In this 30-minute documentary VPR's Steve Zind takes us on patrols with the Vermont Guard and to police training sessions in Afghanistan to learn how soldiers carried out their complex mission and how they view the prospects for success.

Today we mark Veteran's Day with a profile of one of the Vermont Guard Soldiers preparing to return home from Afghanistan, Specialist Corinne Vintinner.

Captain David Fabricius of North Rupert is stationed at Camp Phoenix in Kabul.  He spends all his time on base overseeing a staff of seven working on administrative duties.

Lieutenant Laura Cook of Castleton talks with VPR's Steve Zind in about her reason for joining the military and the challenges of communicating with family and loved ones during her deployment in Afghanistan.

VPR's Jane Lindholm talks with reporter Steve Zind about what he learned while traveling and living with Vermont soldiers in several parts of Afghanistan. 

It's no secret that soldiers count the days until the end of their deployment. But one Vermont company has a more formal way of keeping track of the time left in Afghanistan.

VPR's Steve Zind talks with Sergeant Albert Fry, a Vermont officer who handles office supplies  for the Vermont National Guard in Afghanistan.

In Afghanistan, many Vermont Guard soldiers are cautiously optimistic that a new counter insurgency strategy and better trained Afghan security forces will pave the way for the eventual departure of combat troops.

VPR's Steve Zind gets a tour of the medical lab at Camp Phoenix in Kabul from Specialist Alexander Kelly

VPR's Steve Zind talks with VT Guard 1st Sgt. Eric Duncan of Northfield, an officer at a joint combat outpost in Paktya province in Afghanistan, about working with civilians in the midst of an active insurgency.

In Paktya province, there are still areas where the insurgency is strong and the Vermont Guard is trying to gain the upper hand.

Vermont Army Guard Sergeant Anita Austin of St. Albans is among those spending her deployment at Camp Phoenix in Kabul, Afghanistan. She explains her job overseeing ammunition for 11 military bases around Kabul.

Vermont soldiers at one camp in Kabul, Afghanistan, provide medical care for fellow soldiers at a Troop Medical Clinic. As VPR's Steve Zind reports, it's basically a combination doctor's office and emergency room.

For those serving in Paktya Province on the Pakistan border, improvised explosive devices, or IEDs, are a fact of life. 

VPR's Steve Zind is traveling with Vermont Guard soldiers in Afghanistan, bringing us their voices. Today we hear from Sgt. First Class Julie Northrup at Camp Phoenix in Kabul.

An important part of the U.S. government plan to withdraw forces from Afghanistan depends on the Afghan National Police, or ANP. VPR's Steve Zind talked with Vermont soldiers that are part of the rebuilding team.

This year, international forces recommitted themselves to building a well-run Afghan police force - and Vermonters are part of that effort.

VPR's Steve Zind talks with Sergeant Cabral to find out about the challenges and rewards of being an army cook in Afghanistan.

Among the jobs being done by the Vermont Guard in Afghanistan is police training.  More specifically, male police training. 

If all goes well, Vermont Guard members who provide support to Afghanistan's national police will have little to do tomorrow when Afghans go to the polls for parliamentary elections.  But members of Bravo Troop 1st Squadron 172nd Cavalry out of Bennington have been busy in the days leading up to the  elections. 

Among the jobs the Vermont National Guard is responsible for during a yearlong deployment to Afghanistan is training the country's police force.

Even in the relative safety of Kabul, nothing is taken for granted when it comes to security in Afghanistan.

In his first Report from Afghanistan, VPR's Steve Zind says the controversy surrounding the burning of the Muslim holy book has been on the minds of Vermont National Guard soldiers, and it's altered their routines.