U.S. Marines and sailors disembark a C-17 cargo plane on Camp Bastion, Afghanistan, Dec. 15, 2009, to support Operation Enduring Freedom. For many, this is their first deployment, and in many cases their first time outside of the United States. The Marines and sailors are assigned to the 1st Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment. DoD photo

U.S. Army Lt. Gen. William G. Webster, the commanding general of Third Army, cuts a ribbon with Kuwait’s military and highway patrol personnel, Dec. 30, 2009, to celebrate the opening of a new military convoy route. The Kuwaiti government provided the route for U.S. troops traveling between camps across Kuwait. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Jason C. Adolphson

U.S. Navy Lt. j.g. Stacey Gross, left, and Petty Officer 1st Class Kathleen Leach wait to be introduced to the women of Nengarach village in eastern Afghanistan's Nuristan province, Dec. 28, 2009. Gross is a Nuristan Provincial Reconstruction Team information officer and Leach is a team operations specialist. The women and the U.S. Agency for International Development conducted a women's shura or council to discuss developing a literacy program for women to promote female equality. U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Ashley Hawkins

A U.S. Marine and a Nawa citizen hand out Beanie Babies to children near Forward Operating Base Spin Ghar, Afghanistan, Dec. 24, 2009. The United States collected more than 75,000 Beanie Babies for Marines to give to Afghan children. The Marines are assigned to Company B, 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Brian Tuthill

Serving as door gunner, Command Sgt. Maj. Glen Vela flies to al-Asad, Iraq, Dec. 25, 2009, to visit soldiers assigned to the 1st Air Cavalry Brigade detachment conducting operations in Multinational Force West . Vela is the command sergeant major for the 1st Cavalry Division's 1st Air Cavalry Brigade. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Travis Zielinski

U.S. Navy Cmdr. Scott A. St. Sauver swears in about 30 troops who re-enlisted Dec. 30, 2009, while deployed to Kuwait. Sauver commands the 1st Battalion, 151st Field Artillery, which runs escort teams to provide security to supply convoys going in and out of Iraq. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Katie P. Gray

A U.S. Army paratrooper in Iraq uses an online video-chat program to talk with his wife and children on Fort Bragg, N.C., Dec. 28, 2009. Operation Homelink, a nonprofit organization working with corporate donors to link families and deployed soldiers, partnered with Dell Computer to donate 75 computers to families of the paratrooper's unit. He is assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division's 1st Brigade, an advise and assist brigade. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Michael J. MacLeod

An A-10 Thunderbolt II prepares to depart Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan, Dec. 27, 2009. The A-10 Thunderbolt II is part of the 354th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron. U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Efren Lopez