Photos US Forces In Afghanistan

23 August 2012. PFC Sean Serritelli provides security during a combat operation outside Combat Outpost Charkh in Logar Province. Serritelli is assigned to Company L, 1st Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment.
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CH-47D, lands on the roof of a house in Afghanistan to pick up suspects during Operation Mountain Resolve, approximately November 2003

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On Nov. 10, 2003, Chief Warrant Officer 3 Larry Murphy and Chief Warrant Officer 3 Paul Barnes were piloting a CH-47 Chinook helicopter in northeastern Afghanistan when they received a call to assist U.S. Soldiers who were operating on the ground.

The two pilots, members of the Pennsylvania National Guard’s Company G, 104th Aviation Regiment, responded to the location, a village on the side of a steep mountain. Soldiers from the Army’s 10th Mountain Division had detainees in custody that needed to be transported to Bagram Airfield.

With no other landing zones available, Murphy landed the helicopter’s two rear wheels on the roof of a small house while keeping the front wheels hovering to allow the Soldiers to load the detainees into the back of the aircraft.

Nearby, Army journalist Sgt. Greg Heath – a Delaware County, Pennsylvania, native – snapped a photo of the helicopter’s precarious perch atop the house. That photo has since become one of the most well-known photos of the 20-year conflict in Afghanistan.

While the photo of the landing has gone viral, Murphy said in actuality, it wasn’t that difficult of a maneuver.

“It was just another day on the job,” he said. “We didn’t think anything about it at the time. It was a little bit of a job getting it on there, but nothing we hadn’t done before.”
 
US Marines share water with an Afghan girl in Hamid Karzai International Airport during the evacuation, August 2021
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CIA Paramilitary Officers (Team Alpha), 1st day in Dara-I-Suf Valley, Afghanistan. October 2001
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Jack Carr in Kabul alongside two local Afghans. Carr would later author The Terminal List series and become a popular YouTuber
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CH-47D, lands on the roof of a house in Afghanistan to pick up suspects during Operation Mountain Resolve, approximately November 2003

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On Nov. 10, 2003, Chief Warrant Officer 3 Larry Murphy and Chief Warrant Officer 3 Paul Barnes were piloting a CH-47 Chinook helicopter in northeastern Afghanistan when they received a call to assist U.S. Soldiers who were operating on the ground.

The two pilots, members of the Pennsylvania National Guard’s Company G, 104th Aviation Regiment, responded to the location, a village on the side of a steep mountain. Soldiers from the Army’s 10th Mountain Division had detainees in custody that needed to be transported to Bagram Airfield.

With no other landing zones available, Murphy landed the helicopter’s two rear wheels on the roof of a small house while keeping the front wheels hovering to allow the Soldiers to load the detainees into the back of the aircraft.

Nearby, Army journalist Sgt. Greg Heath – a Delaware County, Pennsylvania, native – snapped a photo of the helicopter’s precarious perch atop the house. That photo has since become one of the most well-known photos of the 20-year conflict in Afghanistan.

While the photo of the landing has gone viral, Murphy said in actuality, it wasn’t that difficult of a maneuver.

“It was just another day on the job,” he said. “We didn’t think anything about it at the time. It was a little bit of a job getting it on there, but nothing we hadn’t done before.”
This was common with the fire support bases in Vietnam's northern areas. One of my favorite sightings was the small barges used to place 105mm Arty where ever it was needed, just nose into a bank and setup the stakes. The River boat gas stations were something to see as well.
 
Bravo Company 2/508 PIR 4BCT 82nd Airborne patrol over the higher LOC road in the Arghandab River Valley c.2010
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SPC Kyle Weber from 2/508, 4BCT, 82nd Airborne, taking a quick halt near a marijuana patch within the inner circle of the patrol during a combat patrol in the Arghandab River Valley c. 2010
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Bravo Company 2/508PIR, 4BCT 82nd Airborne coming off an IED site during a patrol through the Arghandab River Valley, 2010
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Headed back from a combat patrol with a busted foot is better than none at all!
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Providing overwatch at Antenna Checkpoint in the Arghandab River Valley, 2010
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In front of COP Johnston in the Arghandab River Valley, Afghanistan with 1st Platoon, Bravo Company 2/508 during 2010.
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Members of second platoon and HQ cross through one of the canals that wove their way throughout the landscape of the Arghandab River Valley in Afghanistan.

Seen in front is SPC Pressley keeping his M249 SAW out of the water. It was typical to carry this way due to the ability to keep the weapon out of the water, but have the other hand free to stop or control your fall.

The 100 round drum he is using was a woven canvas design that was preferred to 200 round plastic drums that were issued with the 5.56 belts of ammunition. Those would break off and get in the way of traversing the weapon if we got into a firefight while on patrol.

Chances were that you would expend the full 100 rounds in the initial 30 seconds anyway as the rest of the squad took up positions while the machine gunner provided cover through fire superiority to suppress and/or kill the enemy.
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SGT Logan after surviving a VEBID attack on COP Brunkhorst in the Arghandab River Valley, Afghanistan 2010
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Sergeant Logan feeling lucky after surviving the vehicle bombing of COP Brunk I that left about half of second platoon sent to Kandahar on medevac helicopters.

I believe I was told that they had cigars on hand for when we were on the ride out of the valley, but after that incident, the thought that any of them would be left alive to smoke them changed their minds on when they should be smoked.
 
Navy SEAL observes a weapons cache being destroyed in Eastern Afghanistan. 12 February 2002
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Soldiers from the 19th Special Forces Group drive through the village of Torkham. 13 February 2004
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