On the night of October 19, 2001, two small groups of American soldiers disappeared into the mountains of Afghanistan.

There were no armored columns behind them. No enormous American bases had been constructed. There were no established supply routes, field hospitals or sprawling forward operating bases.

The United States had been attacked only 39 days earlier.

Now America was going to war.

The men going in were Army Green Berets from the 5th Special Forces Group, accompanied by Air Force Special Operations combat controllers and supported by some of the finest aviators in the world from the Army's 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment—the Night Stalkers.

They were part of Joint Special Operations Task Force-North, better remembered by its operational name: Task Force Dagger.

Their mission represented unconventional warfare in perhaps its purest form. Rather than invade Afghanistan immediately with conventional divisions, Task Force Dagger would infiltrate small Special Forces detachments, link them with indigenous resistance forces, organize and coordinate those fighters, provide supplies and expertise, and—most importantly—connect Afghan forces on the ground with overwhelming American airpower.

The concept sounds straightforward in hindsight.

In October 2001, very little about it was.

The Americans were entering one of the most geographically difficult countries on Earth, working alongside commanders they barely knew, crossing mountains in brutal weather and operating hundreds of miles from established American infrastructure.

Many would soon find themselves riding Afghan horses into combat while carrying satellite radios, GPS receivers and laser target-designation equipment capable of bringing precision-guided bombs down on Taliban positions.

Army accounts later described the extraordinary combination as nineteenth-century mobility, twentieth-century firepower and twenty-first-century communications.

September 11th Changes the Mission

The planning for an American response began almost immediately after the attacks on New York and Washington.

Afghanistan presented an unusual military problem.

Al-Qaeda had established sanctuary there under the protection of the Taliban government. But Afghanistan was landlocked, mountainous and geographically isolated from America's traditional network of overseas bases.

A conventional invasion would require enormous logistical preparation.

There was another option.

The Taliban did not control Afghanistan uncontested.

An assortment of anti-Taliban factions—commonly grouped under the term Northern Alliance—continued fighting the regime. These forces included ethnic Tajiks, Uzbeks, Hazaras and others led by commanders who had survived years, and sometimes decades, of Afghan warfare.

That created precisely the kind of environment for which Army Special Forces had been created.

Green Berets specialize in unconventional warfare: working with indigenous forces rather than simply replacing them with American formations.

Task Force Dagger would become the mechanism for doing it.

The core of the task force was built around the 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne) under Col. John Mulholland.

Its mission was not simply to kill Taliban fighters.

The Special Forces teams had to establish relationships with Afghan commanders, coordinate rival factions, provide weapons and supplies, gather intelligence, train and advise Afghan fighters and connect those forces with American airpower.

There was another complication.

American knowledge of Afghanistan was limited.

The Army later acknowledged that intelligence was thin and that relatively few of the Green Berets spoke Afghanistan's principal languages, Dari and Pashto. Some soldiers improvised through Arabic, Farsi or Russian speakers, sometimes creating chains of translation just to communicate with the men beside whom they were preparing to fight.

This was not going to be warfare conducted from a comfortable headquarters.

The success of the campaign would depend heavily upon individual Americans establishing trust with Afghan commanders in isolated valleys.

K2: America's Secret Gateway Into Afghanistan

Before Task Force Dagger could fight in Afghanistan, it needed somewhere from which to launch.

That place became Karshi-Khanabad Air Base in Uzbekistan, better known simply as K2.

The former Soviet air base sat in southeastern Uzbekistan, north of Afghanistan. American forces established Camp Stronghold Freedom there.

Task Force Dagger's advance echelon arrived on October 6, 2001, and K2 quickly became the operational and logistical hub supporting Special Forces missions into northern Afghanistan.

The location was strategically invaluable.

Uzbekistan shared a border with Afghanistan and placed American aircraft dramatically closer to the Northern Alliance than bases farther south or west.

But “close” was relative.

To reach some of their objectives, Special Operations aviators still had to fly hundreds of miles through or across the Hindu Kush.

The mountains presented elevations approaching 20,000 feet.

