Lead Photos

ALASAY SCOPE

As seen through a night-vision device, U.S. Army Pfc. Robert Hardee uses a night scope to scan the area while pulling security atop an all-terrain vehicle outside the Alasay District Center in Kapisa province, Afghanistan, July 26, 2010. Hardee is assigned to the Provincial Reconstruction Team Kapisa. This mission marks the first time in three years that U.S. forces pushed into the Alasay district because of a heavy Taliban resistance in the area. U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Joe Laws

NATIONAL SECURITY TEAM

President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden meet with members of the national security team, including Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, center, and Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, in the Situation Room at the White House in Washington, D.C., July 29, 2010, to discuss Afghanistan and Pakistan. White House photo by Pete Souza

FALLING FLARES

U.S. Marines watch as air support drops flares during a live-fire exercise on Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms, Calif., July 23, 2010. The exercise, part of Enhanced Mojave Viper 2010, is designed to prepare Marines for deployment to Afghanistan. The Marines are assigned to Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Joseph M. Peterson

OFF IN A BLUR

A U.S. Army sergeant starts the timer and calls the finish line to synch their watches as competitors for the 2010 Army Reserve Best Warrior Competition sprint out to start the 10-kilometer ruck march before dawn on Fort McCoy, Wis., July 28, 2010. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Mark Burrell

CLEARING EXERCISE

U.S. Marine Corps 1st Sgt. Darrell Carver communicates with coalition forces during an exercise after clearing an improvised explosive device factory during a helicopter raid at Kahuku Training Area, Hawaii, July 27, 2010. The raid was the action subsequent to a noncombatant evacuation operation executed by the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment and coalition forces at Marine Corps Training Area Bellows, Hawaii, July 26, 2010. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Reece E. Lodder

WATER WARRIOR

A team of volunteers with Long Beach Waterfront Warriors push Adam Lyman out of the water in Long Beach, N.Y., July 25, 2010. Lyman is a wounded Marine Corps veteran recovering at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., and is one of 34 troops the volunteer group brought to New York for a weeklong trip. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt Randall A Clinton

PENTAGON BRIEFING

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, hold a press conference at the Pentagon, July 29, 2010, in which Gates says he has requested FBI assistance to find the individual or persons responsible for leaking classified Afghanistan War documents to the WikiLeaks organization. DoD photo by R. D. Ward

UNAUTHORIZED RELEASE

Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates hold a briefing at the Pentagon, July 29, 2010, to condemn the unauthorized release of classified documents pertaining to the war in Afghanistan. Gates said he asked the FBI to assist in the case. DoD photo by R. D. Ward