Protecting a key Afghan highway

U.S. soldiers keep watch from a hill as farmers work in the fields below in Wardak province.   (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

An Afghan soldier, in tennis shoes, continues his mission in the Wardak province village of Shamshay Kala as U.S. soldiers watch.   (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

Residents of Shamshay Kala watch as U.S. soldiers observe a mission carried out by Afghan troops.   (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

Sgt. Christopher Lee of Beverly Hills, left, and David Mazzotta, of Canton, Ga., keep watch from a hill in Wardak province. The main mission of the soldiers from the combat outpost in Sultan Kheyl is to secure Highway 1, a military supply route and civilian lifeline, seen in the distance.   (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

Sgt. Christopher Lee of Beverly Hills, left, and Sgt. Douglas Riggs of Arkansas City, Kan., relax at an outpost in Sultan Kheyl after a four-hour mission.  (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

Pvt. Tyler Hartzheim, 20, sends a text message to his family in California after returning from a mission in Afghanistan’s Wardak province.   (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)