Pat Dollard

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U.S. Army Spc. Charles Atkins instructs a man entering Afghanistan to open his eyes wide for a retina scan while recording biometric data at the border crossing with Pakistan in Torkham, Afghanistan. The port of entry is the busiest in Afghanistan, and the most important for the U.S. military, which imports more than 30 percent of all its supplies and military equipment through Torkham. John Moore / Getty Images

U.S. soldiers from the 1st Battalion, 32nd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team deliver two sheep to Combat Outpost Sangsar in Afghanistan’s southern Kandahar province. The sheep will be slaughtered for troops in the Afghan National Army for a Ramadan celebration. U.S. troops have trained Afghan security forces in their fight against Taliban insurgents.Romeo Gacad / AFP/Getty Images

A U.S. soldier, Capt. Max Ferguson, plays with Afghan children during a joint patrol with Afghan National Army soldiers at Kandalay village in the southern Afghan province of Kandahar. Romeo Gacad / AFP/Getty Images

An Afghan girl greets a joint patrol of U.S. troops and Afghan National Army soldiers at Kandalay village in the southern Afghan province of Kandahar. Romeo Gacad / AFP/Getty Images

Pilot in charge Chris Morisoli finishes the log book for the medevac of the 159th Brigade Task Force Thunder after a mission at Forward Operating Base Pasab. All foreign combat troops will leave Afghanistan by the end of 2014 in a process that started in July and will require the Afghan army and police to play an ever-greater role in fighting the Taliban insurgency. Johannes Eisele / AFP/Getty Images