Anaconda Patch

Following the September 11 attacks, it was determined that al Qaeda was utilizing Afghanistan as a base of operations. In response, on October 7, 2001, President George W. Bush announced that airstrikes targeting al Qaeda and the Taliban had begun in Afghanistan staring Operation Enduring Freedom. The first large scale conventional battle took place between March 2 and March 16, 2002, in the Shahi-Kot Valley and was known as Operation Anaconda. The daughter of Dennis Sullivan, who was a 10th Mountain Division Soldier during Operation Anaconda, made this patch to commemorate the operation.