In photos: Afghanistan's best chance

News: In photos: Afghanistan's best chance

Combined Joint Task Force 1 - Afghanistan

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Story by Sgt. Roland Hale Subscribe To This Journalist

Sgt. Roland Hale

An Afghan boy talks to a U.S. soldier deployed to Afghanistan with the Texas Army National Guard’s 1st Battalion, 143rd Infantry Regiment, during a mission in eastern Afghanistan’s mountainous Kapisa province, Aug. 1, 2012. The soldier’s battalion provides security for members of Provincial Reconstruction Team Kapisa, who visited a clinic near the boy’s home to check on the status of a generator and other equipment.

BAGRAM AIR FIELD, Afghanistan – Afghanistan’s children are a common to sight to U.S. troops patrolling the provinces under the control of Regional Command – East. The vibrant, pastel colors of their traditional clothing are highlighted in sharp contrast to the region’s sepia-toned, rugged landscape.

And they are also a colorful reminder of the importance of the coalition’s efforts here. While many Afghans do not yet lead care-free lives, they now have opportunities that were impossible under the Taliban’s rule.

Behind the heavily publicized warfare in Afghanistan, coalition units regularly conduct missions designed specifically to improve the day-to-day lives of Afghans. Presented with new schools – for both boys and girls – and significant improvements in countless governance and development projects, Afghanistan’s youngest generation may be its best hope to emerge from three decades of conflict.

The following is a collection of photographs taken of Afghan children during three such missions in the eastern Kapisa and Parwan provinces.

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