Maj. Roger Shaw (center), an officer with the 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, and Albanian special operations force members provide security while coalition forces and Afghan Border Police arrive at an ABP compound during a rehearsal for Operation Southern Strike IV, Kandahar province, Afghanistan, Nov. 13, 2012. The operation focused on removing insurgent influence on local populations and connecting isolated villages to their government and police. Shaw, a New York Army National Guard soldier, is from Buffalo, N.Y.