Image 0 of 10Lt. Derrick Petett and Lt. Melissa Deardorff, EA-18G Growler pilots assigned to the "Shadowhawks" of Electronic Attack Squadron 141, fly above the aircraft carrier Ronald Reagan over the Arabian Sea Aug. 9. (Navy) Soldiers assigned to the 3d U.S. Infantry Regiment, “The Old Guard,” set off cannons during a performance of the 1812 Overture at the National Museum of the United States Army, Fort Belvoir, Va., Aug. 8. (Spc. Brandon Muniz/Army) Officer candidates with Alpha and Delta companies conduct the Montford Point Challenge at Officer Candidates School on Marine Corps Base Quantico, Va., Aug. 9. (Tia Dufour/Marine Corps) Air Force Heritage Flight Foundation pilot Stuart Milson, flies in formation with Maj. Kristin "BEO" Wolfe, F-35A Lightning II Demonstration Team pilot and commander, and Capt. Haden "Gator" Fullam, A-10 Demonstration Team pilot and commander, at the 2021 Thunder over Michigan Air Show Aug. 8 at Willow Run Airport, Mich. (Capt. Kip Sumner/Air Force) The amphibious assault ship Iwo Jima transits the Strait of Hormuz Aug. 4. (Seaman Logan Kaczmarek/Navy) Staff Sgt. Kyle Westen, an M1 armor crewman assigned to 3rd Battalion, 66th Armored Regiment, 1st Infantry Division, conducts maintenance checks on an M1 Abrams in Pabrade, Lithuania, July 26. (1st Lt. Caroline Pirchner/Army) Marines with Echo Company, 2nd Battalion, 23rd Marines, provide security during Integrated Training Exercise 4-21 at Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center, Twentynine Palms, Calif. July 30. (Sgt. JVonnta Taylor/Marine Corps) Staff Sgt. Alyssa Raines, a defender with the 442nd Security Forces Squadron at Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri, and student at the Integrated Defense Leadership Course, scans for opposing forces during an exercise at Camp James A. Garfield Joint Military Training Center, Ohio, July 22. (Eric M. White/Air Force) Lance Cpl. Jvan Burleson, a rifleman with 1st Battalion, 3d Marines, takes part in platoon attacks during Large Scale Exercise 2021 on Marine Corps Base Hawaii Aug. 6. (Cpl. Alexis Moradian/Marine Corps) Taliban fighters sit on a vehicle along a street in Jalalabad province Aug. 15. (AFP via Getty Images)
‘Is this Santa Claus?’ A misprinted ad and a good-hearted colonel sparked NORAD’s Christmas tradition