These were the best military photographs of 2014

Earlier this year, a panel of judges based in Fort Meade, Maryland made their selections for the 2014 Military Photographer awards. 

The judges handed out awards to military photographers for their amazing work in ten different categories including Sports, Pictorial, and Combat Documentation (Operational). The judges have also named the overall best military photographer for 2014. 

Air Force Staff Sgt. Vernon Young was selected as the Military Photographer of the year. His photos ranged from evocative portraits of Afghans to scenes of US forces training before deployment. 

Here are some of the top photos, which capture the individual challenges, pressures, and triumphs of US military service.

"Recon Patrols" (First Place: Combat Documentation, Operational)

Soldiers assigned to Palehorse Troop, 4th Squadron, 2nd Calvary Regiment move over rough terrain during Operation Alamo Scout 13, Kandahar Province, Afghanistan, on Feb. 10, 2014. The operation was a joint effort between Palehorse troops and the Afghan National Army's 205th Corps Mobile Strike Force to conduct reconnaissance patrols in villages around Kandahar Airfield.

"Wounded Warrior" (Second Place: Combat Documentation, Operational)

Casualties airlifted by an Afghan Air Force C-130 Hercules from a Taliban attack on Camp Bastion are offloaded on Dec. 1, 2014 at Kabul International Airport. The Afghan military successfully repelled the attack on the camp, and had been given control of the base by coalition forces a month earlier.

"Afghan Gunner" (Third Place: Combat Documentation, Operational)

An Afghan Air Force (AAF) Mi-17 aerial gunner fires an M-240 machine gun while flying over a weapons range on March 13, 2014, near Kabul, Afghanistan. US Air Force airmen from the 438th Air Expeditionary Wing/NATO Air Training Command-Afghanistan flew a night-vision goggle training mission with an AAF aircrew to further increase the operational capability of the AAF.