Col. Charles Henderson, 621st Contingency Response Wing commander, high-fives Tech. Sgt. Scott Carlson, 621st Contingency Response Squadron defender October 6, 2016 at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J. Henderson was present to support more than 30 members of the 621st CRW on their way to Port-au-Prince, Haiti in response to Hurricane Matthew, October 6, 2016. Once on the ground, the CRW will provide assistance by facilitating the movement of humanitarian aid and cargo. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Zachary Martyn/Released)

CONTINGENCY OPERATING SITE WARRIOR, Iraq – “Golden Lions” of the expanded Combined Security Force conduct a checkpoint defense exercise under the supervision and assistance of Company D, 2nd Battalion, 12th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Advise and Assist Task Force, 1st Infantry Division, at Checkpoint K6, Kirkuk, Iraq, July 27, 2011. “The (eCSF) were very enthusiastic and motivated and quick to learn,” said 2nd Lt. Bruce Ramos, an infantryman from Tampa, Fla. “They’re ready and prepared to take responsibility for their city’s security and welfare. From day one until now, they have shown nothing but improvement in their techniques and tactics.”.

(U.S. Army photo by Sgt. 1st Class Benito Flores Jr., 2nd Bn., 12th Cav. Regt., 1st AATF, 1st Inf. Div., USD-N)

CONTINGENCY OPERATING BASE SPEICHER, Iraq –

Specialist James Hubbard, petroleum supply specialist, Company E, 1st Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Advise and Assist Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, from Arab, Ala.:

“Staying in battle buddy teams is too easy. Most of the time, your battle buddy is a friend and you want somebody to hang out with anyway.”

(U.S. Army photo by Spc. Andrew Ingram, USD – N PAO)

Interracial Romance Novel

U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Rick Moore, 353rd Special Operations Maintenance Squadron productions superintendent, performs a pre-flight inspection on a C-130J Super Hercules from Kadena Air Force Base, Japan, during Red Flag-Alaska 18-3 at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, Aug. 13, 2018. RF-A serves as an ideal platform for international engagement and the exercise has a long history of including allies and partners, ultimately enabling all involved to exchange tactics, techniques and procedures while improving interoperability. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Curt Beach)

Airmen from the Kentucky Air Guard’s 123rd Contingency Response Group secure a forklift onto a Tennessee Air Guard C-17 at the Kentucky Air National Guard Base in Louisville, Ky., Aug. 29, 2017 in preparation for Hurricane Harvey rescue efforts in Texas. More than 40 Airmen from the Kentucky and Mississippi Air National Guard are deploying to George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, where they will rapidly establish airfield, aeromedical evacuation and cargo operations. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Master Sgt. Phil Speck)

U.S. Air Force Airmen from the 36th Contingency Response Group and the 36th Airlift Squadron, offload a container from a C-130 Hercules during a humanitarian assistance and disaster relief training event at exercise Cope North 15 at Rota, Northern Mariana Islands, Feb. 15, 2015. Exercise Cope North 15 enhances humanitarian assistance and disaster relief crisis response capabilities between six nations and lays the foundation for regional cooperation expansion during real-world contingencies in the Asia-Pacific Region. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Jason Robertson/Released)

CONTINGENCY OPERATING SITE MAREZ, Iraq - American illusionist David Blaine performs a card trick for Soldiers assigned to 4th Advise and Assist Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, at Contingency Operating Site Marez, Iraq, Aug. 1, 2011. Blaine and retired professional basketball player Karl Malone accompanied Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen as he spoke with deployed Fort Hood troops in northern Iraq. In addition to performing card tricks, Blaine took pictures and handed autographed event flyers to the troopers.

(U.S. Army photo by Spc. Terence Ewings, 4th AAB PAO, 1st Cav. Div., USD-N)

U.S. Army Africa Commander Maj. Gen. Patrick J. Donahue II awards the Army Commendation Medal to Army Lt. Col. Jennifer Walkawicz, Monday, May 13.

