THE TENSION: Combat Camera: Air Drop in Afghanistan

Army Capt. Dustin Menhart assists in setting up a raised angle marker on a drop zone in Paktika province, Afghanistan, Oct. 11, 2007, in preparation for the largest air supply drop in Operation Enduring Freedom history. Menhart is commander, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 782nd Brigade Support Battalion, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Micah E. Clare

As bundles from the lead C-17 Globemaster III drift to the ground, a second C-17 prepares to drop more bundles to a drop zone in Afghanistan on Oct. 11, 2007. A total of 62 cargo bundles were dropped from two C-17s in two passes. This was the first time a combat cargo drop of this magnitude has taken place using two C-17s in formation over one drop zone. The planes and crews are part of the 817th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron, Manas, Kyrgyzstan. U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Brian Ferguson

A second Air Force C-17 Globemaster drops Combat Delivery System bundles just a few hundred feet above another set floating down to coalition soldiers waiting below, Oct. 11, 2007. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Micah E. Clare

Paratroopers from the 782nd Brigade Support Battalion, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division watch as Combat Delivery System bundles carrying food and water float to the ground in Paktika province, Afghanistan, Oct. 11, 2007. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Micah E. Clare

A Humvee rushes to the landing site of a Combat Delivery System bundle in Paktika province, Afghanistan, Oct. 11, 2007. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Micah E. Clare