Once they arrived in-country, the Northern Alliance troops provided the US forces with horses, the only suitable transportation for the difficult mountainous terrain of Northern Afghanistan. Only ODA 595 commander Capt. Mark D. Nutsch had any significant experience on horseback, but all readily accepted.
[36] Capt. Will Summers, Special Forces team leader, said "It was as if
The Jetsons had met
The Flintstones."
[37] The last U.S. Army unit to receive horseback training had been the
28th Cavalry in 1943
[38] and the ODA teams were the first U.S. soldiers to ride horses into battle since 16 January 1942, when the U.S. Army's
26th Cavalry Regiment charged an advanced guard of the 14th Japanese Army as it advanced from Manila.