Direct proof of use
U.S. Air Forces Central records the 455th Air Expeditionary Group activating at Bagram Airfield on April 26, 2002 and beginning A-10 Thunderbolt II flights in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. The same Afghan war record later shows A-10s flying close air support from Bagram and Kandahar during both the Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Freedom's Sentinel periods.
A 2008 U.S. Air Force article on the 103rd Expeditionary Fighter Squadron at Bagram reported that the unit dropped more than 30,000 pounds of ordnance and fired more than 25,000 rounds of 30 mm ammunition during a 45-day rotation supporting close-air-support missions over Afghanistan. In January 2018, AFCENT reported that A-10s arriving at Kandahar conducted their first strikes of the renewed Taliban revenue-targeting air campaign within hours of arrival.
Sources: 455th AEW Fact Sheet, Willow Grove Last A-10 Deployment, AFCENT January 2018 Airpower Summary
Bagram close air support
The A-10 entered the Afghanistan air campaign as a U.S. close-air-support aircraft based inside the theater. The 455th Air Expeditionary Wing history places A-10 operations at Bagram in 2002, while later Air Force reporting from Bagram described A-10 missions responding to troops-in-contact situations and supporting ground forces.
The 2008 Bagram account identifies the 103rd Expeditionary Fighter Squadron as an Air National Guard A-10 unit conducting kinetic support during Operation Enduring Freedom. Its sortie descriptions connect the aircraft's weapons use to the close-air-support mission rather than to possession or routine basing alone.
Sources: 455th AEW Fact Sheet, Willow Grove Last A-10 Deployment
Kandahar and Operation Freedom's Sentinel
During the later Operation Freedom's Sentinel phase, U.S. forces moved A-10C aircraft to Kandahar Airfield in January 2018 alongside MQ-9s, HH-60Gs, and other supporting aircraft. AFCENT described the move as part of additional airpower for U.S. Forces-Afghanistan, NATO Resolute Support, and Afghan security-force support.
AFCENT's January 2018 airpower summary says the 303rd Fighter Squadron's A-10s conducted the campaign's first strikes within hours of arriving at Kandahar. AFCENT's article on the Taliban air campaign described the planned A-10 role as precision strikes against Taliban revenue streams and integration into a combined U.S. and Afghan air campaign.
Sources: Additional Kandahar Assets, AFCENT January 2018 Airpower Summary, A-10 Joins Air Campaign Against Taliban
Role in the conflict
The sourced record supports two main Afghanistan roles for the A-10: close air support for ground forces and interdiction or precision strike against Taliban networks and revenue targets. Official sources place the aircraft with U.S. Air Force units, while the supported side in the catalog is the United States, NATO, and Afghan government forces.
The sources do not show Taliban or allied militant operation of the A-10. They also describe specific deployments and missions rather than a continuous, year-by-year order of battle for the entire 2001-2021 war.
Sources: Willow Grove Last A-10 Deployment, Additional Kandahar Assets, A-10 Joins Air Campaign Against Taliban, DVIDS A-10 Over Afghanistan
