'Week in Photos' highlights Airmen around the world

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SAN ANTONIO (AFNEWS) --  Airmen are deployed around the globe every day to support operations ranging from humanitarian missions and coalition exercises to fighting terrorism with airpower.

The "Week In Photos" Web feature on Air Force Link provides visitors ten photos that feature Airmen at war. It is a brief but dramatic view of the week's events. 

Images of Airmen supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom are a prominent theme this week, with photos submitted by photographers including Staff Sgt. Michael R. Holzworth and Tech. Sgt. Cecilio M. Ricardo Jr. 

Sergeant Holzworth captured a busy moment at the staging facility at Balad Air Base, Iraq, as Airmen prepare injured warfighters for airlift out of the theater of operations. Tech. Sgt. Sean Devine and Senior Airman Ricardo Reveles help load injured Soldiers onto a medical evacuation C-17 Globemaster III Feb. 21, departing for Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany. At LRMC, the patients will receive further care for their wounds or be stabilized for transportation back to the United States. 

An image of an Air Force KC-135 Stratotanker from the 340th Expeditionary Air Refueling Squadron as it refuels a Royal Air Force GR-4 Tornado over Iraq shows the coalition team in action. The tanker is using the multi-point refueling system which allows for the versatility to refuel Air Force, Navy and coalition aircraft all in the same mission.

Another look within the walls of Balad Air Base shows the T-barriers used to protect the base populace. An Airman walks between a row of the large barriers. Most Airmen assigned to the base live in a compound surrounded by towering T-barriers. They act as a line of defense against stray bullets and blast protection from mortar attacks. This intricate network of pathways serves as a shield for more than 3,300 Airmen.

Sergeant Ricardo conveys just how precious shut-eye is in a war zone with his image of a sleeping surgeon at the Air Force Theater Hospital at Balad Air Base, Iraq. The photojournalist happened to catch cardio-thoracic surgeon Lt. Col. (Dr.) Jerry Pratt as he takes advantage of a brief moment of down time Feb. 21 in a room adjacent to the emergency room. The hospital has a survival rate of 98 percent, the highest ever in a war zone. 

A half a world away from Balad, Maj. Michael Osterhoudt, deployed with 820th Expeditionary Red Horse Squadron, assesses a woman's eyesight Feb. 26 while participating in Medical Readiness Training Exercises in Santa Teresa, Nicaragua, during New Horizons-Nicaragua 2007. Major Osterhoudt is from Beale Air Force Base, Calif. 

Photos representing these stories are just five of 10 photos highlighted in the "Week in Photos" section that features America's Air Force, your Air Force, in action. 

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