Petty Officer 3rd Class Michael Soto accompanies litter-bearers as they load an injured Marine into a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter during a medical evacuation in Garmsir, in Afghanistan’s Helmand province, Jan. 30. Soto, a native of Lake Villa, Ill., has been with 9th Engineer Support Battalion for the past year and is the primary caregiver to the Marines of Bridge Platoon as they serve on the front lines of Afghanistan. Soto is a hospital corpsman with 9th ESB, 3rd Marine Logistics Group, III Marine Expeditionary Force. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Bryan Nygaard)

U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Tom Maahs, from Maple Shade, N.J., who is with the Task Force Paladin explosive ordinance disposal unit, inspects the site of an IED through his rifle scope on a street near the wood market in Gardez Feb. 18. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. Ken Scar, 7th MPAD)

Sgt. Craig McComsey, a member of the Mississippi Army National Guard, serving with the Zabul Agribusiness Development Team, keeps a close watch from the roof of the district center, Shah Joy, Afghanistan. (Feb 23, 2012)

Capt. Patrick Foley (front), a member of the Minnesota Army National Guard, Sgt. Brent Crutchfield and Sgt. Craig McComsey, both members of the Mississippi Army National Guard, leave the village of Haji Sultan, Afghanistan, after conducting a joint assessment. (Feb 16, 2012)

U.S. soldiers part of the NATO- led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) kneel on the ground, as dust rises from the ground after landing of a U.S. Chinook helicopter near the place where the foundation of a hospital was laid in Shindand, Herat, west of Kabul, Afghanistan, Saturday, Jan. 28, 2012. The foundation of a U.S. military funded 50 beds hospital was laid with the cost of 400, 000 US dollar in Shindand of Herat, the hospital project is expected to be completed in 18 months. (AP Photo/Hoshang Hashimi)

Lance Cpl. Christopher R. Maroney (left), a fire team leader and designated marksman with India Company, 3rd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, and Lance Cpl. Dakota M. Landrie, an automatic rifleman with, India Co., patrol here recently.

Lance Cpl. Christopher R. Maroney (left), a fire team leader and designated marksman with India Company, 3rd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, and Lance Cpl. Dakota M. Landrie, automatic rifleman with India Co., return from a security patrol in Barakzai recently.

AFGHANISTAN – A CH-47F Chinook helicopter from the 1st Air Cavalry Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, prepares to take off, Feb. 9, 2012.

Posted by ZIP on Friday, February 24, 2012, at 1:16 pm | Tweet

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