US soldiers on a helicopter ride for air insertion from Kamdesh base to Barg-e-Matal village in Nuristan Province, Afghanistan. Following the first US visit a month earlier, this 5-day operation began with a surprise landing, followed by the troops setting up a temporary base outside the village. Over the next 4 days, senior commanders met with local leaders to discuss a variety of security and reconstruction issues. This is the furthest North that US troops have pushed - further than the Soviets got, they proudly claim.
