SOF pic of the day: Making a boat SOAR

Special Warfare Combatant-craft Crewmen from Special Boat Team 12, stationed at Naval Base Coronado, Calif., with the help of aviators from 4th Battalion, 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, stationed at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash., conducted a Maritime External Air Transportation System (MEATS) training evolution in Moses Lake, Wash., May 21. MEATS is a way to move a watercraft from a point on land or water to somewhere else using an Army MH-47G Chinook helicopter. The crewmen rig the boat to the helicopter as it hovers above, and then climb a rope ladder to board the helicopter before moving to the final destination, where they will slide down a rope to the boat before the helicopter disconnects the hoist cables.

U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Christopher Prows, 5th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment) (Photo Credit: Sgt. Christopher Prows)