Helicopters lose performance as altitude increases. Crews also confronted extreme weather, icing, snow, rain, turbulence, sandstorms and near-total darkness.

The first planned infiltration had to be delayed because conditions were simply too dangerous.

On October 19, the mission went.

Night Stalker crews flew modified MH-47 Chinooks toward Afghanistan.

At portions of the route, oxygen became a problem. The mission demanded specialized oxygen equipment, aerial refueling and extraordinarily difficult navigation through mountain passes.

The men riding in the back of those helicopters were not entering an established American battlespace.

They were being dropped into territory controlled by armed Afghan factions, often with limited knowledge of precisely what awaited them.

One Night Stalker later described those early missions as involving weather so poor that crews could barely see while flying through mountains—and sometimes while being shot at.

The Other Legacy of K2

K2 eventually developed another, much darker legacy.

The installation had been a Soviet military facility, and environmental contamination became a serious concern.

The Department of Veterans Affairs now recognizes that personnel who served at Karshi-Khanabad may have encountered numerous hazardous exposures.

Among the concerns was a leaking Soviet-era underground fuel distribution system and exposure to jet fuel and volatile organic compounds. Environmental investigations have examined additional contaminants associated with the former Soviet installation.

The U.S. military used K2 from 2001 through 2005. A VA/Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry document reports that 15,034 service members deployed there during that period.

That means K2 occupies two very different places in the history of the Global War on Terror.

It was one of the places from which America's first ground response to September 11th was launched.

It also became another reminder that the consequences of military service do not necessarily end when the shooting stops.

October 19, 2001

ODA 555 and ODA 595 were among the first Task Force Dagger Special Forces detachments inserted into northern Afghanistan.

K2

Karshi-Khanabad Air Base in Uzbekistan became Task Force Dagger's forward staging, logistics, and aviation hub.

The Formula

Afghan fighters supplied mass while Special Forces, combat controllers, and American airpower created a devastating battlefield advantage.

The Legacy

The Task Force Dagger name now continues through a nonprofit supporting the Special Operations community and their families.

October 19, 2001: The Green Berets Go In

The first Task Force Dagger Special Forces detachments entered Afghanistan on October 19.

Two teams in particular became synonymous with the opening campaign: ODA 555 — “Triple Nickel” and ODA 595.

Their missions took them to different Northern Alliance commanders and different parts of Afghanistan.

Together, they helped establish the template that other detachments would follow.

ODA 555: Triple Nickel

ODA 555 infiltrated into the area of the Panjshir Valley, linking with Northern Alliance forces associated with Mohammed Fahim Khan and with CIA personnel already operating inside Afghanistan.

The CIA's presence is an important part of the story.

CIA teams had entered Afghanistan before the Army Special Forces detachments and had already begun establishing relationships with Northern Alliance commanders.

The arrival of the Green Berets added something transformational: the ability to systematically integrate those Afghan ground forces with the enormous air campaign being assembled overhead.

Attached Air Force combat controllers became critical.

Combat controllers could coordinate aircraft, identify targets and manage the increasingly complicated stacks of American fighters and bombers circling above Afghanistan.

One of the combat controllers operating with Triple Nickel was Calvin Markham.

Markham later described the job as creating the interface between the ground and the air—identifying potential airheads and drop zones while simultaneously coordinating close air support.

Triple Nickel worked with Northern Alliance forces confronting Taliban positions along the Shomali Plain north of Kabul.

Suddenly Taliban tanks, armored vehicles, artillery and fortified positions faced something they had never previously encountered.

An Afghan fighter on horseback or a Green Beret on a ridgeline could identify a target.

Coordinates could move through satellite communications.

Thousands of feet overhead might be an American aircraft carrying precision weapons.

Minutes later, the target could disappear.

That combination fundamentally changed the battlefield.

ODA 595: The Horse Soldiers

If one team came to symbolize Task Force Dagger more than any other, it was ODA 595.

The detachment was commanded by Capt. Mark Nutsch.

Its assignment was to link up with Gen. Abdul Rashid Dostum, one of the Northern Alliance's most powerful—and controversial—commanders.

