Direct proof of use
Afghan National Army artillery crews fired Soviet-era D-30 122 mm howitzers during the 2001 War in Afghanistan. A U.S. Army article from Nuristan Province described Afghan forward observers, a 4th Kandak fire-direction-control center, and artillerymen coordinating live fire at Forward Operating Base Kalagush, where a D-30 fired adjusted rounds during the exercise.
Coalition support also kept D-30s in the Afghan artillery training pipeline. The U.S. Army's D30 program page says PM TAS began refurbishing D-30 howitzers for the Afghan National Army artillery corps in 2010, established a central workshop in Afghanistan, and trained Afghan personnel on D-30 maintenance and refurbishment.
Sources: U.S. Army Nuristan D-30 Training, PM CAS D30 Product Page
Timeline
The documented Afghan D-30 record runs from field fire-direction training in 2009 through formal corps-level artillery courses later in the war. In June 2013, Regional Command Southwest reported that the Regional Corps Battle School at Camp Shorabak had added a D-30 artillery course for Afghan National Army soldiers from 215th Corps, including gun-line, forward-observer, and fire-direction-center instruction.
On March 12, 2014, 215th Corps soldiers completed a six-week D-30 instructor course at Camp Shorabak. I Marine Expeditionary Force reported that Afghan students fired more than a dozen rounds from the D-30 during the final exercise and handled target spotting, map plotting, adjustments, and firing data without coalition assistance.
The D-30 remained in Afghan government training use during Resolute Support. In December 2017, DVIDS reported that more than 25 soldiers from 1st Brigade, 215th Corps concluded an eight-week artillery course with a live-fire exercise at Camp Shorabak, describing the D-30 as the brigade artillery battery's primary ground fire-support weapon.
Sources: Regional Corps Battle School Artillery Course, I MEF Afghans Prove Proficiency, DVIDS 215th Corps Live-Fire Course
Narrative
In Afghan government service, the D-30 appears in the public record mainly as a towed artillery system built into Afghan National Army training, refurbishment, and fire-support capacity. The available official sources identify Afghan operators, Afghan bases, and coalition advising structures, but they document training and live-fire proficiency rather than a named battlefield strike.
The 2013 Regional Corps Battle School course shows how coalition advisers organized Afghan D-30 instruction by artillery function: gun line, forward observer, and fire direction center. The 2014 instructor course then moved from training structure to live firing, with Afghan soldiers expected to teach later artillerymen. By 2017, Resolute Support reporting described the D-30 in the same 215th Corps environment as a weapon intended to support infantry units during combat operations in Helmand Province.
Sources: Regional Corps Battle School Artillery Course, I MEF Afghans Prove Proficiency, DVIDS 215th Corps Live-Fire Course
