Military units train to effectively execute missions in the future. For a North Carolina Army National Guard LUH-72 Lakota helicopter crew, they had the opportunity to both train and execute a real-world mission in the same day when they lifted a teenage boy to safety after he took an estimated 50-foot fall onto some trees below a ledge in a wooded area here Tuesday.

Active-duty and reserve-component Soldiers, as well as veterans, who were denied Purple Heart awards for concussive or mild traumatic brain injuries, are encouraged to resubmit documentation for reconsideration of the medal.

Since the Vietnam War, concussions or mild traumatic brain injuries, or MTBIs, as a direct result of an enemy action has always been an injury that warranted the award of the Purple Heart -- according to Defense Department guidelines. Nevertheless, field commanders have sometimes been unclear on what constituted concussion.

The Continuing Promise 2011 (CP11) mission team, embarked aboard USNS Comfort (T-AH 20), will suspend operations in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Aug. 21, in anticipation of severe weather heading toward the area.

Tropical storm Irene is expected to make landfall in the vicinity of Hispaniola between Aug. 22-23.

Comfort and its crew have been directed by Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command to depart the area and seek safe haven until the tropical storm has passed. Comfort will remain in the area while damage assessments are conducted.

Billows of smoke rise from the rolling hills as the loud boom of cannons thunder throughout the empty golden wasteland of the Yakima Training Center. With the hot sun beating on their backs the Gunslingers are spending their days perfecting their aim at a field training exercise during the middle of August.

MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. — Marines and sailors from the Advisor Training Cell provided the Combat Lifesavers course to various units here, Aug. 17.

The course teaches skills and techniques in a classroom setting with a focus on hands-on training to ensure Marines are proficient with course objectives. Throughout the five-day course the students learn and implement skills that will lead them to becoming CLS certified.

The life of a Navy Sailor was celebrated during a Catholic Mass at the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul in Philadelphia Aug. 18.

Cryptologic Technician (Collection) 1st Class Michael Strange, 25, was one of 22 Naval Special Warfare personnel killed in a helicopter crash in Afghanistan Aug. 6.

More than 200 services members from the Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard and Marine Corps; more than 200 Philadelphia police officers; Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter; and family and friends filled the cathedral to pay respect to Strange's family and friends.

Sailors and Marines assigned to the Makin Island Amphibious Ready Group (ARG) joined on board Makin Island Aug. 17 to commemorate the 69th anniversary of the U.S. Marines' raid on Makin Island during World War II.

Capt. Jim Landers, Makin Island's commanding officer, hosted the event which included a performance by the Makin Island Choir, guest speakers and a cake-cutting ceremony.

South Korea and U.S. servicemembers began another year of training in a familiar peninsula-wide exercise Aug. 18.

U.S. forces and their South Korean allies first gathered here last week to ramp up for the multi-day, defense-oriented command post exercise Operation Ulchi Freedom Guardian. This is one of two major annual combined exercises at the Pacific-Theater level. It is scheduled to continue until Aug. 26.

Participants stationed at Osan Air Base are joined by hundreds of augmentees from around the world, each bringing a different background and skill set to the simulated fight.

The Bell UH-1 Iroquois helicopter, better known as the "Huey," has been the singular iconic image of Army aircraft since the Vietnam War. Americans have watched this chopper, adorned with red crosses, pick up the wounded from battlefields on the nightly news. They have also seen the aircraft loaded with armaments, aiming a barrage of bullets or other deadly force at its target. The public has seen military personnel jump or rappel from it, and rescuers hoist up stranded victims into it.