FRIDAY FOTO (May 15, 2020)

Things Are Different Today.

(U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Corporal Shane T. Beaubien)

Marines with the 3rd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division prepare a M252 81mm Medium Weight Mortar at Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center, Twentynine Palms, California on April 17.

The Marines and everybody else  in the services is under orders now, if you can’t maintain a social distance of six feet in the Era of COVID-19 — wear proper face protection.

(Marine Corps photo by Corporal Kameron Herndon

Different everywhere.

Marine Corps Lance Corporal Faith Rose sights in on a target during training at Camp Hansen, Okinawa, Japan on May 6, 2020 — with face mask.

So those of you out there who think it’s inconvenient, stupid or not cool to wear a protective mask: Tell it to the Marines.

 

FRIDAY FOTO Extra (June 22, 2012)

OK, OK Class Dismissed!

(U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Shawn Rhodes)

Now here’s something you don’t see every day on a Defense Department website. We can’t look at this photo without hearing Alice Cooper’s School’s Out anthem ringing in our ears.

All kidding aside, this is a photo of students of the Air Force Rifle/Carbine Qualification Course at MacDill Air Force Base in Florida adjusting their M-4 carbines and M-16 rifles so that they can sight in with gas masks.

The new course, which was introduced last August, focuses on firing while moving, target recognition, and operating in a chemical warfare environment. (No kidding!). The idea is to give Airmen the skills they need to survive a firefight if deployed overseas — especially in close quarters combat in urban areas. Any Airmen whose job requires them to qualify with a weapon – even reservists – will have to complete what the Air Force says is the most in-depth basic firearms training course in the entire U.S. military.

You can tell this is a military classroom. Look how clean the desks are. Like new!

To see an Air Force video of the training click here.