Table Of ContentThe United States Army in
Operation ENDURING FREEDOM (OEF)
October 2001–September 2005
A Different Kind
of War
Donald P. Wright, Ph.D.
James R. Bird
Steven E. Clay
Peter W. Connors
Lieutenant Colonel Scott C. Farquhar
Lynne Chandler Garcia
Dennis F. Van Wey
Combat Studies Institute Press
US Army Combined Arms Center
Fort Leavenworth, KS
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A different kind of war : the United States Army in Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF), October 2001-
September 2005 / Donald P. Wright ... [et al.].
p. cm.
1. Afghan War, 2001- 2. War on Terrorism, 2001- 3. United States. Combined Forces Command--
Afghanistan--History. 4. United States--Armed Forces--Stability operations. 5. United States--Armed
Forces--Civic action. 6. United States--Armed Forces--Civil functions. 7. Postwar reconstruction--
Afghanistan. I. Wright, Donald P., 1964- II. Title.
DS371.412.D54 2010
958.104’7--dc22
2009011584
First printing, May 2010.
CSI Press publications cover a variety of military history topics. The views
expressed in this CSI Press publication are those of the authors and not necessarily
those of the Department of the Army or the Department of Defense. A full list of
CSI Press publications, many of them available for downloading, can be found at
http://usacac.army.mil/CAC/csi/RandPTeam.asp.
The seal of the Combat Studies Institute authenticates this document as an official publication of
the CSI. It is prohibited to use CSI’s official seal on any republication of this material without the
express written permission of the Director of CSI.
Foreword
Since the beginning of the Global War on Terrorism, the US Army Training and Doctrine
Command (TRADOC) has captured the experiences of Soldiers as they conducted difficult
operations across the world in a variety of important ways. Historical accounts of the US
Army’s campaigns play a critical role in this process by offering insights from the past to assist
Soldiers with their current—and future—operational challenges.
This volume, A Different Kind of War, is the first comprehensive study of the US Army’s
experience in Afghanistan during the first 4 years of Operation ENDURING FREEDOM
(OEF). The work focuses on Army operations in the larger Joint and Coalition campaign that
evolved between October 2001 and September 2005. Beginning with a description of the suc-
cessful offensive against the Taliban regime, launched in late 2001 in response to the attacks of
9/11, the book then shifts to the less well-understood campaign that began in 2002 to establish
a peaceful and politically stable Afghanistan.
A Different Kind of War is balanced and honest. Its publication is particularly timely as both
the Army and the Department of Defense are beginning to reassess and restructure the cam-
paign in Afghanistan. This study will shed a great deal of light on the overall course of OEF.
As the title suggests, the campaign in Afghanistan was unique. While its initial phases featured
the use of small teams of Special Operations Forces and air power, the campaign after 2002
evolved into a broader effort in which conventional forces were responsible for the creation
of security, reconstruction, and programs to train the Afghan Army. Overall, the story in these
pages is one of a relatively small number of Soldiers conducting multifaceted operations on
difficult terrain and within a complex cultural environment.
A Different Kind of War was written in recognition of all the men and women who served
in Afghanistan to bring stability and prosperity to that country while protecting the security of
the United States. Their experiences chronicled in this book will help inform and educate all
those who serve the Nation today and in the future.
Victory Starts Here!
Martin E. Dempsey
General, US Army
Commanding General
US Army Training and Doctrine Command
iii
Acknowledgments
Constructing a study of this length and complexity was a huge task. We have benefited
greatly from the large number of Soldiers and civilians who took the time to talk with us
and share documents, insights, and encouragement. This study would have been impossible
to complete without their contributions, and for this we are deeply indebted. Because of the
contemporary nature of this history, we have relied heavily on oral interviews—approximately
140 were completed for this study alone. We would like to thank each of those who found the
time to share his or her experiences with us. Additional thanks goes to those interviewees who
helped us make contact with other veterans of Afghanistan and to those who shared unit records
with us. Lieutenant Colonel (Retired) Ronald E. Corkran was particularly helpful in sitting for
several interviews and in providing materials related to Operation ANACONDA.
