US soldiers from HHB 3-7 Field Artillery Regiment 3rd Bct 25th ID peer through their rifle scopes during a mission in Turkham Nangarhar, bordering Pakistan, on September 30, 2011. Turkham is a border crossing town in the Nangarhar province of Afghanistan and the Khyber Agency of Pakistan’s Federally Administered Tribal Areas. (AFP PHOTO/Tauseef MUSTAFA)
U.S. soldiers from Charlie Battery, 321st Field Artillery Regiment fire a 155MM M777 howitzer at a Taliban enemy position from Forward Operating Base (FOB) Bostic, in Kunar province, eastern Afghanistan September 28, 2011. (REUTERS/Erik De Castro)
U.S. soldiers from Charlie Battery, 321st Field Artillery Regiment prepare to fire another round of 155MM M777 howitzer at a Taliban enemy position from Forward Operating Base (FOB) Bostic, in Kunar province, eastern Afghanistan September 28, 2011. (REUTERS/Erik De Castro)
U.S. soldiers from Charlie Battery, 321st Field Artillery Regiment fire a 155MM M777 howitzer at a Taliban enemy position from Forward Operating Base (FOB) Bostic, in Kunar province, eastern Afghanistan September 28, 2011. (REUTERS/Erik De Castro)
Smoke rises in Kunar province mountain ridges after U.S. military’s Apache helicopters attacked the Taliban positions as seen in a bunker of U.S. soldiers from Task Force “No Fear” Alpha Co 2-27 Infantry “The Wolfhounds” in Combat Outpost Pirtle King, in eastern Afghanistan September 27, 2011. Two Talibans were killed while another was wounded and captured after a joint U.S.-Afghan military engaged them in firefight, supported by mortar and helicopter attacks at the Taliban position on Tuesday near Combat Outpost Pirtle King in Kunar province. (REUTERS/Erik De Castro)
U.S. soldiers from Task Force “No Fear” Alpha Co 2-27 Infantry “The Wolfhounds” fire a 120mm mortar at the Taliban position from Combat Outpost (COP) Pirtle King in Ghaziabad district in Kunar province, eastern Afghanistan September 27, 2011. (REUTERS/Erik De Castro)
A U.S. soldier with Task Force Bronco, 3rd Brigade, 25th Infantry Division, looks through his sight at the village of Wanat Sept 22.
A U.S. Soldier with Task Force Bronco, 3rd Brigade, 25th Infantry Division, looks out into a valley while manning a .50-caliber machine gun Sept. 22.
Brig. Gen. Gary Volesky, Combined Joint Task Force-1 and Regional Command-East Deputy Commanding General รข Maneuver, talks to troops from Task Force Bronco, 3rd Brigade, 25th Infantry Division, near Wanat Village, Afghanistan, Sept. 22.