2026年9月26日 / 美国东部时间上午7:42 / 哥伦比亚广播公司新闻（CBS News）
作者：奥利维亚·加齐斯
奥利维亚·加齐斯负责哥伦比亚广播公司新闻的情报与国际安全领域报道。她曾两次获艾美奖提名，跟随美国国务卿出访全球各地，并为哥伦比亚广播公司新闻的电视、广播、网络及流媒体平台提供情报、外交政策及其他安全议题的报道。
25年前，一架苏制直升机飞越阿富汗群山，搭载着9·11袭击后首批被派往阿富汗的中情局官员，此举拉开了美国反恐回应的序幕，这场战争最终成为美国历史上耗时最久的战争。
这支代号为“拆弹行动（JAWBREAKER）”的7人中情局小队于2001年9月26日在潘杰希尔山谷着陆，距离袭击发生仅15天，他们携带了数百万美元现金，用于招募和装备阿富汗盟友。他们的任务是收集情报，并为即将展开的针对基地组织和塔利班的美国军事行动铺路——其中包括巩固与北方联盟的关系，而北方联盟的军事领导人艾哈迈德·沙阿·马苏德在9·11事件两天前刚被基地组织特工暗杀。
搭载他们的米-17直升机如今陈列在弗吉尼亚州兰利的中情局总部，并在周年纪念日前完成了全面修复。
前中情局官员戴维·泰森数周后作为“阿尔法小队”成员跟随“拆弹行动”进入阿富汗，他记得战前曾乘坐过同一架飞机。
“它晃动得很厉害，燃油在泄漏，噪音非常大，我都不确定它是否适航，”泰森在接受哥伦比亚广播公司新闻采访时表示，“但飞行员向我保证这是一架性能不错的直升机。”
专为隐蔽行动打造的直升机
中情局在20世纪90年代购入了这架米-17，认为其苏制血统在该地区将是一项优势。
“北方联盟和塔利班都使用米-17直升机，”中情局历史学家罗布·拜尔告诉哥伦比亚广播公司新闻，“它们是俄罗斯产的直升机，堪称该地区的‘直升机皮卡’。”
“我们选择米-17而非黑鹰直升机的主要原因是它更易隐蔽，”拜尔说，“当你深入敌后时，越隐蔽越好。”
它还能应对极高的海拔。要抵达潘杰希尔山谷，“拆弹行动”小队必须穿越安朱曼山口，该山口海拔约14500英尺。
“米-17是少数能够飞越该山口的直升机之一，”拜尔说。
美国中央情报局
这架飞机没有应答机，无法向美军战机表明身份，机组人员只能临时应变。他们在直升机稳定翼上方喷涂了“USA”字样和美国国旗，既能让头顶的友军飞行员看到，又能避开地面敌人的视线。由于找不到蓝色油漆，他们的国旗涂装并不完整。为纪念这次任务的起因——9·11袭击，他们将这架直升机的呼号定为“9-11-01”。
这架米-17随后在阿富汗执行了300多次任务，一直服役到2012年。
阿尔法小队奔赴战场
泰森是驻扎在中亚的中情局特工，精通当地多种语言，包括乌兹别克语、土库曼语和俄语。2001年9月11日，他当时正搭乘航班前往英国参加一场与中情局追回遗留阿富汗的“毒刺”导弹有关的会议——其中许多导弹是在苏联入侵阿富汗战争期间由美国支持的项目送往当地的。
美国中央情报局
着陆后不久，他就开始规划返程，他意识到自己的专业技能很可能会派他前往阿富汗。
“我知道我会参与其中，毕竟我会多种语言、有相关经验，还有我在中亚的驻地，”泰森回忆道。
10月17日，也就是“拆弹行动”小队抵达潘杰希尔山谷不到三周后，泰森和阿尔法小队的其他成员被空投到阿富汗北部的另一个区域，成为首批深入塔利班战线后方的美国人。他们的任务是与乌兹别克领导人阿卜杜勒·拉希德·杜斯塔姆指挥的武装力量合作，开展针对塔利班和基地组织的战役。
“这是我们之前从未执行过的任务，”泰森说道，他将这次任务描述为与当地武装力量合作“全面开展一场战争”。
戴维·泰森
他的主要职责是情报和联络工作。他与杜斯塔姆的乌兹别克语武装密切合作，帮助团队了解当地的民众和环境。美国人与阿富汗武装人员一起骑马穿越山区，有时每天骑行时长可达14小时。
“马儿一点都不温顺，”泰森回忆道，“它们都是种马，会互相撕咬，还会咬我们、踢我们，试图把我们掀下去。那些装备、鞍具基本上就是木架上铺着地毯。”
到11月底，塔利班武装在阿富汗北部大部分地区溃败。数百名外国武装人员投降并被关押在马扎里沙里夫附近一座占地广阔的19世纪堡垒—— Qala-i-Jangi。
