Approximately 60 Marines and sailors from 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, arrived in the Kingdom of Tonga for Exercise Tafakula 2011 Aug. 9.

The multilateral exercise between the U.S. Marines, Tongan Defense Service and French Armed Forces, New Caledonia will increase joint operations and improve U.S. military-to-military relations with foreign services.

The three services are expected to share tactics and procedures while conducting operations in unfamiliar terrain.

More than 80 U.S. Army Reserve Soldiers from the 395th Ordnance Company received important training at Crane Army Ammunition Activity July 25-30 to learn the mission-specific skills they will need when they deploy to places like Afghanistan.

The Soldiers took part in Mobilized Ordnance Specific Training, or MOST, at Crane Army Ammunition Activity, which allows them to receive critical, job-specific training, unavailable at mobilization stations.

Video by 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing

The M-98 Non-Lethal Distraction Grenade is the latest in a growing supply of non-lethal munitions available to American Soldiers.

Under the direction of the Project Manager for Close Combat Systems (PM CCS), the grenade was developed by engineers at the Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center (ARDEC) at Picatinny Arsenal, the Edgewood Chemical Biological Center at Edgewood, Md., and Rock Island, Ill.

The military retirement isn't going to change any time soon, Defense Department officials said.

"There's no immediate plan to affect retirement," Navy Adm. Mike Mullen told service members at Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan, July 31.

The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said any changes to military retirement should be studied carefully and should be "grandfathered" so the military doesn't break faith with those in the service.

The crew of the amphibious transport dock ship USS New Orleans (LPD 18) along with an embarked Maritime Raid Force (MRF) from the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) conducted its first joint boarding training mission during a pre-deployment exercise, Aug. 14.

The operation simulated a non-compliant boarding where MRF Marines boarded a vessel seized by pirates, confiscated weapons and arresting those suspected of piracy.

Most people can recall exactly where they were when they heard the tragic news of the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. From the service members who acted as first responders to the middle and high school students who are now defenders of freedom, that day symbolizes a painful time in history.

Now 10 years after that fateful day, security forces Airmen from Moody Air Force Base, Ga., took to the road Aug. 4 to 9 and completed a 143-mile portion of the Ruck March to Remember, which began at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, and will end Sept. 11 at Ground Zero.

U.S. officials say Pakistan likely gave China access to the wreckage of a stealth American helicopter that crashed during the raid that killed Osama bin Laden.

The New York Times and Financial Times newspapers quoted unnamed U.S. officials who said Pakistan's intelligence service is believed to have allowed Chinese engineers to photograph and even walk away with samples of the U.S. helicopter, which was equipped with special technology designed to allow the aircraft to elude radar.

Abbottabad raid

Amphibious transport dock ship USS New Orleans (LPD 18) hosted deck-landing qualifications (DLQs) for Marine Corps AH-1Z Cobra attack helicopters during a pre-deployment exercise, Aug. 11.

Declared combat-ready by the U.S. Marine Corps in September 2010, the AH-1Z Cobra will undergo its first operational deployment as part of Amphibious Squadron (PHIBRON) 5 later this year.

The helicopters are assigned to Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron (HMM) 268, part of the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit's aviation combat element.