United States Marines from Bravo Company of the 1st Battalion of the 2nd Marines during an operation to clear the area of insurgents near Musa Qaleh, in northern Helmand Province, southern Afghanistan, Friday, July 23, 2010.







Lance Cpl. Jesse Raper, front, and Lance Cpl. Christopher Fisher, rear, team leaders with Company I, Battalion Landing Team 3/8, 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit, rehearse casualty evacuation procedures during Composite Training Unit Exercise aboard USS Kearsarge, July 20, 2010.



MIAN POSHTEH, AFGHANISTAN (8 JULY 2009) — Marines from 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade, Regimental Combat Team, 2nd Battalion, 8th Marines Echo Company, sleep together in an empty school that the Marines took over.


GARMSIR DISTRICT, HELMAND PROVINCE, AFGHANISTAN (10 July 2009) — Marines of 1st Combat Engineering Battalion of 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade rest in Garmsir district of Helmand Province. Marines launched a major offensive into the Taliban heartlands of southern Afghanistan 2 July as President Barack Obama's new war plan swung into action. With dozens of aircraft ferrying out troops from various bases, the assault aimed to insert forces into insurgent strongholds in Helmand province in what officers said was the biggest offensive airlift by the Marines since Vietnam. Operation Khanjar (Strike of the Sword), involving nearly 4,000 US forces as well as 650 Afghan police and soldiers, would bring security to the Helmand River valley ahead of presidential elections on 20 August.


NAWA DISTRICT, HELMAND PROVINCE, AFGHANISTAN (8 July 2009) — Marines from the 2nd MEB, 1st Battalion 5th Marines sleep in their fighting holes inside a compound where they stayed for the night, in the Nawa district, Wednesday.


MARJAH, HELMAND PROVINCE, AFGHANISTAN (23 February 2010) — Marines from 3rd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment rest after a three day operation in Marjah.


A US Marine Corps (USMC) Marine sniper, 1st Battalion (BN), 8th Marine Regiment (1/8), 1st Marine Division (MARDIV), looks through a hole in a wall from the top of a building for suspicious insurgent activity in Fallujah, Al Anbar Province, Iraq, while participating in a Security and Stabilization Operation (SASO) during Operation IRAQI FREEDOM


U.S. Marine Corps scout snipers with Regimental Combat Team 6 look out over the city from a bunker at Observation Post Sina'a in Fallujah, Iraq, Sept. 18, 2007



GARMSIR DISTRICT, HELMAND PROVINCE, AFGHANISTAN (15 August 2009) — Marines conduct a controlled detonation of the Herati wall of a compound in Garmsir district. Insurgents have used the compound for cover and concealment during several firefights with Marines over the past month. The Marines are assigned to Echo Company, 2nd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment.


CHINHAE, Republic of Korea (Aug. 20, 2009) Lance Cpl. Donald Cox III, of Huntley, Ill., from Fleet Anti-terrorism Security Team, Company Pacific (FASTPAC) demonstrates how to secure a pier at the Republic of Korea Chinhae Naval Base Command. Fleet Anti-terrorism Security Team companies maintain forward-deployed platoons at Navy installations around the world in order to quickly respond to crises and are frequently tasked to provide anti-terrorism and weapons training to other security personnel.


CHINHAE, Republic of Korea (Aug. 20, 2009) Marines from Fleet Anti-terrorism Security Team, Company Pacific (FASTPAC) secure a space during a simulated hostage scenario at Commander, Fleet Activities Chinhae. Fleet Anti-terrorism Security Team companies maintain forward-deployed platoons at Navy installations around the world in order to quickly respond to crises and are frequently tasked to provide anti-terrorism and weapons training to other security personnel.


PERSIAN GULF (Dec. 29, 2008) Marines from the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit (26th MEU) prepare to depart the multi-purpose amphibious assault ship USS Iwo Jima (LHD 7) for sustainment training in the Middle East. Iwo Jima and the 26th MEU are deployed as part of the Iwo Jima Expeditionary Strike Group supporting maritime security operations in the U.S. 5th Fleet area of responsibility