1. KIA: killed in action.

2. QRF: Quick Reaction Force.

3. CAS: close air support, pronounced “kass.”

4. 1st Battalion, 506 th Parachute Infantry Regiment. This is written “1-506 th ” and pronounced “first of the five-oh-sixth.”

5. Michael Holmes, “CNN Reporter witnesses solemn ‘ramp ceremony,’” Afghanistan Crossroads (blog), CNN, April 23, 2010. Available at http://afghanistan.blogs.cnn.com/2010/04/23/cnn-reporter-witnesses-rare-ramp-ceremony/. Accessed January 29, 2015.

6. SAW: Squad Automatic Weapon, a light machine gun.

7. ACUs: Army Combat Uniform.

8. MOS: Military Occupational Specialty.

9. RPG: rocket propelled grenades.

10. Hidalgo was platoon leader for an Alpha Company line platoon sent to cover Sayed Abad base in Wardak Province. In exchange, Dog Company’s 2nd Platoon, the Jolly Rogers, was operating in Kapisa Province at this time.

11. RCP: Route Clearance Package.

12. Michael Conn, “Route Georgia, ‘Tangi Valley,’ Wardak Province, Afghanistan,” Journal of Military Experience 1, no. 1 (2011), Article 7. Available at http://encompass.eku.edu/jme/vol1/iss1/7/.

13. “The Battle of Wanat,” Washington Post, photo essay, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/world/battle-of-wanat/. Accessed September 2013.

14. Mark Bowden, “Echoes from a Distant Battlefield,” Vanity Fair, December 2011, http://www.vanityfair.com/news/2011/12/battle-of-wanat-201112. Accessed September 2012.

15. Douglas R. Cubbison, “They Fought Like Warriors: The Battle for COP Kahler, Wanat, Afghanistan,” Combat Studies Institute. Revised Final Draft, 25 September 2009.

16. Per authors’ interview with Mr. Cubbison, June 2014.

17. JAG: Judge Advocate General.