Silhouetted by a burnt orange sunrise, a platoon of Marines slapped magazines into their weapons as if fueling them with adrenaline.

An instructor bellowed out for the infantrymen to begin the range. They barreled forward in a flood of movement, unhindered by the weight of full combat loads and extra ammunition.

Marines with Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, carried out platoon live fire attacks at Range 410A on Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms, Calif., Aug. 8, 2011.

Army officials announced the winners of its greatest inventions competition Aug. 23. Earlier this summer a panel of combat veteran Soldiers reviewed and voted for the most innovative advances in Army technology.

Sailors assigned to the guided-missile cruiser USS Lake Erie (CG 70) arrived at Put-in-Bay, Ohio, to commemorate the 198th anniversary of the Battle of Lake Erie, Sept. 10.

Invited by the Perry Group, a volunteer non-profit organization based in Put-in-Bay, 10 Lake Erie Sailors joined the town residents and hundreds of visitors from Canada and surrounding American states to celebrate Put-in-Bay Historical Weekend, Sept 9-11. Put-in-Bay is a small island in Lake Erie off the coast of Ohio.

Navy Adm. James A. Winnefeld Jr., the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, praised the National Guard at the 133rd General Conference of the National Guard Association of the United States.

“You are uniquely postured, both as a personification of what is right about America -- namely, selfless service to country and community -- and as a shining example of what we are, what we believe, and what we do in the United States military for the American people,” Winnefeld told the audience last month.

The Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and the helicopter shoot-down in Afghanistan last month that killed 38 men are linked by the events of 9/11, the commander of U.S. Special Operations Command said.

Navy Adm. William H. McRaven spoke at a 9/11 remembrance service Sept. 9 at the Hillsborough Sherrif's Department in Tampa, Fla.

The admiral, a Navy SEAL, assumed command of Socom on Aug. 8.

Marines are trained to fight as a team, using everyone’s strengths and weaknesses to accomplish the mission. This goes on from the individual fire team level to battalions of different job fields coming together for mission accomplishment.

The Marines and sailors of 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, along with support from Company A, 1st Tank Battalion, perform platoon sized clearing exercises in the “Clear, Hold, Build-1” training during Enhanced Mojave Viper at Range 220 Sept. 5, 2011.

A few weeks short of the 50th anniversary of CH-47 Chinook's maiden flight, the 25th Combat Aviation Brigade and the Hawaii Army National Guard held an equipping ceremony Sept. 8 to welcome the CH-47F Chinook to Hawaii.

More than 400 Soldiers and guests filled the Pacific Aviation Museum's museum's' historic Hangar 79, surrounded by the museum's collection of vintage aircraft.

U.S. Navy hospital ship USNS Comfort (T-AH 20) arrived home in Baltimore Sept. 8 after completing Continuing Promise 2011 (CP11), a five-month humanitarian and civic assistance mission in the southern hemisphere.

CP11 was part of an annual mission that fosters goodwill, and demonstrates U.S. commitment and support to Central America, South America and the Caribbean. CP11 offered training for U.S. military personnel and partner nation forces, while providing valuable services to communities in need.

Marines from Marine Air Control Squadron 2 assisted Headquarters Marine Corps by testing a new composite tracking network during a field training exercise that took place in Dam Neck, Va., July 28- Aug. 30.

“This piece of equipment will help us, as Marines, get back to our amphibious roots,” said Maj. Jason A. Sharp, the operations officer for MACS-2. “This unique capability will eventually allow the Tactical Air Operations Center to detect, identify and distribute hostile targets to joint agencies like Aegis cruisers and fighters providing active air defense to protect our forces.”