In photos: A look back at June, courtesy of the Department of War
June kept the US military moving. Three oceans, two continents, one river in Missouri. The Department of War’s Week in Photos captured the month as it happened, one frame at a time. Most of this work happens without an audience.
The photos are the audience.
June 2: Log on
Army Sgt. Bruce Lynch-Reynolds carries a heavy log at Fort Hood, Texas, during a competition built to test tactical fitness and squad cohesion across a series of demanding events. The Department of War captured it on June 2. The image does what the best training photos do. Makes you feel the weight.
June 3: Scrutinizing the moon
A Navy EA-18G Growler lifts off the flight deck of an aircraft carrier in the Philippine Sea, wheels just leaving the deck, the water stretching out below. The Growler is an electronic warfare aircraft, designed to suppress enemy air defenses and jam radar. The Week in Photos caught the exact moment of departure, which is either the most dramatic or most mundane thing that happens on a carrier on any given day, depending on who you ask.
June 7: Warriors
Marines from the 1st Battalion, 24th Marine Regiment assault simulated enemy positions during a night training exercise at Twentynine Palms, California. Night operations training is among the most demanding in the infantry toolkit, and photos from Twentynine Palms tend to look like they were taken on another planet. The Department of War’s photos from this exercise are no exception.
June 8: Heroes
A Marine Corps UH-1Y Venom holds steady over Portland’s flight deck during hoist training in the South China Sea while everything below it moves. That steadiness is the skill.
June 9: Loaded
Army Sgt. Merrick Lind qualifies on the M240B machine gun at Grafenwöhr Training Area, Germany. Grafenwöhr has been sharpening American forces in Europe since 1951. The weapon hasn’t changed much. Neither has the requirement.
June 11: On the way
Soldiers conduct a wet-gap crossing near the Missouri River, practicing one of the more technically complex maneuvers in ground warfare. The Department of War documented the exercise on June 11. The Missouri River is not a forgiving classroom.
June 13: Viper signal
A sailor signals to an AH-1Z Viper attack helicopter aboard USS Boxer in the South China Sea, the kind of communication that happens dozens of times a day at sea, unremarkable in routine and critical in consequence.
June 17: Sea Hawk time
Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Coy Manwill guides an MH-60S Sea Hawk onto the flight deck of USS Theodore Roosevelt, a task that looks deceptively calm in photographs and requires everything but calm to execute.
June 21: Guarding
Marines from the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit train aboard USS Boxer while transiting the Strait of Malacca, which connects the Indian Ocean to the South China Sea and carries roughly a quarter of global trade. The unit routinely operates with allies and partners in the region. That is the diplomatic language. The operational language is presence.
The bottom line
June was training, movement and presence across the Pacific, Europe and the American heartland. The Department of War’s photos document what the military does between the moments that make news. Most of it happens without an audience.
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