 The 501st played a significant role in disrupting enemy communications and infiltrations across the border in their Area of Operation.Commanded by LTC Harry C. Glenn, the 501st conducted coordinated searches and patrolled the mountains during Operations Avalanche, Blizzard, and Storm, in which its mission was to root out Taliban and Al Qaeda loyalists in the Khowst Province and Paktia Province.The natives of the region, mainly the Pashtun, were—more often than not—both enemies and allies to the 501st, making the mission that much more difficult.