Week In Pictures: Dec 14 – 20
A C-130J Super Hercules loadmaster from Royal Australian Air Force, , the 37th Squadron out of RAAF Base Richmond, Australia, watches humanitarian aid operation carried out by the parachute for a Low-Cost, Low-Altitude bundle down to the atoll of Kapingamarangi, Federated States of Micronesia during Operation Christmas Drop 2018, Dec. 13, 2018. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Matthew Gilmore) 
F/A-18F Super Hornets that are assigned to the “Red Rippers” of Strike Fighter Squadron 11, prepare to launch on the board of the USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier. The Atlantic Ocean, Dec. 14, 2018. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Joseph A.D. Phillips) 
U.S. Soldiers ruck march at the Best Squadron Competition held during Tropic Lightning Week 18 at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii, Dec. 17, 2018. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Maurice Gaddy) 
The Nimitz-class aircraft carrier of the U.S. Navy USS Harry S. Truman transits the Atlantic Ocean, Dec. 12, 2018. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Scott Swofford) 
A scout sniper team leader of the U.S. Marine Corps, Weapons Company, Battalion Landing Team, 1st Battalion, 4th Marines, posts security during reconnaissance and surveillance training held at Camp Hansen, Okinawa, Japan, Dec.12, 2018. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Tanner D. Lambert) 
An F/A-18E Super Hornet, the Strike Fighter Squadron 97, prepares to land on the flight deck of the USS John C. Stennis aircraft carrier, which is deployed to the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations to support naval operations that ensure maritime stability and security in the Central Region, connecting the Mediterranean and the Pacific through the western Indian Ocean and three strategic choke points. The Arabian Sea, Dec. 16, 2018. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Grant G. Grady) 
U.S. reconnaissance Marine, the 1st Reconnaissance Battalion, the 1st Marine Division, fast ropes at a Helicopter Rope Suspension Techniques Master Course. The technique of fast roping allows Marine Corps to be inserted in locations where aircraft cannot safely land. Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Calif., Dec. 3, 2018 (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Dalton S. Swanbeck) 
The F-22 Raptor fighter aircraft of Hawaii Air National Guard, assigned to the 199th Fighter Squadron, flies away from a KC-135 Stratotankerof Wisconsin Air National Guard, after it received an air-to-air refueling during fighter-exercise Sentry Aloha near the Hawaiian Islands. Dec. 11, 2018, (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Senior Airman John Linzmeier) 
Marines, the Charlie Company, Battalion Landing Team, 1st Battalion, 4th Marines, fire at a notional enemy force by using blank shells during a helicopter raid during the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit’s Exercise. Ie Shima Training Facility, Okinawa, Japan, Dec. 11, 2018, (Official Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Harrison C. Rakhshani) 
A C-130 Hercules of Japan Air Self-Defense Force, from Komaki Air Base, Japan, before to take off during Operation Christmas Drop 2018 that is a trilateral training mission designed to give C-130 crews from the U.S. Air Force, JASDF, and Royal Australian Air Force a chance to airdrop supplies on unsurveyed drop zones throughout the Pacific. Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, Dec. 12, 2018, (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Matthew Gilmore)