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  • Extremists attempt to delay Afghan road progress

    Extremists hijacked the driver of a tractor trailer here July 10 destroying $200,000 worth of heavy construction equipment earmarked for reconstruction projects throughout the Panjshir Valley. The driver was forced by several Taliban members to divert the truckload of equipment off the Herat-Kandahar Road into the desert near the city of Chakau.
  • Master Sgt. Deidre McClain helps load cargo on a C-130 Hercules here. Sergeant McClain is a duty officer in the Air Terminal Operations Center.

    ATOC handles tons of cargo but can also help a single Airman

    Tech. Sgt. William Long likes a challenge, but a couple weeks ago, one challenge seemed insurmountable. Air Force officials notified an Airman deployed to a remote forward operating base that his wife was gravely ill. The Air Force placed him on emergency leave then tried to figure a way to get him from the Afghan frontier to the United States. As
  • Tech. Sgt. Philip Lester hurridly unloads a 455th Air Expeditionary Wing C-130 Hercules on Tarin Kowt?s dirt runway. In 114-degree temperatures and prop wash from the Herc, the temperatures behind the plane reach to about 140 degrees.

    Pit stops in 'hot' zone require quick off-loads for aircrews

    When people deployed to Afghanistan say a location is “hot,” it could mean one of two things. Either it feels like the sun is closer than the moon, or the enemy is lurking about. Here, both meanings apply. For pilots, that equates to making quick pit stops here so they can get in and out of this danger zone as quickly as possible. For Tech. Sgt.
  • Army Sgt. Michael Sottile stands guard with an M-249 squad automatic weapon in the turret of an armored HUMVEE providing security for the opening of a bridge in Parwan Province, Afghanistan. Sergeant Sottile, from the Connecticut National Guard, is a member of the Bagram Provincial Reconstruction team which is performing security, interfacing with the Parwan government and leading reconstruction efforts. (US Air Force photo/Maj. David Kurle)

    PRT repairs past while bridging to Afghanistan's future

    "Meeting and helping new people in a foreign country with lots of travel" may sound like a help-wanted ad but it almost describes the job of a member of one of the U.S. military's provincial reconstruction teams in Afghanistan. Except this job takes place in a combat zone and a PRT is one of the most effective "non-kinetic" solutions to Operation
  • British Army Lieutenant Colonels Felix Gedney (left) and Gary Bateman are riding from Kabul, Afghanistan to Monchengladbach, Germany to raise awareness and money for the Sandy Gall Afghanistan Appeal charity. The organization provides artificial limbs and mobility aids for Afghan patients, primarily landmine victims. The pair visited the Panjshir Provincial Reconstruction Team June 30 on the first leg of their journey. (Courtesy photo by Air Force Tech. Sgt. John Cumper).

    British military officers ride motorcycles for Afghan charity

    Two British military officers are riding motorcycles from Afghanistan to Germany to raise money for a charity benefiting Afghans with birth defects and those injured by landmines. British Army Lt. Cols. Felix Gedney and Gary Bateman are riding from Kabul, Afghanistan, to Monchengladbach, Germany, to raise awareness and money for the Sandy Gall
  • Two Afghan men on crutches cross a newly constructed bridge linking the village of Nawaj and other mountain villages to a main road in the Parwan Province of Afghanistan. The bridge, an initiative of the Parwan government and supported by the U.S. military's Bagram Provincial Reconstruction Team, is the first step in a transportation and flood control project for the Parwan area. (U.S. Air Force photo/Maj. David Kurle)

    U.S., Parwan governments build 'bridge to future'

    In the culmination of more than a year's efforts, the Parwan deputy governor cut the ribbon on a bridge July 11 in the northern part of this province connecting Afghans to their country. The new bridge spans a river in the mountains and was built with the future in mind as it accommodates both foot and vehicle traffic. It will connect 600 to 700
  • Airman 1st Class Steven Land hammers in a nail to make way for an outdoor light fixture at a field hospital run by the Egyptian Military at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan. Airman Land is part of the 755th Prime BEEF engineers deployed to Bagram from Kadena Air Base, Japan. The Prime BEEF team has completed and started numerous projects while deployed to Bagram including upgrading the electrical wiring for the field hospital. (US Air Force photo/Maj. David Kurle)

    Prime Beef builds better bases

    The more than 10,000 people deployed here may not have heard of the 755th Prime BEEF engineers, but nearly all have benefited from their work. For six months the base engineer emergency force, deployed from Kadena Air Base, Okinawa, Japan, has not only kept Bagram in the fight against extremists, but has made life better for the base’s residents.
  • Master Sgt. Robert Jackson inspects a 30-mm round for an A-10 Thunderbolt II in the munitions storage area for Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan, on July 7. Sergeant Jackson is a member of the Air Force Reserve deployed to Bagram as a munitions specialist. He and other munitions Airmen receive, inspect, store, assemble and deliver ordnance used on aircraft and in small arms. (U.S. Air Force photo/Maj. David Kurle)

    'Ammo' Airmen arm Bagram's war fighters

    Bombs, bullets and explosives are hazardous to friend and foe alike but are handled with care by the men and women who work in the 455th Expeditionary Maintenance Squadron Munitions Flight. Known as "ammo" troops, the Airmen of the munitions flight here handle all of the bombs, ammunition, defensive ordnance, explosives and bullets used by the Air
  • Tech. Sgt. Scott Avery sorts spent 30 mm shell casings during an ammunition loading operation for an A-10 Thunderbolt II at Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan, on Sunday, July 16. Weapons loaders use a machine, called an automatic loading assembly, to simultaneously download old ammunition and upload new ammunition for the A-10's 30 mm rotating cannon. Sergeant Avery is an Air Force Reserve weapons loader deployed from the 442nd Fighter Wing at Whiteman Air Force Base, Mo. (U.S. Air Force photo/Maj. David Kurle)

    Line 'em up

  • Members of the 455th Air Expeditionary Wing celebrate Independence Day at Bagram Airfifeld, Afghanistan, by participating in a flag ceremony July 4.

    Celebrating Independence

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