U.S. Air Force Radiation Assessment Team’s contributions during Operation Tomadachi

The U.S. Air Force Materiel Command History Office has published a photographic essay from the archives of the Air Force Radiation Assessment Team personnel who were deployed to Japan during the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami.

SENDAI AIRPORT, Japan — Staff Sgt. Kevin Rivera (Left) and Senior Master Sgt. Dean Kim (Right), both from the Air Force Radiation Assessment Team, check soil by a Sodium Iodide detector at Sendai Airport, April 05, 2011. AFRAT conducts radiological analysis of air, water, soil and physiological technical expertise in detection, survey and monitoring. (U.S. Air Force photo/Osakabe Yasuo)

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Italian Navy’s first female strike fighter pilot

Italian navy Ensign Erika Raballo earned her Wings of Gold on Mar. 11 after completing undergraduate flight training with VT-9 on Mar. 11.

200602-N-N0436-1001 MERIDIAN, Miss. (June 2, 2020) Italian navy Ensign Erika Raballo, a student naval aviator, sits on a T-45C Goshawk jet trainer aircraft after completing her a training flight with the “Tigers” of Training Squadron (VT) 9 at Naval Air Station Meridian, June 2, 2020. Raballo is the Italian navy’s first female strike fighter pilot. VT-9 conducts undergraduate intermediate and advanced strike pilot training for the Navy, Marine Corps, and select international military partners. (Courtesy photo/Released)

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Japanese and U.S. forces carried out their largest joint airdrop training exercise

More than 500 Japan Ground Self-Defense Force (JGSDF) paratroopers performed a static-line jump at the Combined Arms Training Center Drop Zone Camp Fuji, Japan on Mar. 9. This is the largest U.S-Japan personnel drop in the history of the two countries’ alliance.

Japan Ground Self Defense Force paratroopers line up to load onto a C-130J Super Hercules, assigned to the 374th Airlift Wing, during exercise Airborne 21 at Yokota Air Base, Japan, March 9, 2021. More than 500 JGSDF paratroopers performed a static-line jump at the Combined Arms Training Center Drop Zone Camp Fuji, Japan, making it the largest U.S-Japan personnel drop in the history of the two countries’ alliance. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Gabrielle Spalding)

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