Marines patrol through Afghan village

HELMAND PROVINCE, Afghanistan — Afghan girls watch as Lance Cpl. Karl Schmidt, squad automatic weapon gunner, guard force, Headquarters and Service Company, 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, makes his way to set up a vehicle checkpoint May 30. Schmidt, from Morton Grove, Ill., is one of the few infantrymen in the guard force, a group of mostly non-infantrymen who perform infantry duties in the Headquarters and Service Company battle space.