Dostum's forces were fighting south of the strategically important city of Mazar-i-Sharif.

The Americans needed him.

But they did not necessarily know whether they could trust him.

Intelligence assessments had portrayed Dostum as a ruthless warlord who might be hostile toward the Americans arriving in his territory.

ODA 595 therefore went into its first meeting prepared for the possibility that the situation could turn violent.

Instead, a partnership formed.

The Americans had arrived in the Dari-a-Souf Valley in the darkness.

By morning, armed Afghan horsemen were approaching their position.

Then came Dostum.

Also on horseback.

And that is where one of the strangest combinations in modern American military history began.

Horses and Laser-Guided Bombs

Dostum's men traveled through the mountains primarily on horseback.

So the Green Berets would have to do the same.

There was one problem.

Most of them were not experienced horsemen.

Nutsch was an exception. He had grown up around cattle and had rodeo experience.

Many of his teammates learned Afghan horsemanship the difficult way: by getting on a horse and riding into the mountains.

The saddles were designed for smaller Afghan riders. Stirrups were often too short. The Americans improvised extensions using parachute cord.

Some horses barely responded to commands.

Others fought with nearby horses.

The men frequently changed mounts.

And then they rode them across narrow mountain trails and steep terrain that would have challenged experienced riders.

The U.S. Army's official account records that the detachments sometimes broke into three- and six-man elements so they could cover additional territory.

That meant extraordinarily small groups of Americans could be operating among hundreds or thousands of Afghan fighters.

Yet each tiny element possessed something enormously valuable.

A connection to American airpower.

The juxtaposition was extraordinary.

A Green Beret could sit on an Afghan horse carrying an M4 carbine while using satellite communications and GPS coordinates to guide a precision weapon launched from one of the world's most technologically sophisticated aircraft.

Nineteenth-century mobility, twentieth-century firepower, and twenty-first-century communications came together in the mountains of Afghanistan.

The image became so iconic that the Special Forces soldiers involved became known simply as: the Horse Soldiers.

Their story would later inspire books, the film 12 Strong, and the America's Response Monument, the bronze Horse Soldier statue located near the September 11th Memorial in New York.

The Real Weapon Was Airpower

The horses made the photographs memorable.

The air-ground integration made the campaign devastating.

Before the Green Berets arrived, American aircraft were already attacking Afghanistan.

But Afghanistan's terrain made identifying tactical targets extremely difficult.

Once Special Forces soldiers and Air Force combat controllers were physically alongside Northern Alliance formations, the equation changed.

Taliban tanks could be identified individually.

Artillery positions could be located.

Bunkers could be marked.

Troop concentrations could be targeted.

American aircraft—including B-52 bombers—could then deliver enormous firepower against precise battlefield positions.

Combat controller Calvin Markham later recalled that B-52s were being employed in close-air-support roles in a way not seen since Vietnam.

Imagine the psychological effect.

Taliban soldiers could see Afghan horsemen and lightly armed militia in front of them.

What they could not necessarily see were the Americans concealed among those forces communicating with aircraft miles above the battlefield.

A tank might suddenly explode.

Then another.

Then a defensive position.

The physical balance of power began changing.

So did the psychological balance.

Mazar-i-Sharif

The capture of Mazar-i-Sharif became one of the campaign's critical early objectives.

The city had strategic and symbolic importance and controlling it opened access into northern Afghanistan.

ODA 595 worked with Dostum's forces while other Special Forces teams partnered with additional Northern Alliance commanders.

The model was becoming clear:

Afghans provided mass.

Green Berets provided organization, communications and tactical expertise.

Air Force controllers connected the battlefield to American aircraft.

Special Operations aviation and logistics sustained the detachments.

American airpower supplied the hammer.

The Taliban's northern defensive system began collapsing far faster than many planners anticipated.

What had initially been envisioned as a campaign that could require months began producing major results in weeks.

Task Force Dagger Expands

The story did not end with 555 and 595.

Additional ODAs entered Afghanistan and linked with different resistance commanders.

Among them were teams such as ODA 585 and ODA 586, spreading the Special Forces presence across northern Afghanistan.

