Alex Kingsbury, a U.S. News reporter who is currently covering the Iraq war from the front lines, sent us the above image just now.

“[H]ere’s an exclusive shot I took on a raid last night in a farm area in a city south of Baghdad,” he wrote via e-mail. ”Pictured are soldiers from the 2/3 Stryker unit, based out of Washington state. The soldiers are from C company, 3rd platoon.”

The soldiers’ work will be the subject of a big article in the magazine set to publish March 12. The reporter has been shooting some video, too, which will likely be included on the U.S. News Web site. Stay tuned, kids, and join us in wishing Alex a safe return.