“It’s got a hemi,” he said in one post showing a photograph of his new prosthetic leg.

Throughout the fall, Captain Bonenberger immersed himself in missions. Some yielded successes: an insurgent commander changed sides, villagers near Naghma Bazaar formed militias allied with the government, and Third Platoon killed a Taliban leader in its fiercest firefight of the year.

But there were also new frustrations: a major mission in Imam Sahib was canceled just hours before it was to start, this time because the battalion’s resources were needed elsewhere.

“For now, it’s jabs,” Captain Bonenberger said of the smaller-scale missions he was conducting instead.

He had again reviewed his preparations for the Qurghan Tapa hill operation and concluded that he had done all he could to avoid casualties. “Bottom line was, there wasn’t any system that I had that was going to increase our chances of having an effective clearance of that hill,” he said.

He was less certain about his future in the Army. His contract will be up next year, and he was not sure he would re-sign. “I’m definitely on the fence about that one,” he said.

“Part of it is just the exhaustion of constant campaigning, and part of it is the bad things that have happened that I take ultimate responsibility for,” he said. “I’m getting pretty well tired of seeing dead bodies, that’s for sure.”

For now, though, he had many more missions to plan and a company of soldiers to worry about. And he still had to decide what to do about Qurghan Tapa hill. Should the battalion clear it of mines and build that checkpoint? Or should they just level it with bombs?

So many decisions to make, so many reports to write. Captain Bonenberger turned to his computer and began to type.