Carried The First Team Into Afghanistan Following 9/11

The Russian-built Mi-17 helicopter that carried the first CIA operatives into Afghanistan to prepare for a military assault is being enshrined at the CIA Museum  ... which has been called "the best museum you'll never see."

USA Today reports that the helicopter that carried the seven CIA paramilitary operatives and a three-person flight crew into the Panjshir Valley was painted to resemble aircraft used by the Taliban, but to be sure they did not take friendly fire, they added the call numbers "91101" to the tail of the aircraft, referencing the 9/11 attacks.

The operation, codenamed "Jawbreaker", paved the way for the coalition assault that would eventually topple al-Qaida and the Taliban in Afghanistan. The the insertion was not easy. Gary Schroen put the Jawbreaker team together and led the mission. He is the author of "First In: An Insider's Account of How the CIA Spearheaded the War on Terror in Afghanistan." He told USA Today that there were several dicey moments during the flight into Afghanistan, and th team operated for a month on the ground gathering intelligence and preparing the Northern Alliance for what would become Operation Enduring Freedom,

Schroen and others who were part of the mission hope that having the aircraft on display at CIA Headquarters will inspire younger people who might not have been around at the time to understand the mission of the agency.

(CIA Images)

FMI: Source Report