A Georgian soldier provides cover as members of Train, Advise and Assist Command-North's Quick Reaction Force climb aboard a German helicopter during a March 31, 2015, air-assault drill in Afghanistan's Balkh province. (Carlo Munoz/Stars and Stripes)

Inside an Afghan air force Mi-17 helicopter, a soldier comforts a comrade injured by an improvised bomb in Uruzgan province on Jan. 6, 2015. Afghan security forces have taken the brunt of casualties in the unfinished war as international troops have withdrawn. (Josh Smith/Stars and Stripes)

Villagers gesture to a departing Afghan air force Mi-17 after it dropped supplies to their community on Saturday, Feb. 28, 2015. Dozens of such villages were cut off after deadly avalanches buried roads and houses. (Josh Smith/Stars and Stripes)

An Afghan child shows off his slingshot near Bagram Air Field on May 9, 2015. The soldiers who patrol his village expect rocks to hit their vehicles, but say it's just a game the kids play. (Jad Sleiman/Stars and Stripes)

Smoke and dust surround Afghan National Army soldiers as they fire a recoilless rifle at a compound occupied by Taliban fighters in Hisarak district in eastern Nangarhar province. The troops were trying to expand government control after clearing areas as part of Operation Iron Triangle in August 2015. (Josh Smith/Stars and Stripes)

An Afghan man holds a candle at a vigil for people killed in multiple attacks on Aug. 7, 2015, in Kabul. The violence left more than 50 people dead and hundreds wounded. (Josh Smith/Stars and Stripes)

Afghan soldier Mohammed Reza rides in the back of a Ford pickup truck on a mission escorting a supply convoy in Nangarhar province in August 2015. Many soldiers say poor care and pressure from home lead them to quit the army. (Josh Smith/Stars and Stripes)

Afghan National Army soldiers rest before an operation in Nangarhar province in August 2015. Between high rates of desertion and casualties, Afghan security forces are losing as many as 4,000 members per month, according to U.S. officials. (Josh Smith/Stars and Stripes)

Headquarters staff for the Afghan army's 2nd Brigade, 209th Corps, set up a forward command post in a vast cemetery on the outskirts of Kunduz city during a clearing operation on Saturday, Oct. 10, 2015. (Josh Smith/Stars and Stripes)

One rider, left, tries to keep a calf carcass from his competitors during a buzkashi match on the outskirts of Kabul on Jan. 15, 2015. The game involves almost constant contact between horses and their riders. (Josh Smith/Stars and Stripes)

Members of the Washington Redskins cheerleading squad take a group selfie with U.S. servicemembers during the Super Bowl XLIX party at Bagram Air Field, Afghanistan, in the early hours of Monday, Feb. 2, 2015. (Carlo Munoz/Stars and Stripes)

U.S. Army advisers run to safety after lighting tires for realistic effects during an Iraqi army exercise at Besmaya, a coalition training site south of Baghdad on April 26, 2015. (Josh Smith/Stars and Stripes)

Petty Officer 2nd Class Christopher Johnson, a corpsman, dances along to a villager's cellphone music while on patrol near Bagram Air Field on May 9, 2015. About 50 Marines work with Georgian army partners to secure Bagram Air Field. (Jad Sleiman/Stars and Stripes)

American and Czech troops wait to board a U.S. Army Chinook at Bagram Air Field during a June 3, 2015, nighttime reconnaissance patrol in Parwan province, central Afghanistan. (Carlo Munoz/Stars and Stripes)

Navy Corpsman 1st Class Darrell Jones takes a knee while U.S. and Georgian troops question Afghan locals during a June 10, 2015, security patrol in Parwan province, central Afghanistan. (Carlo Munoz/Stars and Stripes)

A boy looks across the devastation caused by a massive truck bomb in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Aug. 7, 2015. The bomb primarily struck civilians, who are now struggling to rebuild their lives after losing everything. (Josh Smith/Stars and Stripes)

Afghan soldiers walk through the dark in their camp in Hisarak district in Nangarhar province during Operation Iron Triangle in August 2015. The exposed camp was regularly targeted by Taliban rocket fire. (Josh Smith/Stars and Stripes)

The city lights of Kabul glow in the distance during a Sept. 1, 2015, aerial surveillance mission by Afghan Special Mission Wing. (Carlo Munoz/Stars and Stripes)

Men run from an Afghan air force Mi-17 helicopter as it lands at a military base outside of Kunduz city, Oct. 7, 2015. Aircraft played a major role in shuttling reinforcements and supplies after Taliban forces seized the city and blocked roads. (Josh Smith/Stars and Stripes)

An Afghan soldier fires a rocket-propelled grenade at Taliban positions on the outskirts of Kunduz during mop-up operations in October 2015. Though security forces greatly outnumbered insurgents, the Taliban continued to threaten the area. (Josh Smith/Stars and Stripes)

A Kurdish peshmerga fighter aims at Islamic State positions in northern Iraq, about 30 miles southeast of Mosul, on Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2015. (Seth Robson/Stars and Stripes)

A young man flagellates himself at an Ashoura procession in Kabul, Afghanistan, Saturday, Oct. 24, 2015. For Shiites, Ashoura is one of the holiest days of the year. (Josh Smith/Stars and Stripes)

American servicemembers from Florida Air and Army National Guard units play a game of touch football in a muddy yard at Bagram Air Field on Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 26, 2015. (Josh Smith/Stars and Stripes)

U.S. Air Force Airman 1st Class John Ross, 23, eats a Thanksgiving Day meal from a disposable container at a security checkpoint at Bagram Air Field in Afghanistan on Thursday, Nov. 26, 2015. On his first deployment, Ross said the holiday fare was better than the usual meals. (Josh Smith/Stars and Stripes)

U.S. Air Force Capt. Josh ''Clunk'' Moffat prepares for a mission in the cockpit of an F-16 Fighting Falcon at Bagram Air Field in Afghanistan on Nov. 27, 2015. Fighter aircraft fly daily combat missions from the base, supporting both coalition and Afghan ground troops. (Josh Smith/Stars and Stripes)

An F-16 with the 388th Fighter Wing's 421st Fighter Squadron, known as the ''Black Widows,'' takes off on a mission from Bagram Air Field in Afghanistan on Nov. 27, 2015. At least two F-16s are on constant patrol over the country, while several more are ready to be launched in a matter of minutes. (Josh Smith/Stars and Stripes)

Two Shiite women walk along a highway during a pilgrimage from Baghdad to shrines in the city of Samarra on April 22, 2015. That same day a suicide car bomb went off next to a crowd of pilgrims as they were returning from Samarra, killing eight and wounding 16. (Josh Smith/Stars and Stripes)

An Iraqi army soldier fires his rifle during a training exercise on April 26, 2015. The exercise, south of Baghdad, was designed to build troops' confidence and educate them on threats they may face. (Josh Smith/Stars and Stripes)

U.S. Army Spc. Ryan Bussell works out at the gym at the coalition base in Besmaya, Iraq, on April 26, 2015. Like many structures at the base, the building used as a gym and recreation center dates from the last U.S. presence here before 2011. (Josh Smith/Stars and Stripes)

A man sits with his son at a Christian camp for internally displaced persons in Irbil, Iraq, in May 2015. The camp housed more than 270 families that fled Islamic State forces in northern Iraq. (Josh Smith/Stars and Stripes)