November 13, 2001 · Northern Afghanistan Theater

Seven weeks after 9/11, the Taliban abandon Kabul without a major fight as Northern Alliance forces, backed by US Special Forces on horseback calling in B-52 strikes, sweep through northern Afghanistan. The capital falls in 24 hours. Afghans celebrate in the streets — women remove their burqas, men shave their beards, music plays publicly for the first time in five years. The speed of the Taliban collapse stuns the world.

December 6–17, 2001 · Eastern Afghanistan Theater

US forces, Afghan militias, and Special Operations troops close in on Tora Bora — a mountain cave complex in the White Mountains near the Pakistani border where Osama bin Laden and hundreds of Al-Qaeda fighters are hiding. CIA officers on the ground beg for US Army Rangers to block escape routes into Pakistan. The request is denied — senior commanders do not want to 'Americanize' the fight. Bin Laden and most of his fighters escape across the Pakistani border.

March 2–18, 2002 · Shahi-Kot Valley Theater

Operation Anaconda attempts to encircle and destroy several hundred Al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters in the Shahi-Kot Valley in a hammer-and-anvil operation. The plan goes wrong almost immediately — Afghan troops meant to be the blocking force don't materialize, intelligence underestimates enemy numbers, and enemy fighters are far more capable than expected. Eight Americans are killed including in the famous SEAL Team Six Takur Ghar battle where Petty Officer Neil Roberts falls from a helicopter.

February 13 – June 2010 · Helmand Province Theater

The largest Marine operation since the Battle of Fallujah, Operation Moshtarak sends 15,000 US, NATO, and Afghan troops into Marjah — a Taliban stronghold and major opium-producing district in Helmand Province. The operation is fought transparently, with the US announcing the assault in advance to minimize civilian casualties. Marines take the town but find the promised Afghan government 'in a box' — a functioning administration ready to move in — is illusory.

August 15, 2021 · Afghanistan Theater

In the span of eleven days in August 2021, the Taliban capture every provincial capital in Afghanistan and enter Kabul as the US-backed government dissolves. President Ghani flees by helicopter. Thousands of Afghans flood Kabul's airport, clinging to the outside of US military aircraft. The collapse is complete — the government the US spent 20 years and $2 trillion building evaporates in less time than it took to plan a single battle.