Since the Contemporary Operations Study Team was established at the Combat Studies
Institute (CSI) in 2005, we have enjoyed the support of General (Retired) William S. Wallace,
General David H. Petraeus, and Lieutenant General William B. Caldwell IV. As commanders
of the Combined Arms Center, these senior officers made the creation of ambitious historical
studies like A Different Kind of War possible. All three have served as sponsors of this project
because of their strong belief in the obligation to examine and seek insights from the Army’s
experiences in Iraq and Afghanistan. General George W. Casey Jr., the Chief of Staff of the
Army, also reinforced the Army’s interest in the contemporary history of these campaigns and
served as a proponent of the team’s efforts.
The authors are indebted to the other members of the Contemporary Operations Study
Team in this endeavor. Specifically, we would like to thank Ms. Catherine Shadid Small for her
management of the team as well as Ms. Angela McClain and Ms. Rebecca Bednarz for their
roles as editors. Mr. Jerry England and Mr. Ray Barker were instrumental in organizing the
voluminous amount of primary documentary material collected by the team into an accessible
collection. Ms. Kim Sanborn provided the critical transcription support that transformed our
interviews into usable primary sources. Ms. Robin Kern, our graphics specialist, created the
maps and charts that make this study more vibrant and comprehensible. Major Jeffrey Holmes
and Major J.D. Steven assisted the team by providing critical research support.
We would like to extend special thanks to the historians and archivists who worked closely
with us in our research. At the US Army Center of Military History, Mr. Frank Shirer, Dr.
Chris Koontz, and Ms. Dena Everett were especially helpful in providing key documents to
us from their growing collection. Lieutenant Colonel Scotty Dawson (USMC), the command
historian at US Central Command, welcomed our team and offered assistance in the collec-
tion of unit records. Mr. Doug Cubbison, the 10th Mountain Division command historian,
provided our team with a wealth of documentation about that division’s multiple deployments
to Afghanistan. Ms. Donna Tabor, the US Army XVIII Airborne Corps historian, assisted by
scheduling interviews and making available critical materials about the operations of the 82d
Airborne Division in Operation ENDURING FREEDOM. Dr. John Lonnquest, the historian
for the US Army Corps of Engineers, was instrumental in providing documents and helping us
understand the Army’s large-scale reconstruction effort in Afghanistan.
Closer to home, Mr. Les Grau of the Foreign Military Studies Office at Fort Leavenworth
offered key insights into the Soviet experience in Afghanistan and early US operations in 2001
v
and 2002. The work of Mr. John McCool, Mr. Laurence Lessard, and Ms. Colette Kiszka
of the Operational Leadership Experience, CSI, expanded our understanding of operations in
Afghanistan.
A number of individuals reviewed early drafts of this study and we are in debt to all of them
for their comments. Lieutenant General (Retired) David W. Barno and Lieutenant General
(Retired) Karl W. Eikenberry made time to carefully read our work and offer important recom-
mendations. Dr. Richard Stewart, the Chief Historian of the Army, Dr. Alexander Cochran,
Historical Advisor to the Chief of Staff of the Army, and Dr. Britt McCarley, the command
historian for the US Army Training and Doctrine Command, provided helpful suggestions. Dr.
Kenneth Finlayson in the US Army Special Operations Command history office gave us useful
comments concerning the critical role of Army Special Forces in Afghanistan.
Finally, the entire team would like to thank Colonel Timothy R. Reese and Dr. William G.
Robertson, the senior leaders of CSI, for their enduring support and belief in the importance
of contemporary history to today’s Army. Ms. Elizabeth Weigand, an editor in CSI, also merits
special acknowledgment for her transformation of a rough manuscript into a real book.
As our team gathered documents, conducted interviews, and began to write this account,
we remained cognizant of the fact that many Americans, both military and civilian, made great
sacrifices in their service in Afghanistan. The story in these pages belongs to them. As authors,
we have tried diligently to tell their story accurately and with candor. Still, in writing this his-
tory, we have undoubtedly made mistakes of fact and interpretation. All responsibility for those
errors lies on our shoulders.
