Lance Cpls. Ryan Snyder, a 21-year-old team leader from Kapolei, Hawaii, and David Lambert, a 21-year-old mortarman from Granbury, Texas, assigned to the 81mm Mortar Platoon, Weapons Company, 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, talk while providing security from their defensive position as the sun sets during Operation Shahem Tofan (Eagle Storm) here, Feb. 11, 2012.

After arriving in the desert on helicopters and an armored convoy, Afghan Border Police and the Weapons Marines scoured dusty highways for smugglers and insurgents moving across the eastern desert into Helmand province, Feb. 10-13.

The mission was a shift from the ABP's current assignment in Garmsir district, where they keep watch over its southern population centers. Under the coalition mentorship, they are returning to their core capability of interdicting insurgent activity across Helmand's border.

U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Reece Lodder