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.