U.S. airman prepare a training scenario using a mock improvised explosive device during practice operations on Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan, March 13, 2012. The airmen are assigned to the 966th Explosive Ordnance Disposal Flight Operating Location-Bravo, which partnered with the Afghan National Army to train soldiers in ordnance disposal. U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Greg Biondo.
HELMAND PROVINCE, Afghanistan (March 7, 2012) Marine Corps Brig. Gen. John J. Broadmeadow, commanding general of 1st Marine Logistics Group (Forward), speaks with Seabees assigned to Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 11 during a visit to Camp Krutke, Camp Leatherneck and a tour of ALFA Yard presented. With Broadmeadow are Cmdr. Lore Aguayo, commanding officer of NMCB-11, Lt. Cmdr. Ryan Carey, operations officer of NMCB-11, and Lt. Bryan K. Wilson, ALFA company commander. NMCB-11 is deployed to Afghanistan to conduct general, mobility, survivability engineering operations, defensive operations, Afghan National Army partnering and detachment of units in combined/joint operations area-Afghanistan in order to enable the neutralization of the insurgency and support improved governance and stability operations. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Jonathan Carmichael.
U.S. Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Benjamin Cool, left, ties a detonation cord as Lance Cpl. Josh Czerepka places several blocks of explosives into an insurgent firing position at an undisclosed location in Afghanistan, March 5, 2012. Cool and Czerepka are combat engineers assigned to the 1st Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. James Mercure.
U.S. Marines with Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 6 conduct pre-combat checks before a security patrol in Kajaki, Helmand province, Afghanistan Feb. 19, 2012. To help Marines identify the stages of operational stress, the Operational Stress Control and Readiness, OSCAR, program is taught to all infantry battalions across the Marine Corps. Keeping with a long-standing tradition of small unit leadership, the OSCAR program teaches leaders at all levels how to get their Marines the help they may need. U.S. Marine Corps Photo by: Sgt. Albert J. Carls
BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan – Capt. Ronald Johnson, 335th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron F-15E Strike Eagle pilot (right) talks with ISAF Commander Marine Gen. John Allen (left) prior to his F-15E Strike Eagle orientation flight Nov. 17, 2011, at Bagram Airfield. During General Allen’s flight he experienced close air support firsthand. U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Krista Rose.
U.S. Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta, right, and U.S. Marine Corps. Maj. Gen. Mark Gurganus, commanding general of NATO Regional Command Southwest, walk on the tarmac after Panetta's arrival on Camp Bastion, Afghanistan, March 14, 2012. DOD photo by Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Chad J. McNeeley.
U.S. Army soldiers cordon off the town square of a small village near Combat Outpost Yosef Khel in Afghanistan's Paktika province on March 10, 2012. The soldiers helped Afghan forces conduct traffic check points near the village. DoD photo by Sgt. Ken Scar, U.S. Army.
U.S. Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta addresses Georgian soldiers deployed to Forward Operating Base Shukvani, Afghanistan, March 14, 2012. Panetta is on a four-day trip to the region meeting with counterparts, leaders and service members. DOD photo by U.S. Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Chad J. McNeeley.
U.S. Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta speaks with Afghan President Hamid Karzi after counterpart talks in Kabul, Afghanistan, March 15, 2012. DOD photo by U.S. Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Chad J. McNeeley.
U.S. Marines and Afghan soldiers attend an all-hands call with U.S. Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta on Camp Leatherneck, Afghanistan, March 14, 2012. Panetta is on a four-day trip to the region to meet with counterparts, leaders and service members. DOD photo by U.S. Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Chad J. McNeeley.
More than 300 Marines and sailors with the II Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward) command element returned home after a year-long deployment to Helmand province, Afghanistan, over the last several days. Photo by Staff Sgt. Jeremy Ross.
U.S. Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta addresses nearly 200 U.S., Afghan and coalition troops during a town hall meeting on Camp Leatherneck, Afghanistan, March 14, 2012. Panetta expressed his thanks for the sacrifices the troops have made during combat operations in Afghanistan. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Michael Cifuentes.
Staff Sgt. Eric Maschmeier, aerial sensor operator, Bravo Company, 306th Aerial Exploitation Battalion, Task Force Observe, Detect, Identify, and Neutralize - Afghanistan, and resident of Anchorage, Alaska, checks the equipment onboard the King Air 300 prior to flight March 8. The enlisted soldiers of Company B operate and maintain the collection equipment onboard the aircraft throughout their 12 month deployment, accruing hundreds of flight hours over the skies of Afghanistan. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Jack Carlson III.
U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Shawn Joyce shields his face from blowing snow and rotor as a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter lands nearby in , March 1, 2012. Joyce is a career counselor assigned to Task Force Poseidon. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Donna Davis.