Donahue recognized a group of military personal who supported U.S. Army Africa operations from Feb. 19 to May 10. According to the citiation, their exceptional leadership, planning ability and expertise was invaluable to the successes of USARAF. In doing so, the command met or exceeded all requirements in sychonizing Department of Defense efforts in Mali. (U.S. Army Africa photo by Sgt. 1st Class Wil Patterson)

To learn more about U.S. Army Africa visit our official website at www.usaraf.army.mil

Join the U.S. Army Africa conversation on Facebook: www.facebook.com/ArmyAfrica

CONTINGENCY OPERATING BASE SPEICHER, Iraq – Jose Flores, a lab technician at the Contingency Operating Base Speicher Waste Department who calls Bellmore, N.Y., home, sings “His Eye is on the Sparrow” during a talent show at the Contingency Operating Base Speicher Morale, Welfare and Recreation Center in Salah ad Din province, Iraq, July 22, 2011. Flores took first place in the competition after a standing ovation from the audience.

(U.S. Army photo by Spc. Andrew Ingram, USD – N PAO)

Virginia National Guard Soldiers from the Virginia Beach-based 1940th and 1945th Contingency Contracting Teams participate in a six-day, joint, multi-state, contracting exercise Nov. 15, 2013, at Camp Pendleton, Va. The exercise, Vital Pledge, also includes Air and Army Guard personnel in Maine, Minnesota and South Dakota, as well as civilians from the Defense Logistics Agency. In addition to improving the Soldiers’ and Airmen’s familiarity with contracting systems and equipment, the exercise served to help prepare the four Soldiers of the 1945 CCT for their upcoming deployment to Afghanistan in early 2014. (Photo by Master Sgt. A.J. Coyne, Virginia Guard Public Affairs)

U.S. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Brian Leach, an aerial porter from the Kentucky Air National Guard’s 123rd Contingency Response Group, directs the positioning of a forklift to offload pallets of humanitarian aid from a Halverson cargo-handling vehicle at Léopold Sédar Senghor International Airport in Dakar, Senegal, Nov. 12, 2014. The cargo will be staged in Senegal before being transloaded to U.S. Air Force C-130J aircraft for delivery into Monrovia, Liberia, in support of Operation United Assistance, the U.S. Agency for International Development-led, whole-of-government effort to contain the Ebola virus outbreak in West Africa. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Maj. Dale Greer)

Army Maj. Gen. Tony Cucolo (second from right), commander, United States Division-North, cuts a cake with (left to right) Maj. Gen. Ayad of the 12th Iraqi Army Division, Maj. Gen. Jamal, Kirkuk Provincial Director of Police, and Brig. Gen. Sherko of the 1st Peshmerga Brigade, to celebrate the Combined Security Force, “Golden Lions,” during their graduation and demonstration at the Kirkuk Training Center, near Contingency Operating Site Warrior, Feb. 15. Senior leaders of all the security forces in Kirkuk Province attended the event.

Senior Airman Guy Reeves, 921st Contingency Response Squadron aerial porter, guides a group of U.S. Soldiers assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division onto a C-130J Super Hercules during Exercise Swift Response 16 at the Bydgoszcz Airport, Poland, June 9, 2016. Exercise SR16 is one of the premier military crisis response training events for multinational airborne forces in the world, the exercise has more than 5,000 participants from 10 NATO nations. (U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sgt. Joseph Swafford/Released)

A U.S. Air Force Airman from the 36th Contingency Response Group marshals a Royal Australian Air Force C-130 Hercules into position to offload cargo during a humanitarian assistance and disaster relief training event at exercise Cope North 15 at Rota, Northern Mariana Islands, Feb. 15, 2015. Exercise Cope North 15 enhances humanitarian assistance and disaster relief crisis response capabilities between six nations and lays the foundation for regional cooperation expansion during real-world contingencies in the Asia-Pacific Region. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Jason Robertson/Released)

Range Rover under taup, as backup for a Grand Cherokee.

A U.S. Air Force C-130 Hercules conducts air mobility operations at Holland Drop Zone on Fort Bragg, N.C. during Joint Operations Access Exercise 12-02, June 7, 2012. JOAX is a two-week forcible entry and ground combat exercise to prepare Air Force and Army service members to respond to worldwide crises and contingencies.