11月25日，泰森和另一名中情局官员约翰尼·迈克尔·“迈克”·斯潘进入Qala-i-Jangi堡垒，他们的首要任务是确认囚犯身份及来历。
“大部分囚犯都承认自己是基地组织成员，宣誓效忠本·拉登，”泰森说。囚犯中包括约翰·沃克·林德——这名加州本地人于2000年移居该地区并加入了塔利班。
美国中央情报局
任务开始数小时后，囚犯们发动了暴动。
“爆炸声、枪声四起，还有大量的叫喊声，”泰森回忆道，“我看到的一切都像是慢动作，”他说，“事情进展得很慢，但我的动作几乎是下意识的。”
某个时刻，他听到斯潘喊他的名字，于是穿过交火区域向他的搭档跑去。
“我记得看到他……的轮廓或身体倒在地上，”泰森说，“我赶到他身边时，迈克应该已经死了，我开枪打死了压在他身上的人，然后拿走了迈克的步枪。”
32岁的斯潘成为首位在阿富汗作战中阵亡的美国人。他的名字被刻在中情局纪念墙的第79颗星上。
泰森带着斯潘的步枪杀出重围，在剩余的部署期间他一直使用这支步枪。如今这支步枪陈列在中情局博物馆，与泰森在整个部署期间穿的那双靴子放在一起。泰森当时8岁的儿子后来称它们为“爸爸的幸运靴”。
“这支步枪救了我的命，除此之外还有很多意义，”泰森说，“这支步枪能被放进博物馆，我觉得非常合适。这再次让我们缅怀迈克和他的事迹。”
戴维·泰森
修复一段中情局历史
这架米-17在2012年完成最后一次作战任务后，于2018年被送往中情局总部。工作人员拆除了燃油管路和其他部件，将其安置在室外，周围摆放了模拟阿富汗地貌的岩石。
多年的日晒雨淋对机身造成了损坏。“阳光让油漆大幅褪色，还有一些小动物钻进了机身内部，”拜尔说。
在过去一年里，中情局封堵了机身上的开口，并重新涂装，使其更接近2001年的外观。拜尔表示，特意将绿色涂装调得稍鲜艳一些，这样经过阳光暴晒后，最终会褪色到预期的色调。
这次修复还还原了“607”——执行首次任务的阿富汗飞行员的呼号。2001年，这个编号被喷涂在米-17的两侧，帮助它伪装成北方联盟的直升机，同时向盟军飞行员表明这是友机。
美国中央情报局
对泰森而言，这些展品承载着更私人的历史记忆。
“正如迈克常说的，他想站在战斗的最前沿，”泰森说，“他当时确实做到了，现在也依然如此。他将永远是那样的人。能成为其中一员，显然是我永远不会忘记的经历。”
泰森说他“几乎每天”都会想起斯潘和他的牺牲。
“我愿意相信他在冥冥中指引着我，”他补充道。
泰森和斯潘的遗孀香农·斯潘·德布鲁因如今都是“獾六号”组织的成员，该非营利组织成立于2022年，以斯潘的呼号命名，旨在帮助与阿尔法小队并肩作战的阿富汗武装人员及其家属。该组织表示，目前为约35个家庭提供援助，包括食品、药品、搬迁和重新定居支持。
对泰森来说，这项工作是使命的延续——2021年美国从阿富汗撤军，塔利班重新掌权，许多曾与美军并肩作战的阿富汗盟友被留在当地，面临塔利班的报复。当被问及是否觉得自己有义务在政府未能提供帮助的地方伸出援手时，泰森简单地回答：“当然，没错。这是人之常情，也是我们该做的事。”
The story behind the first CIA officers in Afghanistan after 9/11 and the Russian chopper that flew them in
September 26, 2026 / 7:42 AM EDT / CBS News
By Olivia Gazis
Olivia Gazis covers intelligence and international security matters for CBS News. Twice Emmy-nominated, she has traveled worldwide with the secretary of state and contributes reporting on intelligence, foreign policy and other security topics across CBS News broadcast, radio, online and streaming platforms.
