This Week’s Top Military Photos: Sparky Didn’t Threaten This Colonel … Allegedly

U.S. Air Force Col. Ronald D. Schochenmaier, 18th Wing vice commander, signs the 2022 Fire Prevention Proclamation at Kadena Air Base, Japan. — U.S. Air Force Col. Ronald D. Schochenmaier, 18th Wing vice commander, signs the 2022 Fire Prevention Proclamation at Kadena Air Base, Japan, Sept. 29, 2022. (Tech. Sgt. Micaiah Anthony/U.S. Air Force photo)

Military.com | By Drew F. Lawrence

Published September 30, 2022

This week in the military, the Afghan Adjustment Act – a bill meant to provide more permanency for Afghan allies and their families evacuated after the fall of Kabul – is facing pushback in Congress as veterans hold 24/7 protests outside of the Capitol. The sailor accused of burning down a Navy ship in 2020 was acquitted; the new Space Force song received mixed reviews; and military health care is dropping thousands of pharmacies next month.

Episode 6 of Fire Watch is out today: The Proof of Service that Sailors Just Can’t Get on Time. Tune in wherever you get your podcasts.

Two reduced-range practice rockets (RRPR), fired from an M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) attached to Baker Battery, 3rd Battalion, 321st Field Artillery Regiment, 18th Fires Brigade, fly over the Baltic Sea during a Latvian-led combined military exercise in Liepāja, Latvia.

High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) launch across the Baltic Sea during a military exercise in Latvia. (Spc. Ellison Schuman/U.S. Army photo)

Sparky the Fire Dog stands by as Air Force Col. Ronald D. Schochenmaier, vice commander of the 18th Wing, signs the 2022 Fire Prevention Proclamation in Japan – probably under duress from the looks of it. (Tech. Sgt. Micaiah Anthony/U.S. Air Force photo)

A sailor, assigned to the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Gonzalez (DDG 66), embraces their partner upon returning to Naval Station Norfolk after a regularly scheduled deployment in the U.S. 5th Fleet and U.S. 6th Fleet areas of operations.

A sailor assigned to the USS Gonzalez embraces their partner after returning from deployment. (Mass Communication 2nd Class Nathan T. Beard/U.S. Navy photo)

U.S. Navy sailors assigned to the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Paul Ignatius (DDG 117) fire pencil flares during training.

Sailors pop what looks like spicy champagne – or fire pencil flares, as they are officially called – on the USS Paul Ignatius during a training exercise. (Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Aaron Lau/U.S. Navy photo)

U.S. Air Force Airman 1st Class Marissa Stove, 81st Diagnostic and Therapeutics Squadron diet technician, applies moulage to her leg during moulage training at Keesler Air Force Base, Mississippi, Sept. 28, 2022. (Kemberly Groue/U.S. Air Force photo)

An airman applies “moulage” to her leg to simulate a wound during training. (Kemberly Groue/U.S. Air Force photo)

U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Angelica Clark, a maintenance management specialist assigned to III Marine Expeditionary Force Information Group, celebrates with a student at Suginoko Preschool in Kin, Okinawa, Japan, Sept. 29, 2022.

A Marine high-fives a student at a preschool in Okinawa, Japan, during a “language and culture” exchange community event. (Lance Cpl. Bridgette Rodriguez/U.S. Marine Corps photo)

U.S. Navy petty officers first class, selected for promotion to chief petty officer, participate in a climbing evolution during Chief Petty Officer Heritage Weeks in Boston.

Sailors … hangin’ out … during the “climbing evolution” portion of a promotion ceremony. (Seaman Andrea Wilson/U.S. Navy photo)

-- Drew F. Lawrence can be reached at drew.lawrence@military.com. Follow him on Twitter @df_lawrence.

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Drew F. Lawrence

Drew F. Lawrence is a reporter for Military.com, specializing in covering the Marine Corps while hosting, writing and producing the publication's flagship podcast, Fire Watch. An Army veteran who served as a cavalry officer, he joined Military.com from a Military Veterans in Journalism (MVJ) fellowship at CNN, where he covered defense stories. Drew won MVJ’s Top 10 Veterans in Journalism award in 2022. Read Full Bio

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