The following are events related to the Global War On Terrorism (GWOT) that took place on this day.

2002

• For the first time since 1989, the American flag was ceremoniously raised along side the Afghanistan national flag as a display of strengthened U.S. and Afghan relations. The 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) participated in the ceremony outside of the recently secured Kandahar International Airport.

2010

• A ceremony at Camp Victory in Baghdad on January 1, 2010, marked the end of the Multinational Forces-Iraq (MNF-I) and the beginning of United States Forces-Iraq (USF-I), which merged five major command groups into one single headquarters command. As General David Petraeus, head of U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), noted, “This ceremony marks another significant transition here in Iraq. It represents another important milestone in the continued drawdown of American Forces.” Troops from 30 countries have served in MNF-I since 2003.

2015

• Effective January 1, 2015, Secretary of Defense Hagel announced that the U.S. mission in Afghanistan would focus on training, advising, and assisting Afghan security forces and designated it as Operation Freedom’s Sentinel.
• The Post ISAF phase of the War in Afghanistan begins with NATO’s Resolute Support Mission.

Casualties on January 01:

• CORRAL, DENNIS ANTHONY – January 1, 2004
• LEBRUN, JEFF – January 1, 2005
• PARRELLO, BRIAN PATRICK – January 1, 2005
• BISHOP, JASON LEE – January 1, 2006
• VANDERHORN, CHRISTOPHER JON – January 1, 2006
• VANDLING, THOMAS EDWARD JR – January 1, 2007
• FRANCESCONI, ALBERTO – January 1, 2009
• ANDERSON, BRUSHAUN XAVIOUR – January 1, 2010
• HTAIK, MAUNG PHYOTHU – January 1, 2011
• HESS, JACOB MICHAEL – January 1, 2014
• GOLIN, MIHAIL – January 1, 2018