ODA 586 operated alongside forces commanded by Gen. Daoud Khan in Takhar Province.

Following sustained air attacks, Northern Alliance forces captured Taloqan on November 11 and ultimately Kunduz later that month.

ODA 585 fought alongside other Northern Alliance formations.

Weapons Sergeant Keith Gamble later remembered seeing hundreds of Afghan fighters charge a ridgeline in an attack reminiscent of something from another century—only to discover that the approach was heavily mined.

The Americans continued directing air strikes until Northern Alliance forces were eventually able to seize the position.

The campaign was unconventional warfare at enormous scale.

Eventually roughly two dozen Special Forces detachments would participate in the broader effort.

South Toward Kandahar: ODA 574

The Special Forces campaign also expanded into southern Afghanistan.

One of its most important missions belonged to ODA 574, commanded by Capt. Jason Amerine.

The team linked with a Pashtun leader who was attempting to build resistance against the Taliban.

His name was Hamid Karzai.

He would soon become one of the most important political figures in Afghanistan.

ODA 574 inserted near Tarin Kowt on November 14 and helped Karzai's force move toward Kandahar, the spiritual and political center of Taliban power.

The operation demonstrated another part of Special Forces doctrine.

The Americans were not simply destroying enemy formations.

They were attempting to build indigenous political and military alternatives to Taliban rule.

That mission carried enormous risks.

On December 5, catastrophe struck.

A 2,000-pound JDAM intended for enemy forces landed inside the friendly position.

Three Special Forces soldiers were killed:

Master Sgt. Jefferson Donald “Donnie” Davis
Staff Sgt. Brian Cody Prosser
Sgt. 1st Class Daniel H. Petithory

Afghan fighters were also killed, and numerous Americans—including members of ODA 574—were wounded.

The incident was a brutal reminder of how close these tiny teams were operating to the violence they were directing.

There were few layers separating headquarters from battlefield.

These men were standing beside the Afghans they advised.

When something went wrong, they paid the same price.

Little-Known Realities of Task Force Dagger

The popular image of the campaign is understandably dominated by the Horse Soldiers.

But some of the lesser-known aspects reveal just how unusual the mission actually was.

The Americans Were Dramatically Outnumbered

An ODA was essentially a twelve-man organization.

Even when reinforced with combat controllers or other specialists, American teams frequently operated among hundreds or thousands of Afghan fighters.

Their influence was disproportionate to their numbers because of communications, training and access to American airpower.

Translation Could Be Improvised

Many members of 5th Special Forces Group had Middle Eastern language training, but Afghanistan required Dari and Pashto.

That sometimes meant communicating through people speaking Farsi, Russian or other languages and building improvised translation chains.

Horse Equipment Became a Military Logistics Problem

The Special Forces soldiers needed saddles and riding equipment suitable for Americans because Afghan equipment was often uncomfortable or impractical for larger American soldiers.

On the ground, they improvised.

Parachute cord became stirrup extensions.

That may sound trivial until the rider is spending ten hours crossing mountains before fighting a battle.

The Night Stalkers Were Conducting Extraordinary Aviation Missions

The 160th SOAR was flying heavy helicopters through high mountains, often in near-zero visibility.

One account of ODA 595's infiltration describes an MH-47 conducting aerial refueling at roughly 300 feet above the ground in moonless darkness while en route to Afghanistan.

These aviation crews were every bit as essential to Task Force Dagger as the soldiers they delivered.

Logistics Had to Follow the Commandos

Task Force Dagger required an enormous support structure that rarely receives the same attention as the men on horseback.

At K2, elements of the 528th Special Operations Support Battalion established the initial logistics operation. Logistics Task Force 530 subsequently expanded the support network as the campaign developed.

Special operations may rely on small teams.

Those teams still require ammunition, food, fuel, communications equipment, replacement parts, medical support and transportation.

There is always a logistical system behind the operator.

Why Task Force Dagger Matters

The opening Afghanistan campaign became one of the clearest modern demonstrations of unconventional warfare.

