Six months in Afghanistan

October 20 2008: Corporal Trent Endicott, from 3rd Marine Division, and his interpreter take cover as bullets whizz overhead during a firefight at the Seray combat outpost in Chowkay district, Kunar province Photograph: John D Mchugh

October 16 2008: US marine trainer Staff Sergeant Tim O'Brien, from 3rd Marine division, is seen during his second firefight of the day at the Seray outpost Photograph: John D Mchugh

October 12 2008: US marine trainers mentor an Afghan national army unit at Seray Photograph: John D Mchugh

October 10 2008: US soldiers from Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division, shoot their 120mm mortar at the Seray combat outpost in Chowkay district, Kunar province. Photograph: John D Mchugh

October 9 2008: US navy Corpsman (medic) Ronald Beecroft puts bullets into his magazines, after a firefight at Seray Photograph: John D Mchugh

July 21 2008: Two wounded US soldiers, wounded in an attack, are treated on a Medevac helicopter from the 101st Aviation Regiment as it flies them to the operating base Orgun-E, in Paktika province Photograph: John D Mchugh

July 7 2008 US soldiers from Alpha Company search a bazaar in Kharwar district, Logar province Photograph: John D Mchugh

July 6 2008: US soldiers from Alpha Company approach a village through fields ahead of a search mission in Kharwar district, Logar province Photograph: John D Mchugh

July 6 2008: US soldiers from Alpha Company, search a house in Kharwar district during a joint US/Afghan operation to clear Taliban fighters from the Tangi valley Photograph: John D Mchugh

July 5 2008: An Alpha Company soldier inspects house in Logar province Photograph: John D Mchugh

July 6 2008:Afghan soldiers stand guard around a suspected Taliban militant caught with bombmaking material in his possession, in Logar province Photograph: John D Mchugh

July 2 2008: Afghan soldiers tie-up and blindfold suspects at Debare bridge, in Logar province, after an explosive device killed 5 Afghan soldiers and wounded another Photograph: John D Mchugh

July 2 2008:US Medevac helicopters collect an Afghan soldier wounded in an attack that killed 5 other Afghan soldiers near a fortified position at Debare bridge, Logar province Photograph: John D Mchugh

May 17 2008: US soldiers from Charlie Company watch the Vietnam movie Hamburger Hill as it is projected onto a mud wall at Speray Photograph: John D Mchugh

May 10 2008: Captain McChrystal from Charlie Company gives orders during a mission at Speray Photograph: John D Mchugh/John D Mchugh

May 2 2008: US soldiers climb to an observation post that sits in the mountains overlooking Speray on one side, and the Pakistan border on the other Photograph: John D Mchugh

May 2 2008: US soldiers descend from an observation post above Speray Photograph: John D Mchugh

April 29 2008: Soldiers from Charlie Company recover the remains of a rocket following an attack at forward operating base Boris in Bermel, Paktika province Photograph: John D Mchugh

April 22 2008: US soldiers from Charlie Company heat water as they settle in for the night at a school in Rabat, Paktika province in Chowkay district, Kunar province Photograph: John D Mchugh