Pacific Ocean (Aug. 11, 2005) - Chief Warrant Officer Enrico Orfiguerra checks the radar screen in the pilothouse aboard the guided missile cruiser USS Thomas S. Gates (CG 51), while standing as watch while underway for PANAMAX 2005. PANAMAX is a training exercise in defense of the Panama Canal involving 15 countries. The Panama Canal is critical to the free flow of trade and goods in the Western Hemisphere and the entire world. The region's economy and stability largely depend on the safe transport of several hundred million tons of cargo that transit through the canal every year. U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Rick Sforza (RELEASED)
Jacksonville, Fla. (Aug. 10, 2005) - Aviation Structural Mechanic 1st Class Anthony Versage, right, and Aviation Structural Mechanic 2nd Class Ramon Diaz replace a main landing gear tire on one of their squadron's P-3C Orion aircraft. Versage and Diaz are assigned to the "Mad Foxes" of Patrol Squadron Five (VP-5). U.S. Navy photo by Photographer's Mate 2nd Class Susan Cornell (RELEASED)
Cherry Point, N.C. (Aug. 8, 2005) - U.S. Marines assigned to Marine Aircraft Group Sixteen (MAG-16), off-load a Navy MH-53 Sea Dragon helicopter from an Air Force C-5 Galaxy transport on board Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point. Three MH-53 Sea Dragons have been removed from the nation's war reserve, or "bone yard," at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz., for upgrading and reconfiguration at Naval Air Depot Cherry Point, before being returned for service in the fleet. Photo courtesy of Larry Conley (RELEASED)
Gulf of Mexico (Aug. 11, 2005) - Aviation Structural Mechanic 2nd Class Chris De Santiago and Aviation Structural Mechanic 3rd Class Jaime Rodriguez, assigned to Helicopter Mine Countermeasures Squadron Fifteen (HM-15), power-up a MK-105 Magnetic Influence Minesweeping System during minesweeping operations in the Gulf of Mexico as part of PANAMAX 2005. PANAMAX is a training exercise in defense of the Panama Canal involving 15 countries. The Panama Canal is critical to the free flow of trade and goods in the Western Hemisphere and the entire world. The region's economy and stability largely depend on the safe transport of several hundred million tons of cargo that transit through the canal every year. U.S. Navy photo by Photographer's Mate Airman Pedro A. Rodriguez (RELEASED)
