U.S. Navy Petty Officer 1st Class William H. Kern receives the traditional first welcome-home kiss from his wife Nov. 25, 2009, after returning to Naval Station Norfolk, Va., following a six-month deployment aboard the attack submarine USS Montpelier. U.S. Navy photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Danna M. Morris

U.S. Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class Leon Bodden hugs his mother, Janet Flowers, upon seeing her for the first time in seven years after arriving in Belize City, Belize, Nov. 24, 2009. Bodden is a culinary specialist assigned to the assault ship USS Wasp, which is in port as part of a humanitarian mission known as Project Handclasp. U.S. Navy photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Christopher Koons

U.S. Navy Capt. Alyson Caddell, the strategic communication director for Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa, presents school supplies to a student at the Nioumamilima Primary School during a dedication ceremony on the East African island nation of Comoros, Nov. 23, 2009. U.S. Navy photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Jonathan Kulp

A student holds a drawing of an American flag out of a classroom window during a dedication ceremony at the Nioumamilima Primary School on the East African island nation of Comoros, Nov. 23, 2009. U.S. servicemembers assigned to Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa helped to renovate the school. U.S. Navy photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Jonathan Kulp

Senior Airman Ashley Jackson receives Thanksgiving greetings by phone from President Barack Obama as French forces film the conversation on Forward Operating Base Morales-Frazier, Afghanistan, Nov. 26, 2009. Jackson is a medic assigned to Provincial Reconstruction Team Kapisa U.S. Air Force photo by Capt. Darrick Lee

A U.S. Air Force F-15E Strike Eagle aircraft assigned to the 335th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron and based on Bagram Air Field, Afghanistan, conducts operations over eastern Afghanistan Nov. 26, 2009. U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Michael B. Keller

Smoke rises from a cave in eastern Afghanistan after being bombed by U.S. Air Force F-15E Strike Eagle aircraft crews assigned to the 335th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron, which is based at Bagram Air Field, Afghanistan, Nov. 26, 2009. U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Michael B. Keller

U.S. Army soldiers remove packaging from ammunition they received during a routine aerial re-supply on Combat Outpost Cherkatah, Khowst province, Afghanistan, Nov. 26, 2009. The soldiers are deployed with Company D, 3rd Battalion, 509th Infantry Regiment. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Andrew Smith