Pictures from the Front Lines

U.S. Army Second Lt. Mark Lucas briefs his soldiers before a combat logistics patrol mission on Forward Operating Base Arian in Afghanistan’s Ghazni province, July 8, 2012. Mission briefs are mandatory for every soldier who will take part in the mission. Lucas, a platoon leader, is assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division’s 307th Brigade Support Battalion, 1st Brigade Combat Team.

U.S. Army paratroopers fire an M777A2 cannon during a firing demonstration for visiting Command Sgt. Maj. William Johnson, ISAF – Joint Command command sergeant major, on Forward Operating Base Shank in Logar province, Afghanistan, July 12, 2012. The paratroopers are assigned to Battery A, 4th Battalion, 319th Airborne Field Artillery Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team and are on their 4th deployment to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.

U.S. Navy Hospitalman Derek Happel, front, and U.S. Marine Corps Cpl. Alexander Vanny, team leader, conduct a patrol in Sangin, Helmand province, Afghanistan, July 11, 2012. Happel and Vanny are assigned to 3rd Platoon, Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 6. The Marines conducted the patrol in support of Afghan forces during Operation Gospand-Sia.