lynsey addario, photographer

Afghanistan: Women at War

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Blackhawk Pilot, CW2 Jessie Russell, with the United States Army MEDEVAC unit with the 82nd Airborne, Charlie Company, out of Fort Bragg, North Carolina, prepares to fly in Helmand Province of Afghanistan, December 1, 2009.
  
United States Marine with Female Engagement Teams attached to the 2-2, Corporal Lisa Gardner, takes the vitals of a group of Afghan women in Lakari village during a medical outreach in Helmand, Southern Afghanistan, May 3, 2010. Most Afghan women in Helmand are not able to leave their homes, and are not able to be treated by male doctors as per cultural restrictions, so Corporal Gardner assists by taking the vitals of the women, notes the symptoms, and passes everything to Dr. Lt. Morrell for a rough diagnosis, and then hands out medication for treatment.
     
  
United States Marines with Female Engagement Teams attached to the 3-1 Marines, Lance Corp Darlene Diaz, 20, from Belvedere, IL, washes up in the morning at the makeshift sinks at Cop Sher, in Helmand, Afghanistan, May 2, 2010. The female marines are attached to infantry batallians and are operating in teams throughout Helmand, and living on remote bases with Marine infantrymen.
  
Capt. Emily Naslund, 27 who commands the female Marines while in Helmand Province, aimed her weapon while shots were fired on a patrol in Sistane. The female marines, who have been closer to combat than most other women in the war, have encountered a tougher fight than many would have expected.
   
     
  
   
Anesthesiologist Rupa Danier, with the United States Navy attached to the Marines in Southern Afghanistan works out beside the Level II trauma hospital at a base in Helmand Province of Afghanistan, December 2009.
   
United States Marines, Cpl. Christina Oliver, 25, right, takes off her helmet to show she is a female as a Female Engagement Team is invited by an Afghan girl into their family home in Sistani Village during an operation to clear out Taliban from the area in preparation for parlimentary elections in Southern Marja, Afghanistan, September 15, 2010. Though the overall mission of the FET teams is to engage Afghan women, the female marines are increasingly exposed to small arms fire and improvised explosive attacks while on their patrols to access villages.
     
  
   
United States Marines with the Female Engagement Teams, Lance Corporal April Whitham, 27, and LC Elisabeth Reyes, 20, visit with Afghan women and their children at the clinic in Now Zad, in Northern Helmand, May 8, 2010. The Female Engagement teams recently helped cordon off part of the clinic to enable Afghan women and men separate sitting areas.
  
United States Marine, Cpl. Christina Oliver, 25, left, and Lance Cpl. Stephanie Robertson, right, members of the Female Engagement Teams attached to Second Batallian, 6th Marine Regiment, search an Afghan women at a check-point during an operation through Sistani Village to clear out Taliban from the area in preparation for parlimentary elections in Southern Marja, Afghanistan, September 15, 2010. Though the overall mission of the FET teams is to engage Afghan women, the female marines are increasingly exposed to small arms fire and improvised explosive attacks while on their patrols to access villages.
     
  
United States Marines, Lance Cpl. Stephanie Robertson, 20, second from right, and Cpl. Christina Oliver, 25, right, members of the Female Engagement Teams attached to Second Batallian, 6th Marine Regiment, attend a debrief with Fox Company after an operation to clear out Taliban from Sistani village in preparation for parlimentary elections in Southern Marja, Afghanistan, September 15, 2010. Though the overall mission of the FET teams is to engage Afghan women, the female marines are increasingly exposed to small arms fire and improvised explosive attacks while on their patrols to access villages.
  
  
United States Marine, Lance Cpl. Stephanie Robertson, 20, a member of a Female Engagement Team attached to Second Batallian, 6th Marine Regiment, watches 'Finding Nemo' on her laptop at a forward operating base for Fox company in Southern Marja, Afghanistan, September 15, 2010. Though the overall mission of the FET teams is to engage Afghan women, the female marines are increasingly exposed to small arms fire and improvised explosive attacks while on their patrols to access villages.
     
  
   
CW2 Pilot Jesse Russell, 34, with the 82nd Airborne, takes a nap while on call as a Medevac pilot at a base in Helmand province in Afghanistan, November 30, 2009. Russell is on her second tour in Afghanistan, and is a senior pilot in the military. Women are increasingly on the frontlines throughout Iraq and Afghanistan.
  
HM2 Corpsman Elena Woods, 24, a U.S. Marines with the female engagement team, FET, cleans her gun after returning from a forward operating base at Camp Delhi, in Helmand province, Afghanistan.
     
  
   
  
     
  
   
  
     
  
   
United States Marines, Lance Cpl. Stephanie Robertson, 20, a member of the Female Engagement Teams attached to Second Batallian, 6th Marine Regiment, patrols through Sistani Village during an operation to clear out Taliban from the area in preparation for parlimentary elections in Southern Marja, Afghanistan, September 15, 2010. Though the overall mission of the FET teams is to engage Afghan women, the female marines are increasingly exposed to small arms fire and improvised explosive attacks while on their patrols to access villages.
  
U.S. Marine, Master Sgt. Julia Watson with the Civil Affairs unit attached to the 2/2 Marines, visits local projects that Afghans would like completed with the help of funds from the military and USAID in the district of Mian Poshteh in Helmand province, Afghanistan.
     
  
U.S. Marine, Master Sgt. Julia Watson with the Civil Affairs unit attached to the 2/2 Marines, is approached by Afghan women as she patrols through Zanzir village, in the district of Mian Poshteh, Helmand province, Afghanistan.
   
United States marine with the Female Engagement Team, Corporal Diana Amaya, 23, assists an Afghan woman and her grandchildren onto the base for medical treatment at the Cop Sher military base in Mian Poshteh, Southern Helmand, Afghanistan, May 6, 2010.
  
US Soldier MIchelle Sheffield hangs out in a wave pool in the water park with her sons, Brandon, 15. CJ, 11, and Austin, 10, in Dotham, Alabama, June 25, 2010. Michelle is a blackhawk pilot with the 82nd airborne.
     
  
US Soldier MIchelle Sheffield plays football with her son, Brandon, 15. far right, CJ, 11, and Austin, 10, at the lake in Fort Rucker in Dotham, Alabama, June 25, 2010. Michelle is a blackhawk pilot with the 82nd airborne.
  
US Soldier MIchelle Sheffield watches her son do push-ups by the lake in Fort Rucker in Dotham, Alabama, June 25, 2010. Michelle is a blackhawk pilot with the 82nd airborne.