Military Photographer of the Year Winner 1997 Title: U.N. Peace Keeping Category: Picture Story; Portfolio Place: 1ST Place Portfolio Exact Date Shot Unknown Caption: It was an unusual sight to see the U.S. Army's 82nd Airborne Division from Fort Bragg amongst this extremely dry and starkly barren land. It was the same region Genghis Khan conquered over 800 years ago, and until recently Soviet troops ruled with an iron fist. Instead, these former Cold War enemies were smiling, laughing and dancing together, showing off their weapons, shaking hands and even occasionally embracing one another. More than 500 American soldiers who literally "dropped in" to the Central Asian countries of ...

The original finding aid described this photograph as:

[Complete] Scene Caption: Military Photographer of the Year Winner 1997 Title: U.N. Peace Keeping Category: Picture Story; Portfolio Place: 1st Place Portfolio Exact Date Shot Unknown Caption: It was an unusual sight to see the U.S. Army`s 82nd Airborne Division from Fort Bragg amongst this extremely dry and starkly barren land. It was the same region Genghis Khan conquered over 800 years ago, and until recently Soviet troops ruled with an iron fist. Instead, these former Cold War enemies were smiling, laughing and dancing together, showing off their weapons, shaking hands and even occasionally embracing one another. More than 500 American soldiers who literally "dropped in" to the Central Asian countries of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan where instead of conflict they were welcomed with open arms. Following three in-air refuelings that kept the aircraft aloft, they jumped out of the C-17 airplane and into American military history. The flight was recorded as the longest associated with an airborne jump. Once on the ground, soldiers began a peacekeeping training mission, including interaction with armies from Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Latvia, Georgia and NATO ally Turkey.

Base: Chirchik

Country: Kazakhstan (KAZ)

Scene Camera Operator: STAFF SGT. Gary R. Coppage

Release Status: Released to Public
Combined Military Service Digital Photographic Files