FRIDAY FOTO (January 29, 2020)

Snow Revel.

(U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Sergio A. Gamboa)

A U.S. Air Force crew chief enjoys the snow at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona, on January 26, 2021. The Air Force Base is located about five miles outside Tucson so it’s pretty far south. The last time it snowed at Davis-Monthan was approximately two years ago, so the snow was a surprise for maintainers working the flightline.

Davis-Monthan is home to the 355th Wing, which includes the 355th Fighter Group, consisting of 4GWAR’s favorite Air Force jet — the A-10 Lightning II, better known as the warthog, for it’s unusual appearance and rugged reputation as a flying tank.

FRIDAY FOTO (January 22, 2021)

…Until the Paperwork’s Done.

(U.S. National Guard photo by Sergeant Chazz Kibler)

Soldiers in the Maryland Army National Guard use the backs of the soldiers in front of them to fill out medical paperwork to receive the COVID-19 vaccine at the U.S. Capitol Complex in Washington, D.C., on January 14, 2021.

National Guard Soldiers and Airmen from all 50 states states traveled to the District to provide support to federal and district authorities leading up to the 59th Presidential Inauguration on January 20 of Joseph R. Biden as the 46th president.

More than 26,000 members of the National Guard were on the ground in Washington to assist D.C. and federal authorities through the inauguration festivities. In addition, 6,565 Guard members provided security at state capitals across the nation.

Maryland was among the 50 states, three territories and the District of Columbia to deploy Guardsmen and women in Washington, according to the National Guard Bureau. A platoon-sized element of approximately 30 Soldiers from Guam flew  7,900 miles to Washington to assist in the operation.

The Guard has supported presidential inaugurations since 1789 when local militia units took part in George Washington’s inaugural events in New York City. But this year’s inaugural assistance was the “most extensive ever,” the Bureau said.

FRIDAY FOTO (January 15, 2021)

Rock’em, Sock’em Recruits.

(U.S. Marine Corps Photos By Gunnery Sergeant Tyler Hlavac)

Recruits with Papa Company, 4th Recruit Training Battalion, engage pugil sticks at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, South Carolina on January 11, 2021. Body sparring and pugil sticks help recruits apply the fundamentals of the Marine Corps Martial Arts Program.

Notice not only are those recruits waiting to participate, wearing masks, but so are the combatants. If they can do it under such strenuous conditions, you can to when you go out and can’t keep six feet away from other people. We guess the referee had to pull his mask down to blow the whistle.

According to the website MafrineCorpsParents.com, a pugil stick is a heavily padded training weapon used by military personnel for bayonet training since the 1930s or 1940s. Similar to a quarterstaff, the pugil stick may be marked at one end to indicate which portion represents the bayonet proper and which the butt of the rifle.

Pugil bouts are usually conducted with hard contact while wearing protective gear such as football helmets, flak jackets, groin protectors, and gloves. Many recruits have never experienced the realities of inter-personal violence found in close combat, and pugil sticks provide effective, but safe, “full contact” combative training at the entry level. It is also an effective tool for enhancing the endurance and improvisation that are building blocks to developing the physical skills and mental toughness vital to success on the battlefield.

To see a 5 minute video of what this training looks like, click here. Also, click on the photo itself to enlarge the image.

FRIDAY FOTO (January 8, 2021)

Sunup or Sundown?

(U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Jason Waite)

We don’t know if this photo was taken at the end of a day or the beginning. What we do know is that it shows Sailors lowering a pilot ladder from the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS John Finn on December 17, 2020. The John Finn is conducting routine operations with the Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group in the U.S. Third Fleet‘s area of operations — the Eastern Pacific Ocean from Alaska to the Antarctic.

With all the “stuff” that’s been going on for the last few days, we thought 4GWAR FRIDAY FOTO visitors might enjoy a calm, quiet moment at sea.

FRIDAY FOTO (January 1, 2021)

Hard Core, Old School.

(U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sergeant Michael Washburn)

The U.S. Air Force isn’t just about jets, missiles and drones. It’s about the power of human strength and intelligence, too.

The red berets these airmen are wearing means they are part of Air Force Special Operations — combat controllers and tactical air control party members, who wear scarlet berets and pararescuemen, who wear maroon ones — in short, commandos.  They fly, parachute or chopper into hostile environments — often behind enemy lines — to pave the way for other troops and aircraft operations.

And this is not a photo of ordinary morning PT exercises. Instead, it shows Staff Sergeant Alaxey Germanovich, a combat controller with the 26th Special Tactics Squadron, leading Air Force and Army special operators in pushups following a ceremony where he received the Air Force Cross, a heroism award second only to the Medal of Honor.

Air Force Secretary Barbara Barrett, presented the Air Force Cross to Germanovich during a December 10, 2020 ceremony at Cannon Air Force Base, in New Mexico.

Germanovich was cited for his actions as the air-to-ground liaison for his special ops team during a fierce 2017 firefight in Nangarhar Province, Afghanistan. His efforts were credited with saving over 150 friendly forces and destroying 11 separate fighting positions. After the award ceremony, Germanovich led the troops in pushups to commemorate the event, the firefight and the ultimate sacrifice paid during the clash by Army Staff Sergeant Mark De Alencar, a Special Forces Soldier assigned to the team in which the combat controller was also embedded.