vi
Contents
Page
Foreword .................................................................................................................................iii
Acknowledgments ....................................................................................................................v
Introduction ..............................................................................................................................1
Chapter 1. Afghanistan and the Tribulations of Nationhood ..................................................5
The Lay of the Land ..............................................................................................5
Afghan Ethnic and Religious Structures ...............................................................7
Ethnicity ................................................................................................................9
Religion ...............................................................................................................12
Afghanistan and the Outside World, 1800–1979 ................................................13
Independence and Invasion .................................................................................14
Post-Soviet Afghanistan and the Rise of the Taliban ..........................................17
The Taliban’s Reign of Militant Islam ................................................................21
Chapter 2. The American Response to Terror: Planning Operation ENDURING
FREEDOM .....................................................................................................27
International Terrorism and American Counterterrorism Policy, 1970–2001 ....28
Strategy for the Global War on Terrorism ..........................................................29
Securing Access to Afghanistan’s Neighbors .....................................................35
Prelude to Planning ............................................................................................40
Assessing Campaign Options .............................................................................43
Planning the Campaign ......................................................................................46
Planning the SOF and Air Campaigns ................................................................48
A Joint, Combined, and Interagency Effort ........................................................49
The Plan for Humanitarian Assistance ................................................................50
Chapter 3. Opening Moves: The Preliminary Phases of the Campaign ...............................57
Mobilization .......................................................................................................57
Securing Regional Bases ....................................................................................58
Establishment of Lines of Communications (LOCs) and the Deployment
of Forces ......................................................................................................60
The Air Campaign ..............................................................................................62
Coalition PSYOP in the Opening Phases ...........................................................65
Boots on the Ground: Joint Special Operations Task Force–North
(JSOTF-N) Enters the Theater .....................................................................67
Chapter 4. Collapse of the Taliban in Northern Afghanistan ................................................71
The Taliban Enemy .............................................................................................71
The Northern Alliance ........................................................................................72
The Insertion of the ODAs .................................................................................73
Mazar-e Sharif: The Starting Point .....................................................................75
Securing the North: Konduz and Taloqan ...........................................................79
Concurrent Civil-Military Operations ................................................................82
Qala-i Jangi Prison Uprising ...............................................................................83
vii
Contents
Page
Logistics Operations in the Early Campaign .......................................................85
Explaining the Taliban Collapse in the North ......................................................86
Chapter 5. Success in the South and East ..............................................................................93
Initial Moves: Identifying Pashtun Allies in the South .......................................93
Ground Operations Begin: Objectives RHINO and GECKO .............................95
The ODAs Enter: The Fall of Kabul ....................................................................96
The ODAs Go to Work in the South ...................................................................97
Arrival of ODA 574 ...........................................................................................100
The Taking of Tarin Kowt .................................................................................101
ODA 583 and Gul Agha Sherzai .......................................................................105
Karzai’s Offensive Renewed .............................................................................108
The New Afghan Leader ...................................................................................109
Culmination South of Kandahar ........................................................................110
The Fall of Kandahar .........................................................................................111
Consolidating Control .......................................................................................112
Tora Bora: An Opportunity Lost .......................................................................113
Arrival of ODA 572 ...........................................................................................116
Chapter 6. Operation ANACONDA ....................................................................................127
Paktia Province and the Soviet-Afghan War .....................................................129
A New Mission for a Renewed Threat ..............................................................131
CJTF Mountain .................................................................................................132
Planning Begins .................................................................................................134
Organizing the Fighting Force ..........................................................................136
The Final Scheme of Operation ANACONDA .................................................137
The Opening Phase ............................................................................................141
TF Rakkasan Enters the Valley .........................................................................142
HLZ 13A ...........................................................................................................143
BP EVE .............................................................................................................145
Insertion of 2-187 Infantry ................................................................................145
Rak TAC Ridge .................................................................................................148
The Battle at the Bowl .......................................................................................149
Reinforcing the Operation: The Valley on Day 2 ..............................................154
Disaster on Takur Ghar ......................................................................................157
Clearing the Eastern Ridge ................................................................................160
Insertion of TF Summit ......................................................................................162
Operation GLOCK, 6–12 March 2001 ..............................................................163
TF Commando and Operation HARPOON .......................................................165
Operation POLAR HARPOON ........................................................................169
Chapter 7. Success Out of Victory: Changing Course in Mid-2002 ...................................181
Spring 2002: Optimism and Anxiety .................................................................181
Pressure on the Enemy: Security Operations in Mid-2002 ...............................184
The Creation of Combined Joint Task Force-180 (CJTF-180) .........................189
Civil-Military Operations: Fall 2001–Spring 2002 ...........................................193
viii
