Photo story: Clearing the Way

Before a road clearing mission, soldiers from the 510th Engineer Company get a briefing from their platoon sergeant at Forward Operating Base Ramrod in Kandahar province, July 6, 2010. (Ben Brody/GlobalPost)

After 14 hours of searching for IEDs on a 25-mile stretch of highway in Kandahar, Spc. Santos of 510th Engineer Company refuels his truck for his next mission, which he must begin preparing for in six hours. (Ben Brody/GlobalPost)

Soldiers from the 510th Engineer Company study ordinance manuals during a break at FOB Zulu after hours of searching for IEDs on the highway in Maywand District of Kandahar province, July 6, 2010. (Ben Brody/GlobalPost)

Soldiers from 510th Engineer Company relax at Forward Operating Base Zulu after hours of searching for IEDs on the highway in Maywand District of Kandahar province, July 6, 2010. (Ben Brody/GlobalPost)

Soldiers from 510th Engineer Company drive a Buffalo minesweeper searching for IEDs in the Maywand District of Kandahar province, July 6, 2010. (Ben Brody/GlobalPost)

Staff Sgt. William Cook of 510th Engineer Company uses a Talon robot to investigate an IED in a building near an Afghan National Army base in Kandahar province, July 7, 2010. (Ben Brody/GlobalPost)

A soldier from 510th Engineer Company mans an MK-19 grenade launcher while his teammates investigate an IED in Kandahar province, July 6, 2010. (Ben Brody/GlobalPost)

In 110-degree heat, Staff Sgt. William Cook of 510th Engineer Company uses a Talon robot to investigate an IED in a building near an Afghan National Army base in Kandahar province, July 7, 2010. Cook is on his third deployment, after serving two tours in Iraq. (Ben Brody/GlobalPost)

Staff Sgt. William Cook of 510th Engineer Company uses a Talon robot to investigate an IED in a building near an Afghan National Army base in Kandahar province, July 7, 2010. Cook is on his third deployment, after serving two tours in Iraq. (Ben Brody/GlobalPost)

Staff Sgt. William Cook of 510th Engineer CO. prepares a Talon robot to investigate an IED in a building near an Afghan National Army Base in Kandahar province, July 7, 2010. (Ben Brody/GlobalPost)

Soldiers from 510th Engineer Company an Afghan National Army troops guard the area around a pressure-plate IED in the Maywand District of Kandahar province, July 6, 2010. (Ben Brody/GlobalPost)

Pfc. Levert McKinnie of 510th Engineer Company calls an interpreter to speak with an Afghan soldier while guarding a building that had been rigged with an IED in Kandahar province, July 6, 2010. (Ben Brody/GlobalPost)

Soldiers from 510th Engineer Company walk around a bridge searching for IEDs in the Maywand District of Kandahar province, July 6, 2010. (Ben Brody/GlobalPost)

Soldiers from the 510th Engineer Company walk around a bridge searching for IEDs in the Maywand District of Kandahar province, July 6, 2010. (Ben Brody/GlobalPost)

Soldiers from the 510th Engineer Company walk under a bridge searching for IEDs in the Maywand District of Kandahar province, July 6, 2010. (Ben Brody/GlobalPost)

Soldiers from 501th Engineer Company drive a Buffalo minesweeper searching for IEDs as local men dig pits by the road in the Maywand District of Kandahar province, July 6, 2010. (Ben Brody/GlobalPost)

Soldiers from 510th Engineer Company drive RG-31 minesweepers searching  for IEDs in the Maywand District of Kandahar province, July 6, 2010. (Ben Brody/GlobalPost)

Ben Brody served two tours in Iraq for the U.S. military as a combat photographer before joining the GlobalPost team in Kandahar. Brody's photographs have appeared in the New York Times, Washington Post, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and others. Brody plans to stay in Afghanistan from early July through September.