page_title: History of the United States Army Special Forces
section_title: Operation Enduring Freedom – Afghanistan
hierarchical_section_title: History of the United States Army Special Forces / War on Terror / War in Afghanistan / Operation Enduring Freedom – Afghanistan
caption_attribution_description: 090112-F-1234S-027.JPG On 19 July 2003, Tech. Sgt. Kevin Whalen (right), a Terminal Attack Controller from the 116th Air Support Operations Squadron, Washington National Guard, was supporting an Afghan Military Forces and U.S. Special Forces combat patrol in the Gayan Valley, Afghanistan. The patrol was hit in a well-coordinated ambush by a numerically superior enemy force.
context_page_description: The U.S. Army Special Forces traces its roots as the Army's premier proponent of unconventional warfare from purpose-formed special operations units like the Alamo Scouts, Philippine guerrillas, First Special Service Force, and the Operational Groups of the Office of Strategic Services. Although the OSS was not an Army organization, many Army personnel were assigned to the OSS and later used their experiences to influence the forming of Special Forces.
  During the Korean War, individuals such as former Philippine guerrilla commanders Col. Wendell Fertig and Lt. Col. Russell W. Volckmann used their wartime experience to formulate the doctrine of unconventional warfare that became the cornerstone of the Special Forces.
  In 1951, Major General Robert A. McClure chose former OSS member Colonel Aaron Bank as Operations Branch Chief of the Special Operations Division of the Psychological Warfare Staff in the Pentagon.
  In June 1952, the 10th Special Forces Group was formed under Col. Aaron Bank, soon after the establishment of the Psychological Warfare School, which ultimately became today's John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School.
context_section_description: Immediately after the September 11 attack on the United States, President George W. Bush instructed Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to come up with a plan to defeat the Taliban in Afghanistan who harbored Al Qaeda. General Tommy Franks, then-commanding general of Central Command, initially proposed a conventional force invasion of Afghanistan with 60,000 troops. He told Bush and Rumsfeld that it would take six months to launch the campaign. Rumsfeld heatedly rejected this plan, demanding that troops be sent in immediately. Franks returned the next day with a plan to utilize special forces, which Bush approved.
  For the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan, Task Force Dagger was established on 10 October 2001, the unit was built around the 5th SFG with helicopter support from the 160th SOAR, TF Dagger was assigned to northern Afghanistan and tasked with infiltrating ODA teams into Afghanistan to advise and support the commanders of the Northern Alliance. Task Force K-Bar was also established around a Naval Special Warfare Group consisting of SEAL Teams 2, 3, 8 and Green Berets from 1st Battalion 3rd SFG, the task force would primarily conduct special reconnaissance and site exploitation missions – intelligence gathering at former enemy locations, some 3rd SFG ODAs were also given the Foreign Internal Defence and Unconventional Warfare role. The TFs were part of the CJSOTF (Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force) under the overall leadership of General Tommy Franks, Coalition Forces Commander (CENTCOM) p. 25, p. 27
  The Northern Alliance was outnumbered, outgunned, and undersupplied. It controlled only about 15 percent of Afghanistan. Senior U.S. commanders hoped at best that the Green Berets would boost Northern Alliance morale and help prevent the better-equipped Taliban forces from a further offensive until larger American forces could arrive.
  During the night of 18–19 October 2001, Operational Detachment Alpha (ODA) 595, a 12-man Green Beret team, plus two Air Force Combat Controllers, were airlifted from Karshi-Khanabad Air Base in Uzbekistan more than 300 kilometers (190 mi) across the 16,000 feet (4,900 m) Hindu Kush mountains in zero-visibility conditions.
  They rode aboard two SOAR  MH-47E Chinook helicopters and were escorted by two MH-60L DAPs (Direct Action Penetrators). The Chinooks were refueled in-flight three times during the 11-hour mission, establishing a new world record for combat rotorcraft missions at the time. They linked up with the CIA and the Northern Alliance. They were greeted by CIA paramilitary officers from the Special Activities Division who had arrived only 10 days before.
  At about the same time, ODA 555 landed hundreds of miles south in the Panjshir Valley, and linked up with another Northern Alliance force. Within a few weeks the Northern Alliance, with assistance from the U.S. ground and air forces, captured several key cities from the Taliban. On 20 October 2001, an element of ODA 595 guided in the first JDAM bomb from a B-52, impressing General Dostum and his Northern Alliance forces who soon used it for Psychological warfare – taunted the Taliban over their radio frequencies.
  On 9 November 2001, ODA 595 and ODA 534 and the seven members of the CIA's Special Activities Division assisted about 2000 members of the Northern Alliance who attacked and liberated Mazari Sharif on horseback, foot, pickup trucks, and BMP armored personnel carriers.
  On November 11, in the central north of Afghanistan, ODA 586 was advising General Daoud Khan outside the city of Taloqan and coordinating a batch of preparatory airstrikes when the General surprised everyone by launching an impromptu massed infantry assault on the Taliban holding the city. Before the first bomb could be dropped, the city fell.
  On 12 and 13 November, ODA 555 assisted the Northern Alliance forces in the capture of Kabul. On November 14, 2001, ODA 574 and Hamid Karzai inserted into Uruzgan Province via 4 MH-60K helicopters and later fought the Battle of Tarwinkot with a small force of guerrillas.
  On 23 November, ODA 586 assisted General Da
caption: US Special Forces in Gayan Valley, eastern Afghanistan, 19 July 2003.
exif: {"Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "246167/1000", "Image YResolution": "246167/1000", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop CS4 Windows", "Image DateTime": "2009:01:12 11:35:50", "Image ExifOffset": "164", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "302", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "7356", "EXIF ColorSpace": "Uncalibrated", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "1477", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "1108"}