Spc. Joseph Rogers, an infantryman assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, arms a brazier charge, an improvised explosive tool used to blow through concertina wire obstacles, during live fire training on Fort Bragg, N.C., Sept. 9, 2013. The White Falcons, currently part of the Global Response Force, conducted a two-week intensive training cycle designed to reinforce combat skills for the nation’s airborne assault-capable, contingency unit.

(U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Jason Hull)

"Almost from the beginning, the single power plant standing within the city limits has been struggled over. While a fear-fueled mob marched on the home of Tammy Todd, a battle was being fought within the chambers and halls of the Durand Coal Thermal Plant #26 (now known to many simply as the northeast power plant). The plant's managers--apparently acting according to Durand company contingency plans--had armed their employees (those who had not already deserted) with AR-15 rifles and divided them into squadrons commanded by their foremen. Over the course of the next eleven days, Durand employees managed to repel a combined force of agents from the FBI and the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax Division (ATTD) until lack of supplies and a breakdown of inter-agency cooperation ended the attack. By that time the plant had run through its fuel reserves and was standing idle. The Durand employees began to slip away from their posts and into the city, seeking their families and friends. Soon only the plant's administrators remained, barricaded in their dark offices. . . . When next the plant was occupied, the administrators were found slumped near their windows, rifles still clutched in their bony fingers. . . . The discoverers of this grisly sight were the Boot Scrapers and their then-ally Cyril de Saavedra. The Boot Scrapers were former sanitation workers, one of the earliest of the city's Garbage Gangs; de Saavedra was an unstable pyromancer recently displaced from his native Asunción for transgressions unrevealed. Considering subsequent events, however, one might easily imagine the reasons for his exile. . . . Marcus Eggert, the chief of the Boot Scrapers, had the idea that the plant might be fueled with flammable unrecyclables--perhaps an admirable thought, if one disregards the tendency of the city's shell to hold smoke and fumes within. Unfortunately the venture was doomed to failure, and worse. . . . After weeks of study and repair the Boot Scrapers felt ready to attempt operation of the plant. Eggert asked de Saavedra to provide a small test fire, and at first all seemed to go as planned. The steam produced was enough to power the single turbine intended for testing, but de Saavedra was not satisfied with this. He asked for more fuel, and when Eggert denied him, the pyromancer hurled the chief himself into the flames. . . . The ensuing rampage claimed all but two of the Boot Scrapers--who were forced to escape through the coal pulverizer while it was in operation--and De Saavedra himself, who escaped into the city to further satisfy his pyromaniacal urges. (see p.402) . . . After that the Northeast lay mostly unused for many years. Groups of squatters occupied its halls from time to time, but these itinerant kingdoms inevitably fell either to internal or external violence. A large portion of the city came to believe that the plant was cursed. . . . The case of Mouth Breather and her gang did little to dispel this belief. Mouth Breather (the nickname was apparently one she gave to herself) was a street wizard of some ability who decided to seize power by giving it to the city. Her plan was to summon and bind an air elemental and force it to power the plant's turbines. (It is worth noting that the Gemini Society's chief aeromancer, Denys Bulgakov, had once proposed the same plan, but been voted down by the rest of the Gemini council.) . . . It is not known whether the magics involved were beyond Mouth Breather's ability, whether something in the Northeast's industrial aura caused the binding to go awry, or whether other agencies were at work. Whatever the cause, the elemental forces were not contained; they destroyed all those within the plant, and moved into the city proper, propagating a swarm of windstorms which kept most of the citizenry indoors for the next four days. (Bulgakov himself was a casualty of the outbreak, dashed against the Black Tower during a duel with a particularly fierce cyclone.) . . . Since that time the plant has been declared off-limits by Mayor Faldbakken III. It is rumored, however, that the recently formed Mayor's Committee To Bring Back the Streetlights is in fact a splinter group of the Mayor's Department of Uncanny Activity, charged with bringing the plant online via magical means, curse or no curse." (p.44-45)

Divas rock COB Speicher.

