Water RunningSecond Place, Sports. U.S. Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Reagan Lodge, Headquarters and Service Battalion, Marine Corps Base Quantico, conducts water running exercises during a physcal training session in Ramer Hall, The Basic School, on Marine Corps Base Quantico, Va. Sept. 14, 2011.LCpl. Sharon D. Kyle—U.S. Marine Corp
Ever since Matthew Brady trekked to Civil War battlefields documenting war and warriors, photography has been a critical way of showing what the rest of us cannot—or choose not to—witness. The Pentagon itself has long acknowledged the importance of photographs, and it has hundreds of photographers, some in uniform and some not, taking thousands of pictures every day.
Beginning in 1960 the best have competed to be the Military Photographer of the Year. This year’s contest included 3,500 entries submitted by 603 competitors.
In March, Colonel Jeremy M. Martin, who runs the Pentagon’s Defense Information School at Fort Meade, Md., announced the 2011 winners. A formal ceremony for the first-place winners in each category will be held on May 4. But in the meantime, LightBox looks at some of the powerful and harrowing images that were recognized this year.
To see more work, including winners of the year in video and graphics, take a look at the DINFOS awards website.
Frag Out!Second Place, Combat Documentation. Staff Sgt. Angel Alvarez, assigned to the Warrior Training Center at Fort Lee, Va., cocks back to throw a pyrotechnic grenade simulator into the sky during a night fire event for the 2011 Department of the Army Best Warrior Competition. Oct. 5, 2011. Sgt. Sean K. Harp—U.S. Army
Water RunningSecond Place, Sports. U.S. Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Reagan Lodge, Headquarters and Service Battalion, Marine Corps Base Quantico, conducts water running exercises during a physcal training session in Ramer Hall, The Basic School, on Marine Corps Base Quantico, Va. Sept. 14, 2011.LCpl. Sharon D. Kyle—U.S. Marine Corp
A Grand ViewFirst Place, Feature. Ken Swigart, 52, looks off into the Grand Canyon in Ariz., where the Flagstaff Community Toys For Tots Organization will make a delivery to the children of the Havasupai tribe. Swigart, a retired Navy lieutenant commander, and others join annually with U.S. Marines to deliver toys to the Native American tribe. Dec. 13, 2011.Sgt. A.J. Parson—U.S. Marine CorpAgainst Racing WaterSecond Place, Portrait / Personality. U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Patrick Reynolds, Security Forces squad leader attached to Provincial Reconstruction Team Zabul, fights racing water while holding onto a tow strap attached to an Afghan National Army vehicle stuck in the Lurah River in Shinkai District, Afghanistan. Oct. 12, 2011. Senior Airman Grovert Fuentes-Contreras—U.S. Air ForceMEDCAP 2011Honorable Mention, News. A local Cambodian woman smiles in excitement after receiving a pass to be seen by U.S military doctors during the Medical Civic Action Project held in Cambodia. Feb. 27-March 1, 2011.TSgt Aaron D. Allmon—U.S. Air Force
LossThird Place, News. U.S. Army Soldiers assigned to Company C, 2nd Battalion, 327th Infantry Regiment, Task Force No Slack, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, say farewell to fallen comrades during a memorial service for six fallen soldiers at Forward Operating Base Joyce in eastern Afghanistan's Kunar Province. Six troops were killed on the battlefield during combat operations a few weeks before. April 9, 2011. Sfc. Mark C. Burrell—U.S. Army
Department of Defense WorkshopHonorable Mention, Portrait / Personality. Forrest, a 19-year-old homeless youth, rolls a cigarette in Baltimore. Forrest and his friends, some of whom are absent without leave from the military and others who have been on their own since they were 14, travel from city to city. June 7, 2011. A1C Jodi D Martinez—U.S. Air ForceThe measure of an AirmanThird Place, Illustrative Photography. Former Senior Airman Brian Kolfage, a security forces airman, holds his wife, Ashley, on his lap as the couple looks out over the water on Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii. Kolfage was one of the first Airmen deployed to Iraq in 2003 at the beginning of Operation Iraqi Freedom. During a trip to the chow hall, a mortar flew over the walls of his camp and landed less than 10 feet from him. Kolfage barely escaped with his life and is the most injured surviving Airman from any war. Sept. 9, 2011.SrA Lauren R. Main—U.S. Air ForceReconstructionFirst Place, Portrait / Personality. U.S. Air Force Master Sergeant Keri Whitehead waits for a post-surgery exam at her plastic surgeon's office in Charleston, S.C. Keri underwent the first of three reconstructive surgeries after her battle with breast cancer. In the first surgery the doctors removed all of the breast tissue from Keri's left breast and then placed tissue expanders into both breast to allow stretching of the skin for future placement of breast implants. March 31, 2011.MSgt Jeremy Lock—U.S. Air ForceSurveying the JumpHonorable Mention, Feature. Members of the U.S. Army Parachute Team, Sgt. 1st Class John Berentis, from Yuma, Ariz., and Staff Sgt. Laura Dickmeyer, from Abilene, Texas, access the wind conditions prior to their pre-game jump into FedEx field for the Army vs. Navy game. MC1 Clifford L Davis / U.S. Navy