The Americans did not defeat the Taliban's northern army by sending tens of thousands of U.S. soldiers into frontal attacks.

They multiplied the combat power of people already fighting.

A handful of Green Berets could transform hundreds of Afghan fighters into something considerably more dangerous because those Americans brought access to the entire American military system.

That is the essence of a force multiplier.

And it explains why Special Forces were so valuable immediately after September 11th.

The United States needed speed.

It needed access.

It needed Americans capable of operating independently.

And it needed soldiers comfortable working through foreign forces rather than around them.

Task Force Dagger delivered that capability.

Within weeks, Taliban control across much of Afghanistan collapsed.

That accomplishment should not be confused with everything that followed.

America would spend another twenty years in Afghanistan.

Nation-building, counterinsurgency, Afghan governance, Pakistan, corruption, sanctuary, changing political objectives and the eventual return of the Taliban represent a much larger and far more complicated story.

But those later failures and controversies should not obscure what the first Special Forces teams accomplished in the fall of 2001.

They were given an extraordinarily difficult military objective under extraordinary circumstances.

And they accomplished it with remarkable speed.

From Task Force Dagger to the Task Force Dagger Special Operations Foundation

There is another chapter to the name.

Today, Task Force Dagger also represents an organization fighting a very different battle.

Task Force Dagger Special Operations Foundation is a federally recognized 501(c)(3) nonprofit serving wounded, ill and injured members of the U.S. Special Operations community and their families.

The foundation was established in 2009, after nearly eight years of sustained post-9/11 warfare.

Its founders were Rick Walker, Frank Antenori, Ben Bethke and Keith David.

According to the organization, Walker had recently retired and had personally observed gaps between the needs of Special Operations personnel and the assistance available through systems such as the VA and TRICARE.

The four men decided to build something to fill those gaps.

That origin is significant.

By 2009, America's Special Operations Forces had already been operating at an extraordinary tempo for years.

Afghanistan had been followed by Iraq.

Deployments accumulated.

So did injuries.

And not all of those injuries were obvious.

Serving the Entire Special Operations Community

One important characteristic of the foundation is that its mission is not confined to Army Special Forces.

Task Force Dagger supports members of the Special Operations enterprise across the services, including active-duty and veteran operators and enablers, along with their families.

That includes the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and joint Special Operations community.

Its work centers around several major programs.

Immediate Needs Assistance

Military benefits do not cover every emergency.

Families can encounter unexpected medical costs, travel expenses, funeral expenses, essential living costs and other emergencies while navigating complicated military, VA and insurance systems.

Task Force Dagger provides rapid financial assistance when those traditional systems do not meet the need.

According to the foundation's audited financial statements, requests may originate through a Special Operations member's chain of command or USSOCOM's Warrior Care Program.

The philosophy is very Special Operations in nature:

Identify the problem.

Find the gap.

Fill it.

Keep the family moving.

Rehabilitative Adaptive Events

Another pillar is the foundation's Rehabilitative Adaptive Events, or RAE program.

These events use adaptive activities, sports and shared experiences to help wounded, injured and ill Special Operations personnel reconnect with their families and communities.

The foundation describes them as opportunities for SOF warriors and families to rebuild together through adaptive sports and wellness activities.

The family component matters.

Twenty years of war did not affect only the person wearing the uniform.

Spouses endured repeated deployments.

Children grew up while parents cycled between training and combat.

Families dealt with injuries, rehabilitation, transition and sometimes loss.

For that reason, successful veteran support cannot always focus exclusively on the veteran.

Sometimes the entire family requires recovery.

The SOF Health Initiative

Perhaps the foundation's most interesting work involves its Health Initiative Program.

The program grew from the experience of Special Operations veteran Geoff Dardia beginning in 2013.

Dardia was struggling physically and psychologically and facing medical retirement, depression, family problems and suicidal thoughts.

His search for answers eventually led toward a broader approach to health, including work associated with functional medicine.

That experience evolved into what became the foundation's SOF Health Initiative.

Today the program focuses on complicated health issues affecting Special Operations personnel, including TBI, post-traumatic stress, chronic pain, environmental and toxic exposures, and complex chronic health conditions.

