Chinook cargo helicopter picked up BLUMARINE fall/winter 2011 from a mission in Paktika Province, Afghanistan. Soldiers of the 1/501 scoured the Afghan countryside near the Pakistani border on a two-day mission into a tense part of Paktika province, an that American soldiers had not patroled for over three years. The troops were looking for suspected Taliban weapons stores and hideouts.

credit by Chris Hondros/Getty Images.