The winner and Photographer of the Year 2022 is Marcus Yam (USA) with his image “Afghanistan's air force is a rare U.S.-backed success story. It may soon fail.”
A soldier surveys the terrain out of the window of a UH-60 Black Hawk during a resupply flight toward an outpost in the Shah Wali Kot district north of Kandahar, Afghanistan, on May 6, 2021. The Afghan Air Force, which the U.S. and its partners have nurtured to the tune of $8.5 billion since 2010, is now the government's safeguard in its fight against the enemy. Since May 1, the original deadline for the U.S. withdrawal, the Taliban have overpowered government troops, wrestling away control of territories and further denying Afghan security forces the use of roads. As a result, all logistical support to thousands of outposts and checkpoints - including re-supplies of ammunition and food, medical evacuations or personnel rotation - must be done by air.
