FRIDAY FOTO Extra (April 18, 2014)

Hitting the Beach

(U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Matthew Manning)

Like a scene out of Saving Private Ryan or The Pacific, U.S. and South Korean Marines make for shore during Exercise Ssang Yong 2014 at Dokseok-ri Beach in Pohang, Republic of Korea  (ROK).

The cloudy brown bursts above the water are simulated artillery fire from the beach defenders while the white smoke is being generated as a screen by the marines’ amphibious assault vehicles (AAVs).  Ssang Yong, which stands for ‘Twin Dragons,” measures the amphibious capabilities of the South Korea-U.S. Navy-U.S. Marine Corps team.

For the exercise, both the ROK and U.S. AAVs were commanded by the 3rd Marine Expeditionary Brigade (MEB) III Marine Expeditionary Force.

Click on the photo above to see an enlarged and more detailed version of this image. To see more photos of this beach assault exercise, click here and here.

 

 

FRIDAY FOTO (April 18, 2014)

For Purple Mountain Majesties.

(Photo by U.S. Army Capt. John Landry 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division Public Affairs)

A soldier with the 3rd Brigade Combat Team of the 10th Mountain Division provides security during a live fire exercise at Forward Operating Base Thunder near the Hindu Kush mountain range in Afghanistan’s Paktia province.

To see a photo essay of the live fire exercise, click here.

Don’t forget to click on the photo to see a bigger, sharper image.