While many remain hopeful that Congress and the administration will reach a deal that avoids sequestration, Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta has issued a memo describing the potential implications of going over the fiscal cliff.

Planning for the effects of an across-the-board cut in defense spending as part of the Budget Reduction Act of 2011 “is only prudent,” said DOD officials. Under the law, the reductions are due to take place Jan. 2, 2013.

Marines with Combat Logistics Company 21, 2nd Marine Logistics Group and Marines with 4th Landing Support Battalion, 4th Marine Logistics Group worked together as an aerial port operations group, or APOG, at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, N.C., from Dec. 1 to 2.

Once a month, the reservists from 4th LSB conduct training to ensure the unit is able to function as an APOG, if needed.

This training consisted of learning about the procedures and duties of an APOG, cargo and personnel certification, types of aircraft and time zones.

The Iraqi navy and the U.S. Navy's Naval Sea Systems Command marked the delivery of two 60-meter Offshore Support Vessels (OSV 1/ OSV 2) to the Iraqi navy in a ceremony at the Umm Qasr naval facility, Dec. 19.

The two OSVs, procured as part U.S. Navy's Foreign Military Sales (FMS) Program, will help reconstitute Iraq's ability to enforce maritime sovereignty and security in the Northern Arabian Gulf.

As waves tossed two small assault boats around, the Sailors aboard were on watch for movement on the water as their small vessels made their way to the insertion point.

Cold water splashed over the walls of the boats, but the Sailors didn’t deviate from their course. They stood ready to deploy into the wet marshlands, where intelligence informed them of the location of a small weapons cache.

Soldiers of B Company, 2nd Brigade Special Troops Battalion, accompanied by their comrades in B Company, 2nd Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment, set out at 2 a.m. Nov. 27 to climb Whiteface Mountain.

Nestled in the Adirondacks, Whiteface Mountain rises to 4,867 feet above sea level. While Fort Drum was still green that day, Whiteface was already covered with snow.

More than 60 medical Airmen from Andersen Air Force Base, Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska and Yokota Air Base, Japan, joined trained on the new expeditionary medical support health response team, Dec. 10-13.

EMEDS is a team of expertly-trained medical professionals who utilize a mobile tent hospital to support the needs of emergency responders. The team is able to handle most aspects of emergency medical care, including surgery and trauma.

The world’s longest-running humanitarian mission came to a close as U.S. military members and volunteers delivered more than 39,000 pounds of aid and holiday cheer to Pacific islanders during Operation Christmas Drop.

This year marked the 61st anniversary of the mission, providing support to more than 30,000 islanders from Chuuk, Palau, Yap, the Marshall Islands and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, officials reported.

Video by III Marine Expeditionary Force

A scene decimated by a suicide bomber or an improvised explosive device leaves little evidence of what life was like before its destruction. It does, however, leave traces of life in fingerprints that can be collected by weapons intelligence personnel and analyzed at forensic laboratories to identify the enemy behind the explosion.