In this episode, Mark E. Mitchell - Former Director for Counterterrorism on the National Security Council and Former Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations/Low-Intensity Conflict - discusses the first ground battle after 9/11 which occurred in Mazār-i-Sharīf, the fourth largest city in Afghanistan. An uprising during the battle of Qala-i-Jangi -- to overthrow the Taliban's Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, which had been harboring al-Qaeda operatives -- resulted in the death of Johnny Micheal Spann, an American paramilitary operations officer in the CIA's Special Activities Division. Spann was the first American killed in combat during this late 2001 U.S. invasion of Afghanistan. Recorded 29 Jun 2021. Host: James Hughes, AFIO President and former CIA Operations Officer.