Return

 The World Trade Center towers, NewYork City

The Pentagon, Washington D.C.

The September 11th, 2001 attack on the New York World Trade Centers and the Pentagon launched the United States into a war on terrorism.  Operation Enduring Freedom began just four weeks later on October 7, 2001.   Early combat operations included a mix of air strikes from land-based bombers, Navy fighters and ship-launched cruise missiles.

Firefighters and rescue crews search the debris at Ground Zero after the September 11^th attack on the World Trade Center

A US Navy warship launches a Tomahawk cruise missile on October 7, 2001, opening the war in Afghanistan.

            The first US troops on the ground in Afghanistan were Special Operation forces who were sent in to engage in unconventional warfare alongside anti-Taliban forces.    Although these missions were classified in nature, images of Special Forces soldiers riding horses and using pack mules soon appeared on television.  Army transportation had come full circle.

Special Forces soldiers ride horseback with local Afghan fighters and use pack mules to negotiate the rugged terrain. Adapting to the local environment and customs fostered good relations with the Afghan  people.

President George W. Bush

            The objectives of Operation Enduring Freedom were spelled out by President George W. Bush in a 22 September 2001 address to Congress.    They were: the destruction of terrorist training camps and infrastructure within Afghanistan, the capture of al Qaeda leaders, and the cessation of terrorist activities in Afghanistan.

             The plan called for direct attacks on the leadership of al Qaeda and the Taliban while simultaneously providing humanitarian aide to the Afghan people and the destruction of the Taliban military.   These objectives would have to be achieved by a coalition of 68 nations under the command of US Central Command's LTG Tommy Franks.

LTG Tommy Franks

             Army logisticians supported this mission in a land-locked country surrounded by less than cooperative nations.  This meant that traditional transportation methods did not work.  Massive air support and contracted civilian truck companies were required to keep the logistic chain moving.  Army transportation units were responsible for making this happen.

 TRANSPORTATION CORPS JOINS THE FIGHT

             On 7 June 2002, an 11 soldier advance party from the 330th Transportation Battalion (Movement Control) deployed from Fort Bragg, NC to Karshi-Khanabad (K2) Air Base in Uzbekistan. 

Compound at Karshi-Khanabad (K2)

             The 330th had the mission of establishing a Movement Control Center (MCC) for Combined/ Joint Task Force 180 (CJTF 180) in Afghanistan.  All forces in Afghanistan fell under CJTF 180 and the Task Force was subordinate to U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM).

A US soldier offloads from a helicopter under cover of darkness at K2.

A TOUGH ROAD

             All logistics primarily relied on two modes of transportation -- military air and commercial truck.  The 330th had to develop theater doctrine for moving men and material from Germany or Pakistan over land, by rail or by air.

A contract truck negotiates a steep, rugged mountain road.

Troops unload supplies from a UH-60 Blackhawk

             They also had to negotiate multiple time zones, foreign languages, rugged terrain, and blinding snowstorms.

ESTABLISHING SUPPLY HUBS

            The Movement Control Battalion set up three ports of operation in theater through which all logistics would flow.  Movement Control Teams (MCTs) were established at Bagram, Kandahar, and Karshi-Khanabad (K2).  These teams were responsible for the planning and execution of the reception and redeployment of personnel and equipment.

A C-17 Globemaster III is unloaded at Kandahar, Afghanistan Airbase.

   The 622nd MCT from Fort Eustis, commanded by Major Darry Johnson, was deployed in July 2002 with fifteen soldiers to Kandahar, Afghanistan.

MAJ Johnson with Robin Williams during a USO visit to K2

             The 622nd MCT set up an Arrival/Departure Airfield Control Group (A/DACG) at Kandahar Airport and during their six months in theater, they moved enough men and material to fill nearly two airborne divisions.  The operation at Kandahar was similar to the operations at Bagram and K2.

            These small teams of transporters moved supplies brought in from military and commercial air or from rail through Uzbekistan and offloaded to commercial trucks.   

            The trucks transported the materials overland or to waiting helicopters that flew through the inhospitable terrain delivering critical supplies or personnel to forward units. 

Kandahar Airport Terminal

Troops load mail onto a truck near Bagram

            Army transportation assets assigned to Military Traffic Management Command (MTMC) also played a critical role in the logistics chain in Afghanistan.

             Elements of the 164th Transportation Contract Supervision Detachment and part of the 507th Logistics Task Force coordinated all of the contracts for the civilian trucks that performed the line-haul mission in theater.

A US soldier inspects a local contracted truck at a roadside checkpoint.

            Nearly all military trucks were used by forward units in a tactical environment, so the transportation of supplies fell to the civilian truck companies.

            MTMC controllers contracted and supervised the civilian truck companies and coordinated military airlift assets with the Air Force.

An army patrol rolls through an Afghan village. Most military trucks were used in a tactical role.

            The success in Operation ENDURING FREEDOM can be measured in the rapid transformation throughout the country.  On October 7, 2001 the Taliban controlled more than 80% of Afghanistan and anti-Taliban forces were on the defensive.

            By October 20, 2001 US and Coalition forces had removed the Taliban and al Qaeda from all major cities in Afghanistan and killed or captured the majority of Taliban leaders.

  Just 78 days after the war began, LTG Franks traveled to the newly liberated city of Kabul to attend a ceremony marking the inauguration of the new Afghan interim government.

The newly elected leader of Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai, became the first democratically elected head of that nation in the history of Afghanistan.

            Operations continue today in Afghanistan with Army transporters playing a critical role in the lifeline of Operation Enduring Freedom.  Movement Control Teams not only work in Bagram, Kandahar and Karshi-Khanabad, but also in the United States and Europe uploading material and personnel into military aircraft bound for Afghanistan and the ongoing war on terrorism. 

A soldier with the 82nd Airborne Division maintains security as his convoy rolls along an Afghan road.

   Soldiers drive their Humvees through a river on a rocky road on the way to Tangay in the Daychopan region of Afghanistan. They are assigned to the 10th Mountain Division's 2nd Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment. The unit is combating terrorists and remnants of the former Taliban regime.