CONTINGENCY OPERATING BASE SPEICHER, Iraq – Terry Ellis and Maxine Jones, divas for the R&B group En Vogue, perform a catalog of band hits and R&B classics for service members and civilians during a concert at Contingency Operating Base Speicher, Iraq, Jan. 20, 2011. Despite missing two of their band mates due to personal problems, Jones and Ellis put their heart and soul into the special performance for service members stationed at COB Speicher in support of Operation New Dawn.

(U.S. Army photo by Spc. Andrew Ingram, USD-N PAO)

Airmen from the Kentucky Air National Guard’s 123rd Contingency Response Group arrive at Fort Campbell, Ky., June 17, 2014, via a Kentucky Air Guard C-130 Hercules to participate in Capstone '14, a homeland earthquake-response exercise. The 123rd CRG is joining with the U.S. Army’s 688th Rapid Port Opening Element to operate a Joint Task Force-Port Opening here from June 16 to 19, 2014. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Master Sgt. Phil Speck)

Aerial porters from the Kentucky Air National Guard’s 123rd Contingency Response Group offload humanitarian cargo from a U.S. Air Force KC-10 aircraft at Léopold Sédar Senghor International Airport in Dakar, Senegal, Nov. 12, 2014. The Kentucky Airmen will stage the cargo in Senegal before transloading it to U.S. Air Force C-130J aircraft for delivery into Monrovia, Liberia, in support of Operation United Assistance, the U.S. Agency for International Development-led, whole-of-government effort to contain the Ebola virus outbreak in West Africa. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Maj. Dale Greer)

Senior Airman Joshua Martin, 821st Contingency Response Support Squadron Aerial Porter, offloads pallets with a forklift during Exercise Swift Response 16 at the Bydgoszcz Airport, Poland, June 8, 2016. Exercise SR16 is one of the premier military crisis response training events for multinational airborne forces in the world, the exercise has more than 5,000 participants from 10 NATO nations. (U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sgt. Joseph Swafford/Released)

Staff Sgt. Phillip Flores, 921st Contingency Response Squadron aerial port mobility supervisor, offloads pallets from a C-130J Super Hercules during Exercise Swift Response 16 at the Bydgoszcz Airport, Poland, June 8, 2016. Exercise SR16 is one of the premier military crisis response training events for multinational airborne forces in the world, the exercise has more than 5,000 participants from 10 NATO nations. (U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sgt. Joseph Swafford/Released)

Sgt. Brandon Paye, a truck commander for Company B, 1st Combined Arms Battalion, 163rd Infantry Regiment, 4th Sustainment Brigade, 310th Expeditionary Sustainment Command talks to his driver June 5 during a convoy escort and security mission bringing his set back from Victory Base Complex to Contingency Operating Base Adder, Iraq.

CONTINGENCY OPERATING SITE MAREZ, Iraq – Sergeant 1st Class Bobby “Smoke” Brewster, field artillery platoon sergeant for 2nd Platoon, Battery B, 5th Battalion, 82nd Field Artillery Regiment, 4th Advise and Assist Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, demonstrates how to use an aiming circle during a training exercise at the Ghuzlani Eagle Training Site, July 19, 2011. Brewster, a native of San Diego, is currently on his seventh overseas tour and fourth to Iraq.

(U.S. Army photo by Spc. Terence Ewings, 4th AAB PAO, 1st Cav. Div., USD-N)

CONTINGENCY OPERATING SITE MAREZ, Iraq – Iraqi Army Capt. Rafool Osow, right, property book manager for Al Kisik Location Command, signs documents transferring responsibility for Joint Security Station Whiskey 4 from U.S. Army to Iraqi Army control. U.S. forces established JSS Whiskey 4 in 2005 as a U.S. base of operations to combat extremist threats in the area during Operation Iraqi Freedom, and more recently, the base served as a base for training Iraqi units at Al Kisik Military Base.

