Further Reading
Our Afghan allies and their Team Alpha and Green Beret partners fought and moved on horseback as a cavalry force, and the group became known as the “Horse Soldiers.” For further information about the Horse Soldiers, we recommend the following.
“First Casualty: The Untold Story of the CIA Mission to Avenge 9/11,” by Toby Harnden, 2021.
“The Horse Soldiers: The Extraordinary Story of a Band of US Soldiers Who Rode to Victory in Afghanistan,” by Doug Stanton, 2010.
“Swords of Lightning: Green Beret Horse Soldiers and America's Response to 9/11,” by Mark Nutsch, Bob Pennington, Jim DeFelice, 2022.
12 Strong: The declassified true store of the horse soldiers
The movie version of Horse Soldiers, 12 Strong tells the Hollywood version of the story of the first Special Forces team deployed to Afghanistan after 9/11; under the leadership of a new captain, the team must work with an Afghan warlord to take down the Taliban. At the time, very little was known about CIA’s Team Alpha – only one lone CIA officer is depicted.
