FRIDAY FOTO (NOVEMBER 18, 2022)

BEGINNING THE NIGHT SHIFT.

(U.S. Air Force photo by Technical Sergeant Dhruv Gopinath) 

A U.S. Air Force pilot  performs preflight checks on an F-15E Strike Eagle prior to night flying exercises at Royal Air Force Lakenheath, England on November 9, 2022.

An array of avionics and electronics systems gives the  F-15E has the capability to fight at low altitude, day or night and in all weather.

The pilot is assigned to the 492nd Fighter Squadron, nicknamed “the Bolars” and “the Madhatters”, is part of the 48th Fighter Wing at RAF Lakenheath.

FRIDAY FOTO: Christmas Edition (December 24, 2021)

SEASONS GREETINGS! 

For the Christmas version of the FRIDAY FOTO, we thought we show a range of holiday activities among the troops around the world. Please click on each photo to enlarge the image — and have a happy, safe holiday whichever way you celebrate the season!

The Santa Cause

For one thing, Santa Claus — or one of his lookalike helpers — seems to show up in some of the strangest places this time of year, like the wing of a fighter jet.

(U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Jacob Wood)

Santa waves to onlookers during the 48th Fighter Wing Children’s Holiday Party at Royal Air Force Lakenheath, England, on December 11, 2021. Santa made his grand entrance in an F-15E Strike Eagle assigned to the 494th Fighter Squadron. 

 

(U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Corporal Antonino Mazzamuto)

A UH-1Y Huey assigned to Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 167 (HMLA-167) transports Santa Claus to Marine Corps Air Station New River, North Carolina, for a squadron party on December 16, 2021.

 

(U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Brandon Roberson)

Attired in a Santa suit, Lieutenant Commander Rob Nelson, assigned to the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77), launches a T-45C Goshawk aircraft assigned to Training Air Wing (TW) 1, on December 18, 2021.

The Chief of Naval Air Training is conducting a carrier qualification detachment aboard the carrier. It’s the first opportunity for student naval aviators from Training Air Wings 1 and 2 to launch from and land on an aircraft carrier at sea.

 

Sedate Santas

(U.S. Navy Photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Brianna K. Green)

Santa Claus, Mrs. Claus and Jingle the Elf appear with the U.S. Naval Forces Europe-Africa Brass Quintet Band during a holiday-themed community relations event in Naples, Italy on December 17, 2021.

 

(U.S. Marine Corps photo by Staff Sgt. Kelsey Dornfeld)

U.S. Marine Corps Sergeant Joshua Purrington of the 4th Law Enforcement Battalion talks with a child who just got her present at a Toys for Tots event in McGrath, Alaska, on December 3, 2021.  Marines and Airmen traveled to remote villages of Alaska’s Kuskokwim Valley to support the Marine Corps Reserve’s Toys for Tots program.

 

Speaking of Gift Giving

Soldiers from the U.S. Army Garrison Humphreys Religious Support Office check their lists twice as they load gifts for military and South Korean children into a delivery vehicle for Operation Happy Holidays on December 20, 2021.

(Photo courtesy of Chaplain (Maj.) Christian Bang) (Photo Credit: U.S. Army)

 

(U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Corporal Samwel Tabancay)

Lieutenant General David G. Bellon, commander of Marine Forces Reserve and Marine Forces South, joins a Toys for Tots distribution in New Orleans on December 18, 2021. MARFORRES Marines and Sailors assisted in the distribution of toys to approximately 2,000 families as a part of the annual Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots Program.

Making Merry

(U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Miranda Mahoney)

Air Commandos gather around the tree during the annual tree lighting ceremony at Hurlburt Field, a U.S. Air Force facility in Florida on December 3, 2021. The ceremony was virtual in 2020, but due to declining COVID-19 numbers, the event was held in-person again this year.

FRIDAY FOTO (November 27, 2015)

Up Close and Very Personal.

U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Kate Thornton

A KC-135 Stratotanker refuels an F-15E Strike Eagle over the northern Mediterranean Sea.

As you might suspect from the logo on the refueling drogue, this Stratotanker is assigned to the 100th Air Refueling Wing, the U.S. military’s only permanently assigned air refueling operation in the European theater. The Strike Eagle is assigned to the 48th Fighter Wing.

Both air wings while deployed to Incirlik Air Base, Turkey, will be supporting Operation Inherent Resolve , the U.S. led air campaign over Iraq and Syria to degrade and defeat the self-proclaimed Islamic State — also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) or Daesh.

FRIDAY FOTO: May 8, 2015

Jet Wash.

(U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sergeant Marleah Robertson)

Ever wonder how you clean a multi-million dollar U.S. Air Force jet? Well, here’s how. Lieutenant Colonel Christine Mau, deputy commander of the 33rd Operations Group, navigates her F-35A Joint Strike Fighter through the “bird bath” after returning from her first flight at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida earlier this week.

But wait, there’s a bigger story. The colonel, who previously flew F-15E Strike Eagles, made history as the first female pilot in the latest American fighter program.

(U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sergeant Marleah Robertson) 

Here’s a photo of Lieutenant Colonel Mau readying for her first flight in the Air Force variant of the multi-role fighter on May 5. Click on the photo to enlarge the image.

FRIDAY FOTO (June 13, 2014)

Gathering of Eagles.

U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman John Nieves Camacho

A flight of U.S. Air Force F-15E Strike Eagle fighter jets from the 4th Fighter Wing accompany their commander,  Col. Jeannie Leavitt, (middle airplane) on her final flight May 29, 2014, over North Carolina.

Leavitt left Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, where she commanded the 4th Fighter Wing, for a Pentagon assignment as the principal military assistant to Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel.

Leavitt became the first Air Force female fighter pilot in 1993, and the first female wing commander in 2012. She recorded more than 2,600 flying hours in the F-15E. In 1993, the Defense Department changed its rules, allowing women to serve as combat pilots. She was deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The photo above was taken from a KC-135 aerial refueling tanker.

Co. Leavitt speaking in 2012 at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, N.C.
(U.S. Air Force photo by Technical Sergeant Colette Graham)