To coincide with the release of The Year in Special Operations 2012-2013, we thought it would be interesting to showcase some of the best photos depicting U.S. special operations forces. Some of these photos can be found in our print edition, while others couldn’t be included due to space considerations, but are nevertheless great photos of America’s “Quiet Professionals” at work.

A new aircraft entered U.S. inventory shortly after Oct. 1, 2005, when Air Force Special Operations Command activated the 319th Special Operations Squadron at Hurlburt Field, Fla. The squadron soon received six U-28A aircraft, the military version of the Swiss Pilatus PC-12, for intra-theater support of special operations forces. The Air Force activated a second U-28A squadron, the 34th SOS, on April on April 9, 2010.

Special Operations Forces, typically working in isolation in far forward positions that require stealth, must be largely self-reliant when it comes to combat medicine.

When Defense Secretary Leon Panetta publicly outlined the 2013 defense budget proposal on Jan. 26, 2012, he revealed a topline Pentagon request – a $525 base budget – lower than last year’s request of $531 billion, but higher than the $518 billion appropriated by Congress for FY 2012. The 2013 request for overseas contingency operations, mostly in Afghanistan, is $88.4 billion, significantly lower than the FY 2012 appropriation of $115 billion; this is mostly due to the Iraq drawdown.

Late on Friday, Sept. 14, 2012, a Taliban insurgent force of sappers attacked the NATO ISAF base, Camp Bastion, in Afghanistan, resulting in the worst loss of U.S. airpower in a single incident since the Vietnam War. Two Marines, including VMA-211’s commanding officer, were killed in the attack, and nine other personnel (eight military and one contractor, reportedly) were wounded.