The foundation connects SOF families with treatment, coaching and case-management resources and advocates a more comprehensive approach to long-term operator health.

This is particularly important because Special Operations careers can be uniquely punishing.

Years of parachute operations, diving, breaching, blast exposure, heavy weapons, aircraft operations, extreme training, sleep disruption and repeated combat deployments can accumulate into medical problems that may not fit neatly into a single diagnosis.

The Connection Back to K2

There is an almost poetic—and troubling—connection between the original Task Force Dagger story and the foundation carrying its name.

Remember where the original Task Force Dagger staged in 2001:

K2.

Today we know that the men and women who served there may have experienced hazardous environmental exposures.

And today the Task Force Dagger Special Operations Foundation specifically identifies toxic and environmental exposures among the health problems confronting the Special Operations community.

The connection illustrates something Americans have repeatedly learned after wars.

The battlefield can follow a veteran home.

Sometimes as memories.

Sometimes as injuries.

Sometimes as illnesses that do not appear until years later.

First In. Last Out. Still in the Fight.

There is a line used by the Task Force Dagger Special Operations Foundation:

“First in, last out, and still in the fight.”

Few phrases better connect the two stories.

In October 2001, Special Operations Forces were among the first Americans sent into Afghanistan.

Small teams entered isolated valleys carrying the anger, grief and expectations of a country that had just watched nearly 3,000 people murdered.

They did not know that the war they were beginning would become America's longest.

They did not know how Iraq would change the Special Operations community.

They did not know how many deployments would follow.

They did not know what twenty years of continuous combat operations would eventually cost the force.

They simply knew they had been given a mission.

Lt. Gen. John Mulholland, who commanded 5th Special Forces Group when Task Force Dagger deployed, later described the enormous responsibility those men felt. They believed they were carrying the expectations of the American people—and worried most about whether they would prove worthy of those expectations.

That sentiment is worth remembering.

Because September 11th is often discussed today through politics, intelligence failures, foreign policy and the wars that followed.

All of those conversations are legitimate.

But there is another part of the story.

There was a brief moment after September 11th when the United States had been attacked and somebody had to be the first to go.

Someone had to climb into those helicopters.

Someone had to cross the Hindu Kush.

Someone had to step onto an unfamiliar landing zone in the middle of the night surrounded by armed men whose intentions were not completely known.

Someone had to climb onto an Afghan horse.

Someone had to move toward the enemy.

For America, among those men were the Green Berets, combat controllers, Night Stalkers and support personnel of Task Force Dagger.

Their campaign was technologically advanced and ancient at the same time.

Horse cavalry rode beneath B-52 bombers.

Afghan fighters carrying Kalashnikovs advanced while Americans communicated with satellites orbiting the Earth.

Twelve-man detachments influenced battles involving thousands.

And within weeks, an enemy government that had provided sanctuary to al-Qaeda had been driven from most of Afghanistan.

The twenty years that followed would be far more complicated.

But the opening chapter deserves to be remembered on its own terms.

Not because it was perfect.

Not because every decision made afterward was correct.

But because understanding America's response to September 11th requires understanding the people who were asked to carry out that response.

Today another Task Force Dagger carries a different mission.

Instead of putting Special Operations warriors into the fight, the Task Force Dagger Special Operations Foundation helps bring them and their families through the consequences of it.

The battlefield has changed.

The principle has not.

Take care of the person beside you.

For the Special Operations community, that may ultimately be the most fitting legacy of Task Force Dagger.

Resources for Veterans and Special Operations Families

Special Operations service members, veterans and families seeking assistance can learn about Immediate Needs Assistance, Rehabilitative Adaptive Events and the SOF Health Initiative directly through the Task Force Dagger Special Operations Foundation. The organization states that its programs serve past and current members of the Special Operations enterprise across the military services, including operators, enablers and their families.

Veterans who served at Karshi-Khanabad Air Base can also review the VA's official K2 exposure information for information about documented environmental hazards, health concerns and VA resources associated with service at the installation.

Sources and Further Reading