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or you can get all of History Daily plus other fantastic history podcasts at into History.com. It's late in the evening on September 26, 2001 in a barren stretch of the Panjir Valley in northern Afghanistan.

59-year-old CIA operative Gary Schrone steps off an MI17 helicopter.

He's the first of a seven-man unit to hit the ground.

The helicopter blades kick up dust and sand as the rest of his team followed.

The last man on the aircraft throws out three large canvas bags and leaps out himself.

The heavy duty helicopter doesn't wait around for long.

It takes to the sky, leaving Gary and his crew alone in the desert.

Shouldering the bags, they set off across a rocky wasteland.

As the CIA's number one expert on Afghanistan,

Gary is fluent in the languages of the region.

He had been about to retire, but recent events have called him back to duty.

Just over two weeks ago, terrorists flew two planes into the World Trade Center

in New York City. A third plane hit the Pentagon,

while a fourth was forced down over Pennsylvania. The terror group Al Qaeda quickly

claimed responsibility for the atrocity, and in the aftermath, President George W Bush sanctioned

Gary's secret mission.

The U.S. government believes that Afghanistan's rulers, a hard-line group known as the

Taliban, are harboring those responsible for the attacks on 9-11.

Gary's team has been sent here to meet with the Northern Alliance, a group of fighters who are waging war against the Taliban, and it doesn't take long for

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