Fussa celebrates annual Tanabata Festival

FUSSA CITY, Japan -- Japanese folk dancers perform a traditional dance during the 61st Annual Fussa Tanabata Festival Aug. 5, 2011. Ikuo Kato, Fussa City mayor, dedicated this year's festival to the victims of the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, which plagued northern Japan March 11. Local Fussa residences and Airmen from Yokota Air Base, Japan, carried shrines called Mikoshi during the festival, also known as the star festival. According to Chinese legend, the two stars Altair and Vega, usually separated from each other by the Milky Way galaxy, meet up in the night on the same day each year. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Stacy Moless)

Fussa celebrates annual Tanabata Festival

FUSSA CITY, Japan -- Local Fussa residents carry a portable Shinto shrine, called a Mikoshi, during the 61st Annual Fussa Tanabata Festival Aug. 5, 2011. Roughly 30 people helped to carry the shrine at any given time during the festival, also known as the star festival. According to Chinese legend, the two stars Altair and Vega, usually separated from each other by the Milky Way galaxy, meet up in the night sky on the same day each year. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Stacy Moless)

Pacific Angel - Cambodia

BAK KLARNG, Cambodia -- Capt. Meghan Vanderheiden and Tech. Sgt. Anabel Parks numb a patient before performing a dental procedure during Operation PACIFIC ANGEL 11-1 Aug. 8, 2011, Bak Klarng, Cambodia. The operation supports U.S. Pacific Command’s capacity-building efforts by partnering with other governments in the region to provide medical, dental, optometry and engineer assistance to their citizens. Captain Vanderheiden is a dentist and Sergeant Parks is a hygienist; both are assigned to the 35th Dental Squadron, Misawa Air Base, Japan. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Christopher Boitz)

Pacific Angel - Cambodia

BAK KLARNG, Cambodia -- A young Cambodian boy awaits dental care from U.S. and Royal Cambodian Armed Forces during Operation PACIFIC ANGEL 11-1 Aug. 8, 2011, Bak Klarng, Cambodia. PA 11-1 partners U.S. and Cambodian military and civilian personnel to provide medical, dental, optometry and engineer programs to local Cambodians as well as airfield operations and infection control subject-matter expert exchanges. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Christopher Boitz)

Eielson, UAF team up for EME

Airman 1st Class Michelle Sabo and Staff Sgt. Kristy Raso stabilize a victim during an emergency management exercise at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks campus July 27, 2011. The exercise tested the abilities of civilian and military emergency services during a simulated crisis at the university. Airman Sabo and Sergeant Raso are both emergency medical technicians assigned to the 354th Medical Operations Squadron. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Rachelle Coleman)

Eielson, UAF team up for EME

Members of the University of Alaska, Fairbanks community emergency response team check victims' statuses during an emergency management exercise July 27, 2011, Fairbanks, Alaska. Emergency responders had an opportunity to practice mass-casualty search and rescue and medical triage. UAF plans to hold large-scale exercises annually. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Rachelle Coleman)

2011 Asia Pacific Military Nursing Symposium

BANGKOK, Thailand - U.S. Air Force Maj. Gen. Kimberly Siniscalchi, the Assistant Surgeon General, Nursing Services, greets Maj. Aree Sanee of the Royal Thai Army Nursing College after her presentation before and after effects of smoking cessation in the Thailand community while at the Pullman King Power Hotel in Bangkok Thailand on Aug. 1 during the start of a five-day 2011 Asia Pacific Military Nursing Symposium, which is sponsored by Pacific Command and executed under the direction of 13th Air Force. This is the fifth year of the symposium, which started at Hickam Air force Base in 2007, and the first time that Thailand has hosted the event. More than 12 countries from the Asia-Pacific region have come together to build on relationships by exchanging information and techniques with one another. (U.S. Air Force photo/Master Sgt. Cohen A. Young)

2011 Asia Pacific Military Nursing Symposium

BANGKOK, Thailand - Members of the military nursing community take photos with one another at the Pullman King Power Hotel in Bangkok Thailand on Aug. 1 during the start of a five-day 2011 Asia Pacific Military Nursing Symposium, which is sponsored by Pacific Command and executed under the direction of 13th Air Force. This is the fifth year of the symposium, which started at Hickam Air force Base in 2007, and the first time that Thailand has hosted the event. More than 12 countries from the Asia-Pacific region have come together to build on relationships by exchanging information and techniques with one another. (U.S. Air Force photo/Master Sgt. Cohen A. Young)

Eielson wraps up RED FLAG-Alaska 11-2 Exercise

An F-16 Fighting Falcon from the 18th Aggressor Squadron retracts its landing gear after take-off during RED FLAG-Alaska 11-2 July 19, 2011, Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska. Aggressor pilots are trained to act as opposing forces in exercises like RF-A to better prepare U.S. and allied forces for aerial combat. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Miguel Lara III)

Eielson wraps up RED FLAG-Alaska 11-2 Exercise

An A-10 Thunderbolt II taxis on the runway before take-off during RED FLAG-Alaska 11-2 July 15, 2011, Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska. RF-A, a two week long exercise, focuses on aerial combat training for U.S. and allied forces and is conducted within the Joint Pacific Alaska Range Complex, a 67,000 square mile training range. The A-10 is assigned to the 25th Fighter Squadron at Osan Air Base, Republic of Korea. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Miguel Lara III)

36 CRG train during Talisman Sabre 2011

Master Sgt. Justin Papalia, from Tampa, Fla., deployed with the 36th Contingency Response Group here explains static line procedures during Talisman Sabre 2011. Talisman Sabre 2011 is an exercise designed to train U.S. and Australian forces to plan and conduct combined task force operations to improve combat readiness and interoperability on a variety of missions from conventional conflict to peacekeeping and humanitarian efforts. (Photo by Sara Csurilla)

36 CRG train during Talisman Sabre 2011

Members from the 36th Contingency Response Group here particpate in airborne sustainment training prior to a jump during Talisman Sabre 2011. Talisman Sabre 2011 is an exercise designed to train U.S. and Australian forces to plan and conduct combined task force operations to improve combat readiness and interoperability on a variety of missions from conventional conflict to peacekeeping and humanitarian efforts. (Photo by Sara Csurilla)