On Patrol

The average person would find service men and women performing plenty of unexpected jobs if they just strolled onto a military base. You can add snow sculpting to that list.

In what has become an annual cultural exchange, an American military team participated for the 28^th time last week in the Sapporo Snow Festival on the island of Hokkaido, Japan.

But according to Stars and Stripes, this year’s trip was especially poignant because of prior events:

This year was different, however, as some of the sailors involved carried with them the emotions and fellowship of having participated in relief operations after the March 11, 2011, earthquake and tsunami that devastated northern Japan.

As the six-sailor delegation finished their bust reprisal of the Navy’s iconic “Lone Sailor” statue, which is located at the U.S. Navy Memorial in Washington D.C., Chief Christopher “Billy” Knox said they decided to make a last-minute addition to the meticulously planned work of art.

Read more about their trip—and see photos of the snow sculptures—in Creating ice sculpture stirs emotions in US military team.

In other news around the military:

• The Army announced over the weekend that Brigadier General Terence J. Hildner died in Afghanistan on Friday. Hildner, 49, is the highest-ranking member of the U.S. military to die in the Afghanistan War. His death is under investigation, though it’s believed to be due to natural causes.
  
  
• ESPN chatted with a pair of service men who happen to be Giants fans about their experience watching their team win the Super Bowl from Schweinfurt, Germany.