Clear, Hold, Build. The People are the Prize. The Best Weapons in a COIN Fight Do Not Shoot.

These are the ideas that were supposed to win the war. But the war wasn’t fought in Power Point, it was won or lost every day in the dusty lanes and spare villages of southern and eastern Afghanistan, in thousands of small interactions, encounters, arguments, village raids, IED blasts, and tea summits between the US military and the Afghan people. 

Lt. Stuhler has a heart to heart with Haji Najibullah, Marjah.

A boy watches Spc. Don Ezra Plemmons buy supplies, Sayedabad.

Hills and valleys, Chamkani, Paktia. 

After an attack on the COP, Arghandab district, Kandahar.

An elderly man argues with Sgt. Timothy Stokes during a patrol in Marjah.

An evening swim in one of the US built canals, Marjah.

A pair of brothers cry as US soldiers take their father away for interrogation.

Biometric screening, Musa Khel district, Khost.

Cpt. Zepeda makes things clear for Haji Bozgul during a shura at COP Turbett.

Able Co. of the 1-506 Infantry Battalion get haircuts at COP Chamkani in Paktia.

Deployment reading rests on a wubby in the Arghandab valley.

Soldiers at rest in the Arghandab Valley.

Night falls on JSS Commanche, Tangi Valley, Wardak Province.

Illum rounds light up the hills along the Khost- Gardez Pass, Paktia province.

An Afghan Policeman, asleep outside of Kandahar City.

MRAP and cows, Sabari. 

A letter from Marine Lnc. Cpl. Kaleb Lacy's fiance, Chor-Cherey.

Sgt. Stokes conducts a pre-mission brief before a patrol, COP Turbett.

A dog lunges at a soldier during a house search in Lachikhel, Tangi Valley.

Sgt. Thomas Burke conducts a search during an air assault in the Tangi Valley.

An Afghan Army soldier attacks a civilian after a firefight, Marjah.

Pfc. Tyler Schell on patrol at dusk, Tangi Valley.

Lnc. Cpl. Mullins fires a LAW rocket at insurgents during a fight in Marjah.

ANA soldiers assault Mulik, who they suspect of insurgent ties in Sabari district, Khost province.

Soldiers with Alpha Co. 1-502nd Battalion, 2nd Brigade, 101st Airborne Division carry a dog they shot in Chapahar, Nangarhar Province

Women and children gather as Marines search their compound, Helmand.

2-1 Kandak of the Afghan 203 Corps ride back to camp in Musa Khel, Khost province.

Heading out to man an all night checkpoint, COP Babur.

A pull string, attached to a live IED left after a firefight, Chor-Cherey, Marjah.

Cpl. Eric Hopp rushes to save Cpl. Manuel Jimenez after he is hit with an IED on patrol in Marjah.

Cpl. Jimenez is carried across the canal. He lost his left arm in the blast.

Lt. Matthew Stuhler sits up with Afghan soldiers after they lose seven of their own, Marjah.

Soldiers salute at the ramp ceremony for Sgt. Patrick K. Durham and Spc. Andrew J. Castro killed in Babur. Kandahar Air Field.

Exhaustion after a rocket attack, COP Wilderness, Paktia. 

Officers arrive for a fallen soldier ceremony, Chamkani, Paktia.