Movie – 12 Strong – the Horsemen of Northern Afghanistan

Special Forces Horse Soldier Statue at Ground Zero (Photo CPT Eric Hudson, 160th SOAR, 9.13.2016)
Special Forces Horse Soldier Statue at Ground Zero (Photo CPT Eric Hudson, 160th SOAR, 9.13.2016)

Upcoming Movie – 12 Strong – Chris Hemsworth, if ever there was a guy that looked like a hero, will play a Captain on a Special Forces SFODA whose SF team links up with the Northern Alliance in Afghanistan in the late part of 2001. The movie, 12 Strong, depicts the actions of the ODA as it liberates the northern city of Mazar-e Sharif from the Taliban.

Hemsworth was quite impressed with the real life story of this Special Forces A-team that infiltrated by helicopter in the dark of the night, met with members of the Northern Resistance, and promptly mounted horses to ride into combat.

The horse soldiers – from ODA 595 of the 5th Special Forces Group – infiltrated northern Afghanistan shortly after the terrorist attack on the United States in September 2001. The infiltration was done by chopper but much of the initial ground movement was by horse over mountainous terrain. The team linked up with the forces of General Abdul Rashid Dostum who, at the time, was aligned (or part of) the Northern Alliance.

It will be interesting to see just how accurate the movie is to the book and to the real life events. Hopefully the military technical advisors got it right.

The movie is a take on the non-fiction book by Doug Stanton entitled Horse Soldiers. The long title of the  movie is Horse Soldiers: The Declassified True Story of the Horse Soldiers. It is scheduled to be released on January 19, 2018.

Read more about the upcoming movie to be released in January 2018. (USA Today, Oct 17, 2017).

Watch the movie trailer.

About John Friberg 201 Articles
John Friberg is the Editor and Publisher of SOF News. He is a retired Command Chief Warrant Officer (CW5 180A) with 40 years service in the U.S. Army Special Forces with active duty and reserve components.