A few years ago, individuals who viewed and downloaded child pornography were rarely discovered. However, with new technology and assistance from the Department of Justice, law enforcement agencies within the Department of Defense are successfully detecting and prosecuting more offenders.

These efforts are conducted in cooperation with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Department of Homeland Security, Defense Criminal Forensic Lab, and National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

Army aviation has been in the fight now for more than a decade, and as the drawdown in Afghanistan continues, commanders say it would be wise to remember the lessons learned during those years.

That was the common theme of four Army aviation commanders who spoke at the Association of the U.S. Army's aviation symposium in a panel titled "Aviation in the Fight: At Home and Down Range."

Ensuring Soldiers have adequate training is vital before deploying in combat, said Col. Frank M. Muth, who commanded the 1st Infantry Division's Combat Aviation Brigade during the Iraq drawdown in 2010.

Marines with 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, which is currently assigned to 4th Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, III Marine Expeditionary Force, under the unit deployment program, conducted hasty rappel training at JWTC on Camp Gonsalves Jan. 8 as part of a nine-day course Jan. 7-15.

"This training is for us to work on our jungle tactics and our patrolling," said 1st Lt. Jefferson M. Dowdy, a platoon commander with the battalion. "It gets us accustomed to working in this type of environment and out of our comfort zone. The training also helps us maintain mission readiness."

When most people think about skillful dancing, the thought of a couple moving gracefully across a dance floor comes to mind. If you are part of the KC-135 Stratotanker refueling crew, you're probably picturing two planes less than 50 feet apart bouncing around at 25,000 feet while trying to connect a refueling boom into what appears to be a golf ball-sized hole.

This well-choreographed, highly-skilled dance conducted by members of the 507th and 137th Air Refueling Wings aircrew is one way of trying to describe the air refueling process.

Personnel assigned to Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit (EODMU) 3 are training non-EOD Sailors in special operations tactics aboard the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74).

Once a week, Sailors selected by their division meet in the hangar bay for hands-on training for the naval special warfare basic roper qualification.

With many of today's headlines telling the heartbreaking stories of gun violence and mass murders in the U.S., questions about when and where tragedy will strike next are becoming common everyday conversations.

But those conversations -- at home, in schools and throughout the workplace -- are important to ensure that people remain aware and vigilant in protecting themselves and those they love.

The 3rd Marine Expeditionary Brigade has resumed its role as the command element for the Asia-Pacific region’s alert contingency Marine Air-Ground Task Force Jan. 10.

As the command element for the ACM, 3rd MEB is prepared to respond within 24 hours to crises throughout the region. In the event of a contingency, 3rd MEB will mitigate foreign or domestic crises, protect U.S. citizens and territories, or counter threats to U.S. national interests as needed.

While refining the systems that protect the homeland against long-range ballistic missile attacks, the United States is advancing technologies to counter the growing threat of short- and medium-range missiles launched by rogue states or terrorists, a top U.S. Northern Command officer told American Forces Press Service.

Video by 31st MEU