(U.S. Army photo by Capt. Philip Crabtree, 4th AAB PAO, 1st Cav. Div., USD – N)

CONTINGENCY OPERATING SITE WARRIOR, Iraq – Sergeant Kevin Chapman, left, an infantryman from Conyers, Ga., assigned to Company D, 2nd Battalion, 12th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Advise and Assist Task Force, 1st Infantry Division, and Spc. Jesus Lopez, attend an after action review immediately following a security patrol in Kirkuk, Iraq, July 16, 2011. Chapman, a squad leader and vehicle commander for “Bulldog” 2nd Platoon, leads troops on counter-indirect fire patrols, checkpoint security sites and snap traffic control points while deployed to U.S. Division – North in support of Operation New Dawn.

(Army photo by Staff Sgt. Robert DeDeaux, 1st AATF PAO, 1st Inf. Div., USD – N)

Airmen from the 435th Contingency Response Group and Estonian military members board a C-130 J-model for parachute training during the Air Force-specific portion of Saber Strike at Lielvarde Air Base, Latvia, June 18, 2014. During the final week of Saber Strike 2014 the 435th Contingency Response Group, in conjunction with the 37th Airlift Squadron, trained on the full capabilities to open the Latvian air base. They also trained with Latvian and Estonian service members on airfield operations, command and control of air and space forces, weather support, and protection of operational forces, aircraft maintenance and aerial port services. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Jonathan Stefanko)

CONTINGENCY OPERATING BASE SPEICHER, Iraq – Colonel Brian Winski, commander of 4th Advise and Assist Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, answered questions during a live Pentagon Press Brief via remote satellite uplink at Contingency Operating Base Speicher, Iraq, Sept. 1, 2011. During the press conference, Winski discussed the “Long Knife” Brigade’s mission as an advise and assist brigade deployed to northern Iraqi in support of Operation New Dawn. During its yearlong deployment, the 4th AAB advised Iraqi Security Forces, Kurdish security forces and Iraqi Police on combined patrols, assisting at combined checkpoints, and trained the Iraqi Army, police and Federal Police to develop better tactics.

(U.S. Army photo by Spc. Andrew Ingram, USD-N PAO)

Airmen from the 621st Contingency Response Wing (CRW) based at Travis Air Force Base, CA, deploy to Central African Republic (CAR) for humanitarian support, on December 13, 2013. AFRICOM is beginning to transport African troops from Burundi to CAR using US Air Force C-17 aircraft operating out of Entebbe as part of a larger effort of African nations supporting the African crisis in CAR. C-17s will to fly about a dozen missions from Entebbe over a week time frame, transporting a Burundian light infantry battalion of about 850 men and equipment from Bujumbura to Bangui in CAR. The C-17’s are staged at Entebbe airport as a convenient mid-way point with the proper facilities to service the aircraft and support aircrews. (Released - U.S. Air Force Photograph/Heide Couch)

Former STM (Société de Transport de Montreal) 17-033. This bus was allocated to Victoria Regional Transit System for contingency during the Olympic Games in Vancouver. It was renumbered to 7122 and remained in service until the end of March, 2010.

A U.S. Air Force C-130 Hercules conducts air mobility operations under the supervision of U.S Air Force Airmen of the 621st Contingency Response Wing, based at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J., at Holland Drop Zone on Fort Bragg, N.C. during Joint Operations Access Exercise 12-02, June 7, 2012. JOAX is a two-week forcible entry and ground combat exercise to prepare Air Force and Army service members to respond to worldwide crises and contingencies.

U.S. Air Force Airmen from the 36th Contingency Response Group and the 36th Airlift Squadron, load containers onto a C-130 Hercules during a humanitarian assistance and disaster relief training event at exercise Cope North 15 at Anderson Air Force Base, Guam, Feb. 15, 2015. Exercise Cope North 15 enhances humanitarian assistance and disaster relief crisis response capabilities between six nations and lays the foundation for regional cooperation expansion during real-world contingencies in the Asia-Pacific Region. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Jason Robertson/Released)

Sgt. Cameron Lucas, an infantryman assigned to 2nd Battalion, 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, throws a smoke grenade to conceal his team’s movement during live fire training on Fort Bragg, Sept. 9, 2013. The White Falcons, currently part of the Global Response Force, conducted a two-week intensive training cycle designed to reinforce combat skills for the nation’s airborne assault-capable, contingency unit.

