HELPING HAND

U.S. Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class Victor Castro, left, helps Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Josue Hernandez climb up a ravine during a partnered patrol with Afghan soldiers in Sagin in Afghanistan's Helmand province, Feb. 20, 2012. Castro, a corpsman, and Hernandez, a rifleman, are assigned to India Company, 3rd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment. The Marines trained the Afghan soldiers to patrol on their own with the Marines in a support role. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Timothy Lenzo

MAN OVERBOARD

U.S. Navy sailors aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Bonhomme Richard launch a rigid-hull inflatable boat while responding to a man overboard alert while under way in the Pacific Ocean, Feb. 26, 2012. The alert turned out to be a false alaram. The sailors are members of the Bonhomme Richard's small boat crew and are en route to relieve the USS Essex in Sasebo, Japan. U.S. Navy photo by Joe Kane

PROUD SURVIVOR

Marine Corps Cpl. Aaron P. Mankin, an Iraq War veteran, tells the story of his facial reconstruction while attending a reception to honor Iraq War veterans in Crystal City, Va., Feb. 29, 2012. Mankin survived a bomb blast May 11, 2005, and said he has had more than 60 surgeries as the first patient of a reconstruction program at the University of California at Los Angeles. About 80 such veterans gathered at the reception before going to the White House attend a dinner in their honor. DOD photo by Linda Hosek

IRAQ WAR VETERAN AND SONNY

Marine Corps Cpl. Steven Schulz, an Iraq War veteran who relies on Sonny, his seeing-eye dog, talks with friends at a reception to honor Iraq War veterans in Crystal City, Va., Feb. 29, 2012. Schulz, who did two tours in Iraq in 2004 and 2005, lost an eye while serving in Iraq. About 80 Iraw War veterans attended the reception before heading to the White House to attend a dinner hosted by President Barack Obama in their honor. DOD photo by Linda Hosek

WELCOME VETERANS

Marine Corps Sgt. Maj. Bryan B. Battaglia, senior enlisted advisor to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, welcomes about 80 Iraqi Freedom and New Dawn veterans at a reception in Crystal City, Va., Feb. 29, 2012. The veterans later attended a dinner at the White House in their honor hosted by President Barack Obama. DOD photo by Linda Hosek

BUDGET GESTURE

Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta gestures as he testifies on the fiscal 2013 authorization for the defense budget request before the House Budget Committee in Washington, D.C., Feb. 29, 2012. DOD photo by Glenn Fawcett

BUDGET COMMITTEE

Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, center, chairman of the House Budget Committee, and committee members listen as Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta testifies on the fiscal 2013 defense budget authorization in Washington, D.C., Feb. 29, 2012. DOD photo by Glenn Fawcett

DEMPSEY REMARKS

Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, testifies on the fiscal 2013 defense authorization budget request before the House Budget Committee in Washington, D.C., 29, 2012. DOD photo by Glenn Fawcett