In the weeks following the Sept. 11,2001, attacks on the Pentagon and World Trade Center, Air Force combat controllers were among the first Special Forces teams on the ground in Afghanistan, providing the vital link between Northern Alliance forces on the ground and U.S. airpower in the sky. U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Bart Decker and other Airmen helped the Northern Alliance defeat the Taliban government and put its AI Qaeda allies on the run, accomplishing more in a few months than tens of thousands of troops achieved over the following 20 years. U.S. Air Force F-15E Strike Eagles from the 335th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron dropped 2,000-pound Joint Direct Attack Munitions on a cave in eastern Afghanistan in 2009. With total command of the skies, Air Force bombing was largely for close air support missions supporting Soldiers and Marines on the ground. From 2007 through 2019 alone, U.S. Air Forces Central Command launched 244,536 close air support sorties over Afghanistan, expending 56,577 weapons.
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