(U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Jason Hull)

Karen Durham-Aguilera, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers director of Contingency Operations, gives national and international senior leadership perspective on flood risk management and its changing culture during the Flood Risk Management and Silver Jackets Workshop Aug. 16, 2011 at the Renaissance Nashville Hotel and The Nashville Convention Center in Nashville, Tenn. (USACE photo by Richard Scott)

CONTINGENCY OPERATING BASE BASRAH, Iraq - Soldiers from 1st Battalion, 12th Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Advise and Assist Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, assist Iraqi Police in packing bags of food for distribution. (U.S. Army Photo by Capt Patrick McElroy, 1st Bn. 12th Cav. Regt., 3AAB, 1st Cav. Div.)

Aerial porters from the Kentucky Air National Guard’s 123rd Contingency Response Group and a loadmaster from the 317th Airlift Group at Dyess Air Force Base, Texas, load humanitarian cargo onto a U.S. Air Force C-130J aircraft at Léopold Sédar Senghor International Airport in Dakar, Senegal, Nov. 10, 2014. The aircraft and crew, all from Dyess, are deployed to Senegal as part of the 787th Air Expeditionary Squadron and will fly the cargo into Monrovia, Liberia, in support of Operation United Assistance, the U.S. Agency for International Development-led, whole-of-government effort to contain the Ebola virus outbreak in West Africa. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Maj. Dale Greer)

CONTINGENCY OPERATING SITE WARRIOR, Iraq – Iraqi Army soldiers from 12th IA Division communicate and move while laying down suppressive fire on an objective for the multi-lateral exercise Lion’s Leap at the Mahgoor Training Site, April 19, 2011. During the exercise, Iraqi Security Forces aim to display their ability to increase defense capability and security for the sovereign state of Iraq.

(U.S. Army photo by Capt. Chad Ashe, USD-N PAO)

A U.S. Air Force C-17 Globemaster III offloads passengers and cargo under blackout conditions at an intermediate staging base established at Mackall Army Airfield, N.C. during Joint Operational Access Exercise 12-02, June 4, 2012. JOAX is a two-week exercise to prepare Air Force and Army service members to respond to worldwide crises and contingencies.

Nepalese army soldiers and U.S. Air Force 36th Contingency Response Group Airmen work with Republic of Singapore Air Force members to unload relief supplies from an RSAF C-130 Hercules May 9, at the Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu, Nepal. The Nepalese army and Airmen worked together to process 537,816 pounds of cargo in a 24-hour period from 13 aircraft delivering relief supplies delivered in response to a magnitude 7.8 earthquake that struck the nation April 25. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Melissa B. White/Released)

CONTINGENCY OPERATING BASE Speicher, Iraq — Command Sgt. Maj. Daren Warren, 4th Infantry Division logistics sergeant major, woos Maxine Jones with sweet sounds of rhythm and blues soul during an En Vogue concert at Contingency Operating Base Speicher, Jan. 20. Jones and band mate, Terry Ellis, provided U.S. Division-North Soldiers an opportunity to participate in a special performance during their rhythm and blues concert for the men and women deployed to northern Iraq in support of Operation New Dawn. (Photo by Spc. Andrew Ingram)

Paratroopers of the 2nd Battalion, 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, treat a simulated casualty and send a 9-line medevac after being ambushed while on a dismounted patrol on Fort Bragg, Sept. 12, 2013. The White Falcons, currently part of the Global Response Force, conducted a two-week intensive training cycle designed to reinforce combat skills for the nation’s airborne assault-capable, contingency unit.

