The Al-Qaeda terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001 began two conflicts of different scope. The attacks triggered retaliatory action by the United States and NATO in Afghanistan in Operation Enduring Freedom, where U.S. and theater-based U.S. Air Force airpower, working with Special Operations Forces and U.S. Air Force airmen on the ground, directly targeted and helped bring down the Taliban government that had allowed al-Qaeda to train and orchestrate the 9/11 attack. More broadly, the response began the Global War on Terrorism, aimed at preventing future terrorist attacks and eliminating terrorist organizations. In later campaigns, the U.S. expanded its efforts beyond Afghanistan to degrade terrorist organizations in other countries and regions. In 2003, the U.S. overthrew Saddam Hussein's regime in Operation Iraqi Freedom based on assessments that Iraq was developing weapons of mass destruction, and air forces in Operations Northern and Southern Watch shifted to support the developing Iraq War. In both Afghanistan and Iraq, fighter, bomber, and airlift support proved essential to ground forces in the initial campaigns. Routine use of the Global Positioning System and precision-guided bombs greatly increased coalition ability to destroy difficult objectives, while this technology, combined with new doctrinal concepts, enabled far more accurate and discriminate targeting. Fighter and bomber aircraft, using intelligence gathered by remotely piloted aircraft operated around the clock by Air Force crews and coordinated by Air Operations Centers and airborne command and control aircraft, worked together in an unprecedented way to support ground operations at the smallest unit level. This brought more air warriors closer to the fight, physically or remotely, while countless others deployed, served, and sacrificed in combat zones around the world across a wide range of ground and air missions in support of this global conflict.