A Virginia Army National Guard aviation crew from the Sandston-based 2nd Battalion, 224th Aviation Regiment delivers food, mail and medicine Feb. 19, 2015, to iced-in Tangier Island, Va. The 1.2 square mile island has been iced in since freezing temperatures blanketed the commonwealth last week, making routine seaport deliveries impossible. The state active duty mission was authorized by Governor Terry McAullife's Declaration of Emergency issued on Monday and coordinated by the Virginia Department of Emergency Management with Maryland public safety officials and the United States Coast Guard. The aviators first picked up Accomack County personnel to help move the needed cargo, then flew to Chrisfield, Md. to pick up the supplies before heading to Tangier Island where the aircraft and cargo were met by residents of island. (Photo by Staff Sgt. Terra C. Gatti, Virginia Guard Public Affairs)In 2¡ weather, Iwo Jima veterans honored the 70th anniversary of the Battle of Iwo Jima, one of the bloodiest battles in our history, with a wreath laying ceremony at the Marine Corps War Memorial.
(U.S. Marine Corps photos by Cpl. Clayton Filipowicz and Lance Cpl. Remington Hall/Released)Defense Secretary Ash Carter, right, hugs Marine Gen. John Paxton, Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps, as he prepares to speak to Pentagon staff during an all hands townhall meeting in Pentagon auditorium, Thursday, Feb. 19, 2015. Carter was sworn in Tuesday replacing Chuck Hagel. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)Lance Cpl. Dakota Woodward, from Brandon, Florida, drinks cobra blood Feb. 8 during exercise Cobra Gold 2015. The Royal Thai Marines showed U.S. Marines various jungle survival methods. Drinking snake blood is used as a last resort in case there is nothing else to drink. Woodward is a distribution management specialist with Combat Logistics Regiment 35, 3rd Marine Logistics Group, III Marine Expeditionary Force. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Isaac Ibarra/Released)150219-N-KE519-270 SASEBO, Japan (Feb. 19, 2015) - Rear Adm. Hugh Wetherald, commander, Amphibious Forces 7th Fleet, is piped aboard the forward deployed San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock ship USS Green Bay (LPD 20) after the ship's arrival in Sasebo. Green Bay is replacing the decommissioned Austin-class amphibious transport dock ship USS Denver (LPD 9), previously forward-deployed to Sasebo, and will enhance amphibious presence in the U.S. 7th Fleet as part of the U.S. Navy's long-range plan to send the most advanced and capable units to the Asia-Pacific region. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Edward Guttierrez III/Released)Explosive ordnance Airmen from the 628th Civil Engineer Squadron set off ground burst simulators Feb. 11, 2015 at North Auxiliary Airfield, S.C, during an Ability to Survive and Operate Exercise. The ATSO exercise is an annual event designed to test the ability of Air Force combat camera Airmen to survive, operate and provide imagery in an austere environment. Combat camera Airmen document a full range of military operations in support of senior leaders and combatant commanders. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Jared Trimarchi)A U.S. Marine with Company F, Battalion Landing Team 2nd Battalion, 4th Marines, 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), rappels off an MV-22B Osprey belonging to Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 262 (Reinforced), 31st MEU, on the USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6), at sea, Feb. 18, 2015. The Marines of the 31st MEU are currently conducting their annual Spring Patrol of the Asia-Pacific region. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Richard Currier/ Released)Robert Jones, former Navy pilot with then Attack Squadron (VA) 146, takes a picture of the wreckage of his FJ-4B Fury at Rancho Guejito in Escondido, Calif., Feb. 5. Jones ejected from the plane in 1957 with no knowledge of where it crashed until it was discovered at the ranch.Marines with the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit and sailors aboard amphibious transport dock ship USS San Diego (LPD-22) man the rails as the San Diego departs from Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, Feb. 18. The 11th MEU is deployed with Makin Island Amphibious Ready Group as a theater reserve and crisis response force throughout the U.S. 3rd Fleet area of responsibility. (U.S. Marine Corps photos by Gunnery Sgt. Rome M. Lazarus/Released)Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, shakes hands with Texas A&M University alumni in College Station, Texas, Feb. 18, 2015.
DoD photo by D. Myles Cullen
