[laurenmarlowe]

Senior Airman Valerie Santa (left) and Airman 1st Class Justin Cole work on the engine of an MQ-1 Predator unmanned aerial vehicle Nov. 16 at Ali Base, Iraq. (U.S. Air Force photo/Airman 1st Class Jonathan Snyder)

Capt. Jeremy Boyd takes a few photographs Nov. 9 from the boom pod of a KC-135 Stratotanker during his final flight. Captain Boyd is a KC-135 pilot assigned to the 18th Wing at Kadena Air Base, Japan. (U.S. Air Force photo/Airman 1st Class Kelly Timney)

Army paratroopers from the 20th Engineering Brigade, 101st Airborne Division, Fort Campbell, Ky., clip onto a static line inside a C-17 Gloemeater III aircraft for an air drop into Cairo, Egypt, Nov. 10 as part of Exercise Bright Star 2007. The C-17 is from Charleston Air Force Base, S.C. (U.S Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Aaron Allmon)

[Kathy in Alaska]

Very cool pictures, lauren, of our troops hard at work.

I’ll bet SA Valerie Santa is in for some ribbing over the next month. I am in awe of the Predator and what it can do. And my favorite pics are the aerial refueling ones. And then there are the soldiers that jump out of a perfectly good airplane.