The United States Department of Defense presents the Afghanistan Campaign Medal to those United States Military members who served at least 30 days of a consecutive period or 60 days of a non-consecutive period within the borders of Afghanistan. The medal was retroactive from October 24, 2001, and was active until August 31, 2021. During this tenure, the Military performed six phases of operations, they are:

Liberalization of Afghanistan – September 11, 2001, to November 30, 2001.
Consolidation Phase I – December 1, 2001 – September 30, 2006.
Consolidation Phase II – October 1, 2006, to November 30, 2009.
Consolidation Phase III – December 1, 2009, to June 30, 2011.
Transition Phase I – July 1, 2011, to December 31, 2014.
Transition Phase II – January 1, 2015, to August 31, 2021.

The medal has an engraving of the mountain range and geographical outline of Afghanistan with an inscription reading Afghanistan Campaign on top of the geographical outline of Afghanistan.