Gunnery Sergeant Patrick Parks (L). Khowst Province, Afghanistan. February 2005

An Afghan police officer, right, provides crowd control, as U.S. Marine Corps Gunnery Sgt. Patrick Parks talks with village elders to gain information about security in the area, during a patrol in the Khowst province of Afghanistan, Feb. 10, 2005. Parks is a platoon Sergeant with Headquarters and Service Company, 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, whose unit is conducting security and stabilization operations in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. James Yarboro/Released)