An award-winning Navy veteran with a background in Maryland and Virginia, Anthony Wright draws upon two decades in the U.S. Navy serving as a combat pilot and senior officer. In this role, Anthony Wright led and directed sustained combat flight operations in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.
When the United States linked the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001, to al Qaeda, a group that had operated under the support and protection of the Taliban, Operation Enduring Freedom was launched to cease the Taliban's support. It was also launched to cut off al Qaeda's access to its operational base in Afghanistan, where the group had been planning terrorist activities. The al Qaeda attack was responsible for nearly 3,000 deaths. On October 7, 2001, Operation Enduring Freedom officially began, with British and American bombing strikes against Taliban and al-Qaeda forces in Afghanistan.
At the initial stage of the operation, American forces were able to remove the Taliban's support, which left al-Qaeda crippled. However, the Taliban was reluctant to back down, and the forces had to deal with Taliban insurgency and corruption among the army and police of the Afghan nation. U.S. Navy SEALS raided Osama Bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad on May 2, 2011, and eliminated the al-Qaeda leader and the mind behind the September 11th attack. On December 28, 2014, Operation Enduring Freedom officially ended.
