A Marine artilleryman walks to position during a gunfight with insurgents in Marjah on June 20, 2010.  (Dianna Cahn/Stars and Stripes)

Sgt. Henry Vega, of Rio Grande, Puerto Rico, a soldier with Company B, 1st Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, returns fire on Taliban gunmen shooting at a small outpost near the village of Ashoque in Zhari district, Kandahar province, Afghanistan, on Dec. 3, 2009. (Drew Brown/Stars and Stripes)

Spc. Brandon Davidson, of Lake Placid, Fla., grabs more M203 grenade rounds to fire at enemy fighters who had advanced within a couple of hundred meters of a U.S. hilltop position during combat operations May 17, 2008, in the Narang Valley, in Kunar Province, Afghanistan. (Drew Brown/Stars and Stripes)

A Canadian soldier covers his ears as Staff Sgt. Aaron Kim, 28, of Scottsdale, Ariz., of  Company B, 1st Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment fires an anti-tank rocket at a spot where Taliban gunmen are believed to be hiding on a nearby mountainside near the village of Ashoque in Zhari district, Kandahar province, Afghanistan, on Dec. 3, 2009.  (Drew Brown/Stars and Stripes)

Taliban fighters continue to fire sporadically on the Marines as they seek cover inside the building and try to ascertain where their attackers are hiding so they can turn the tide of battle March 20, 2010, in Marjah, Afghanistan. (Drew Brown/Stars and Stripes)

The Taliban have broken off their attack within the first 20 minutes of a March 10, 2010, battle in Marjah, but as tired and ragged Marines filter in from the patrol, they take up defensive positions inside the building, in case the fighters decide to strike again.  (Drew Brown/Stars and Stripes)

With his patient taken away, Navy Corpsman Jonathan Duhart takes a smoke break as he and his Marines try to dissect how the March 10, 2010, attack happened and how their fellow Marine was hit during the battle in Marjah.(Drew Brown/Stars and Stripes)

Spc. Nick Hoefler, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 4th Brigade Combat Team,10th Mountain Division comes under fire outside a makeshift bunker used by U.S. troops during a battle June 11, 2011, with insurgents in the Azra district of Logar province. (Martin Kuz/Stars and Stripes)

Cpl. Jody Lewis, of Durant, Okla., returns fire after an insurgent attack on the command camp during Operation Dagger Fury July 28, 2011, outside FOB Shank, Afghanistan. (Neil Shea/Stars and Stripes)

Spc. Sean Curran, of Philadelphia, takes a smoke at dusk following an insurgent attack in the Araban Valley, Wardak province on July 28, 2011. Behind him sits Sgt. Jayson Legg, of Fort Polk, La. (Neil Shea/Stars and Stripes)

Cpl. Kevin Foster fires a 7.62mm machine gun at Taliban gunmen, while Warrant Officer Mike Saunders takes coverduring a firefight in the village of Pashmul, Zhari district, in Afghanistan’s Kandahar province on Sept. 29, 2008. The soldiers are with Operational Mentor and Liaison Team 73 Alpha, which is advising Afghan army troops in the area. Canadian and Afghan troops are fighting daily skirmishes with the Taliban for control of the district, which sits in the heartland of the fundamentalist movement. (Drew Brown/Stars and Stripe)

Shell casings fly as Warrant Officer Mike Saunders, Sgt. Luc Piquette and Cpl. Kevin Foster exchange fire with Taliban gunmen during a Sept. 29, 2008, firefight  in Zhari district, in Afghanistan's Kandahar province. (Drew Brown/Stars and Stripes)

Capt. Chris Brawley, of Ellington, Mo., center, commander of Company A, 2nd Battalion, 2nd Infantry Regiment, reports enemy contact as other soldiers scramble for cover after Taliban fire breaks out again near the village of Mira Hor, Kandahar province, Afghanistan, on April 18, 2009. (Drew Brown/Stars and Stripes)

While the patrol is still out, Marines holding a school in Marjah, Afghanistan, come under attack from Taliban fighters from three sides on March 20, 2010.  (Drew Brown/Stars and Stripes)