150213-F-CJ989-039

by SSgt Kenneth Holston

150213-F-CJ989-039

U.S. Air Force Combat Control trainees assigned to Operating Location C, 342nd Training Squadron, take a quick break from field training to eat chow at Pope Army Airfield, N.C., Feb. 13, 2015. While sharing a Meal Ready to Eat the Airmen laughed about how much they dislike eating MRE’s in the cold. At the 342nd TRS both CCT and Special Operations Weather Team trainees go through four months of training to earn their berets upon graduation. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Kenny Holston)(Released)

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Photographer's Narrative

 

Embedding with a unit can sometimes be challenging for a photojournalist. You want the members in the unit to trust you and quickly get use to you and your camera so that they forget about you evening being there. Once this happens, a photographer is then truly able to make some of the most candid images. After being embedded with a unit of Airmen training to become Combat Controllers I was able to achieve this. They got comfortable with me quickly and most of the time it was like the camera wasn’t even there allowing me to catch those moments of quick happiness in an otherwise grueling and gritty combat training environment.