A United States Air Force C-130 aircraft picks up speed readying for take-off from Hohenfels Training Area, July 29. The Air Force was testing the capabilities of the recently resurfaced and extended Short Take Off Landing strip, which had been restricted to large planes for the past two years. Now that the STOL has been cleared for use, Hohenfels provides the only dirt airstrip in Germany capable of supporting aircraft as large as the C-130 and is a key component in multinational air operations training. During the upcoming exercise, Swift Response 15, several NATO nations will make use of the STOL to test interoperability of air resources, to include aircraft and more than 1,400 multinational participants. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Jerry Boffen, 130th Public Affairs Detachment, Connecticut National Guard)