PARWAN PROVINCE, Afghanistan - Twenty-five vehicles linked by radio waves and a common purpose roll like a freight train in the night. Their route: Bagram Air Field to Forward Operating Base Warrior, 200 miles south down one of the most dangerous roads in Afghanistan - Highway 1.
Conducted by the Louisiana National Guard's 1086th Transportation Company, Task Force Muleskinner, the convoy is led by a gigantic mine resistant ambush protected vehicle, pushing a ponderous mine roller that looks like dozens of giant pallet jack wheel castors attached to a field cultivator.
Five more mine resistant ambush protected vehicles and an armored wrecker travel behind the scout truck. They are spaced between the host nation trucks - freight trucks owned and operated by local Afghans - that are not covered in protective plating.
The civilian trucks are hired by the U.S. to transport all varieties of cargo, from office supplies, food, equipment and ammunition, to tanks of helium for the house-size surveillance dirigibles that the Army floats over many of its bases here.
"We get it done by any means necessary," said Army Spc. Jonathan Soto, a gunner with the 1086th. "Whatever stands in our way, we will overcome and complete the mission - we are the cream of the crop."
Moving supplies on such restive ground is treacherous, but necessary. After more than a decade, the coalition effort here is so vast that it can't be fed by air alone. Every convoy is a pulse of lifeblood to the forward operating bases and combat outposts they reach.
It's the 1086's job to ensure all that vital cargo safely reaches the Soldiers in the field.
"It's probably the most dangerous job out there right now," said Army Spc. Eric Mitchell, a driver from the 1086th. "We're on the road constantly and [insurgents] are blowing [the vehicles] up and shooting at us, and it's not like we can grow wings and fly away from it."
"IEDs are always a worry in the back of your mind," said Army Sgt. 1st Class Mark Ponthier, a 1086th platoon sergeant, "but we love the road. It's what we do and we wouldn't have it any other way."
Cramped up and strapped in, the Soldiers of the 1086th will often ride for more than 20 grueling hours in a stretch, under cover of night as much as possible.
Their path to FOB Warrior takes them over the poverty-stricken streets of Kabul, and through shattered villages that look like post-apocalyptic backgrounds in a Mad Max movie.
Once outside the main urban hubs, however, the countryside seems serene, even picturesque in places, and unless something drastic happens they will remain encapsulated in their machines like astronauts, scanning every square inch around them for any tiny sign of trouble.
Indeed, once or twice an hour they detour the entire caravan around a blast crater from a previous IED, sobering reminders that this is no Sunday joy ride.
Not that they need reminding.
Nine months into their one-year tour, nearly every Soldier in the unit has been in a convoy that was hit by one of the insurgent's bombs.
"We got hit, took small arms fire, and I got my [combat action badge] my first mission out," said Army Spc. Robin Morgan, a Guard member from the 1086th, "but I'm doing what I love. We do it for our families so they can enjoy life back home."
"My very first mission out, one of our gun trucks got hit ten kilometers outside of [Bagram Air Field]," said Army Sgt. Richard Baum, a 1086th truck commander. "I don't worry, though. This is my fourth deployment so I know what I'm getting in to."
"I've been in two roll-overs, so I have a different type of luck," said Army Spc. Jonathan Soto chuckling, a gunner with the 1086th, "I'm a little afraid every time we leave, but the Army has trained me and I'm real good at what I do. I have a strong team around me that gives me the confidence to go out there."
The 1086th Transportation Company has taken its' share of lumps but the good thing is that everybody has walked away, said Army 1st Sgt. Tim Croulet.
"They still don't hesitate to go outside the wire," he said. "These Soldiers do their jobs for all the right reasons."
With returning home in sight, the general outlook within the ranks is that there is still cargo that must be delivered - no matter what.
"I don't get scared. I personally like going out on the road," said Army Spc. Elizabeth Nall, a driver from the 1086th. "It's better than staying in the barracks. I'm a Soldier and I'm trained to do this stuff."
Even without the added danger of insurgent attacks, Afghan roads can be a memorable experience. There is no such thing as an Afghan driver's license, for instance, or an Afghan traffic cop. Traveling is pretty much a free-for-all. "Lanes" are non-existent, and drivers will often make two or three lanes where there should only be one in order to bypass obstacles.
Ideally, the convoy would not stop moving because every minute spent standing still is another minute the enemy can zero in on them, but occasionally it can happen
Once their cargo is downloaded, Soldiers of the 1086th will sack out on any cot or floor space they can find in the transient tents for the day and as it gets dark, they mount up to begin the return trip.
Under cover of night, the vast majority of the Soldiers on the forward operating base won't ever know the 1086th was there, but the shelves of the Post Exchange will be restocked, and that piece of equipment they've needed will be parked in the motor pool. Once they realize they've been resupplied, there will be no one there to thank - and by that time, the 1086th will be rolling back down the road.