THEY WAGE THEIR BATTLES wearing camouflage uniforms or the native shawal kameez and pakul hat, M-4 assault rifles slung over their shoulders, 9mm pistols strapped to their thighs. Some are qualified to jump out of aircraft and infiltrate villages deep in enemy territory. Others are trained to call in air strikes if attacked, or fight pitched battles with native forces until help can arrive. And they’ve become the go-to force in America’s war on terrorism in the rugged hills and fractious villages of Afghanistan.

Who are these troops? Army Green Berets? Navy SEALS? Delta Force operators? Not exactly. Though some units have much of the same training as America’s most elite covert forces, the soldiers of the Army’s Civil Affairs units are waging the war on terror in a unique way and could forecast a strategic shift in how America will wage the war on terror as it moves to new countries.