Twenty-five years ago, a Soviet-designed helicopter crossed the mountains of Afghanistan carrying the first CIA officers sent into the country after the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, marking the opening move in the U.S. response that would soon become America’s longest war.
The seven-man CIA team, code-named JAWBREAKER, landed in the Panjshir Valley on Sept. 26, 2001, just 15 days after the attacks, carrying millions of dollars in cash intended to help enlist and equip Afghan allies. Their mission was to gather intelligence and prepare the ground for the looming U.S. campaign against al-Qaeda and the Taliban — including by shoring up ties with the Northern Alliance, whose military leader, Ahmad Shah Massoud, had been assassinated by al-Qaeda operatives just two days before 9/11.
The Mi-17 that carried them there is now on display at CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia, where it has undergone an extensive restoration ahead of the anniversary.
Former CIA officer David Tyson followed JAWBREAKER into Afghanistan weeks later as a member of Team Alpha, and remembers flying aboard the same aircraft before the war.
“It was shaking a lot, fuel was leaking, very noisy, and I didn’t know if it was airworthy,” Tyson told CBS News in an interview, “but I was assured by the pilots it was a good bird.”
A helicopter built to blend in
The CIA acquired the Mi-17 in the 1990s, calculating that its Soviet origins would be an advantage in the region.
“The Northern Alliance and the Taliban both used Mi-17s,” CIA historian Rob Byer told CBS News. “They’re Russian helicopters and kind of the pickup truck of helicopters in that region.”
“The big reason we got an Mi-17 rather than flying in a Blackhawk is because it blends in,” Byer said. “And when you’re going behind enemy lines, you’d like to blend in as much as you can.”
It could also handle the punishing altitude. To reach the Panjshir Valley, JAWBREAKER had to cross the Anjuman Pass, which rises roughly 14,500 feet above sea level.
“The Mi-17 is one of the few helicopters that can actually make it over that pass,” Byer said.
Central Intelligence Agency
The aircraft had no transponder to identify it to American warplanes, leaving its crew to improvise. They painted “USA” and an American flag across the tops of its stabilizers, visible to friendly pilots overhead but concealed from enemy eyes on the ground. With no blue paint available, the crew left the flag unfinished. And in a reminder of the attacks that had brought them there, they gave the helicopter the call sign “9-11-01.”
The Mi-17 would go on to fly more than 300 missions in Afghanistan, remaining in service until 2012.
Team Alpha goes to war
Tyson was a CIA case officer based in Central Asia who was steeped in local languages, including Uzbek, Turkmen and Russian. On Sept. 11, 2001, he was on a flight to the United Kingdom for a meeting related to the CIA’s efforts to recover Stinger missiles that had remained in Afghanistan, many of which were sent there in a U.S.-backed initiative during the Soviet war.
Central Intelligence Agency
Soon after he landed, he began planning his return, realizing his expertise would likely take him to Afghanistan.
“I knew that I would be involved given my languages and experience and so forth and where I was based in Central Asia,” Tyson recalled.
On Oct. 17, less than three weeks after JAWBREAKER arrived in the Panjshir Valley, Tyson and the rest of Team Alpha were inserted into a different part of northern Afghanistan, becoming the first Americans sent behind Taliban lines. Their mission was to work with forces commanded by Uzbek leader Abdul Rashid Dostum as part of the campaign against the Taliban and al-Qaeda.
“This was something we hadn’t done before,” Tyson said, describing a mission that involved working with local forces to “basically prosecute a war.”
