Checking In With Our Troops

CHOPPER UPKEEP — U.S. Army Spc. Alan Palancle (left) and Pfc. Matthew Kearl make repairs to the infrared sensor of a Black Hawk helicopter nicknamed “Dr. Beatdown” in Balad, Iraq. U.S. Army photo by Master Sgt. Michele R. Hammonds

Fill ‘er up – A KC-135 Stratotanker from Grissom Air Reserve Base, Ind., refuels an F-16 Fighting Falcon from Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska, over the Pacific Alaska Range Complex during Red Flag-Alaska July 16. Red Flag-Alaska is a multinational air combat training exercise. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Shawn J. Jones)

13th Marine Expeditionary Unit, splash through the shallow water on the edge of Lake Thar Thar in the Al Anbar Province of Iraq prior to conducting cordon and search operations.(Official USMC photo by Corporal Kyle J. Keathley)