(U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Jason Hull)

Airmen from the Kentucky Air National Guard’s 123rd Contingency Response Group, augmented by troops from the active-duty Air Force and Air National Guard units in multiple states, load relief supplies onto trucks for distribution at Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport in San Juan, Puerto Rico, in the wake of Hurricane Maria Oct. 7, 2017. The unit’s Airmen established an aerial port of debarkation upon arrival here Sept. 23, and have processed more than 7.2 million pounds of cargo and humanitarian aid for distribution in the first three weeks of the operation. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Lt. Col. Dale Greer)

Speaker addresses fellow warrant officers.

CONTINGENCY OPERATING SITE MAREZ, Iraq – Chief Warrant Officer 4 Martin Webb, senior maintenance technician assigned to 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment, 4th Advise and Assist Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, speaks to other warrant officers during a luncheon celebrating the 93rd birthday of the Army Warrant Officer Corps at Contingency Operating Site Marez, Iraq, July 9, 2011. Webb, a native of Hayward, Calif., spoke to his fellow warrant officers during the ceremony about their heritage and how they contribute to the Army.

(U.S. Army photo by Spc. Terence Ewings, 4th AAB PAO, 1st Cav. Div., USD-N)

Airmen from the 621st Contingency Response Wing (CRW) based at Travis Air Force Base, CA, deploy to Central African Republic (CAR) for humanitarian support, on December 13, 2013. AFRICOM is beginning to transport African troops from Burundi to CAR using US Air Force C-17 aircraft operating out of Entebbe as part of a larger effort of African nations supporting the African crisis in CAR. C-17s will to fly about a dozen missions from Entebbe over a week time frame, transporting a Burundian light infantry battalion of about 850 men and equipment from Bujumbura to Bangui in CAR. The C-17’s are staged at Entebbe airport as a convenient mid-way point with the proper facilities to service the aircraft and support aircrews. (Released - U.S. Air Force Photograph/Heide Couch)

Family members, friends, fellow Soldiers and Virginia Guard senior leaders bid a formal farewell to the Soldiers of the Virginia Beach-based 1945th Contingency Contracting Team, 529th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, 329th Regional Support Group Feb. 8, 2014, at Camp Pendleton in Virginia Beach. Virginia Sen. Jeffrey L. McWaters of the 8th District, Maj. Gen. Daniel E. Long Jr., the Adjutant General of Virginia, Command Sgt. Maj. Dennis A. Green, the Virginia National Guard Senior Enlisted Leader, Col. Michelle Rose, commander of the 329th RSG, Lt. Col. Michael Waterman, commander of the 529th CSSB, Lt. Col. Brent Carey, team leader of the 1944th CCT, and Capt. Bert Hankins, commander of the 1945th CCT, were among the speakers at the ceremony. The four-Soldier team will now head to Camp Shelby, Miss., for premobilization training before they head to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. (Photo by Master Sgt. A.J. Coyne, Virginia Guard Public Affairs)

U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Matthew Hourigan of the Kentucky Air National Guard’s 123rd Contingency Response Group installs leveling jacks on a mobile airfield operations center at Léopold Sédar Senghor International Airport in Dakar, Senegal, Oct. 17, 2014, in support of Operation United Assistance, the U.S. Agency for International Development-led, whole-of-government effort to respond to the Ebola outbreak in West Africa. The Airmen are operating an Intermediate Staging Base in Dakar to funnel humanitarian aid and military support equipment into affected areas, working in concert with Soldiers from the U.S. Army’s 689th Rapid Port Opening Element to staff a Joint Task Force-Port Opening. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Maj. Dale Greer)

Airmen from the 621st Contingency Response Wing at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J., offload a pallet of cargo belonging to the 10th Mountain Division at Fort Drum, N.Y., during JOAX 12-02. (U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. Edward Gyokeres)

CONTINGENCY OPERATING SITE WARRIOR, Iraq – Armored vehicles from 12th Iraqi Army Division secure an outer perimeter as two helicopters land, allowing Iraqi Special Operations to assault an objective during the live fire for Operation Lion’s Leap, April 19. Operation Lion’s Leap is an Iraq-wide training exercise encompassing multiple ministries of the Iraqi Security Forces.

(U.S. Army photo by Capt. Chad Ashe, USD-N PAO)