David Tyson
His principal role was intelligence and liaison work. He worked closely with Dostum’s Uzbek-speaking forces, helping his team understand the people and environment around them. The Americans traveled with Afghan fighters on horseback through the mountains, sometimes riding as long as 14 hours a day.
“The horses were not friendly,” Tyson recalled. “They were stallions, they fought between each other, they bit us, they kicked us, they tried to knock us off. And the gear, the kit, the saddles were basically wooden frames with carpets thrown on them.”
By late November, Taliban forces had collapsed across much of northern Afghanistan. Hundreds of foreign fighters had surrendered and were taken to Qala-i-Jangi, a sprawling 19th-century fortress near Mazar-e-Sharif.
On Nov. 25, Tyson and fellow CIA officer Johnny Micheal “Mike” Spann entered Qala-i-Jangi, where their initial task was to determine who the prisoners were and where they came from.
“For the most part, they were responding and identifying themselves as al-Qaeda members, people who had given oath of allegiance to bin Laden,” Tyson said. Among the prisoners was John Walker Lindh, a California native who moved to the region in 2000 and joined the Taliban.
Central Intelligence Agency
Hours into their mission, the prisoners rose up.
“There were explosions, gunfire, and a lot of yelling,” Tyson recalled. “I started seeing things in what I would call slow motion,” he said. “Things were moving slowly, but almost automatically.”
At a certain point he heard Spann call his name, and began moving toward his partner through the fighting.
“I remember seeing his … silhouette or body on the ground,” Tyson said. “I believe Mike was already dead when I got to him and I was able to shoot the men on top of him and took Mike’s rifle from him.”
Spann, 32, became the first American killed in combat in Afghanistan. His was the 79th star carved into the CIA’s Memorial Wall.
Tyson fought his way to safety with Spann’s rifle, which he continued using for the rest of his deployment. It is now displayed in the CIA Museum, alongside the pair of boots Tyson wore throughout his deployment. Tyson’s then-8-year-old son later dubbed them “Dad’s lucky boots.”
“That rifle saved my life, I think, among other things,” Tyson said. “It’s very fitting, I think, that that rifle’s in the museum. Again, it reminds us of Mike and who he was.”
David Tyson
Restoring a piece of CIA history
After its final operational mission in 2012, the Mi-17 was brought to CIA headquarters in 2018. Its fuel lines and other components were removed and it was installed outside amid rocks meant to resemble the Afghan landscape.
Years of exposure to the elements took a toll. “The paint had faded greatly due to the sun and a few critters were getting inside as well,” Byer said.
Over the past year, the CIA sealed openings in the aircraft and repainted it to more closely resemble how it looked in 2001. The green was deliberately made slightly more vivid, Byer said, so exposure to the sun will eventually fade it to the intended shade.
The restoration also brought back “607,” the call sign of the Afghan pilot who flew the first mission. Painted on both sides of the Mi-17 in 2001, the number helped it pass as a Northern Alliance aircraft while signaling to allied pilots that it was friendly.
Central Intelligence Agency
For Tyson, the artifacts preserve a much more personal history.
“As Mike would say, he wanted to be on the tip of the spear,” Tyson said. “He was that, and he is today. He will be that forever. And for me to be part of that was just something that obviously I won’t forget.”
Tyson said he still thinks about Spann and his sacrifice on “a daily basis.”
“I’d like to think he helps guide me through things,” he added.
Tyson and Spann’s widow, Shannon Spann DeBruyn, are now among those involved with Badger Six, a nonprofit created in 2022 and named after Spann’s call sign to assist the Afghan fighters who worked alongside Team Alpha, as well as their families. The organization says it currently supports about 35 families with assistance ranging from food and medicine to relocation and resettlement support.
For Tyson, that work is part of a mission that did not end when the United States withdrew from Afghanistan in 2021 as the Taliban reclaimed power, leaving some of the Afghan partners who had fought alongside Americans behind and vulnerable to Taliban reprisals. Asked whether he feels an obligation to help where governments have not, Tyson answered simply, “Sure, yeah. That’s what people do. That’s what we do.”