey.

And no, those aren’t packing crates for the missiles in the photo. Those “boxes” are actually part of the launch system.

To see more photos of the Patriots and Carter’s visit to Turkey — including the U.S. embassy damaged by a terrorist suicide bomber, click here.