When storm clouds gathered over a battlefield in eastern Afghanistan, a coalition commando on the ground began say his goodbyes. His unit was outnumbered, many of his comrades were wounded and the enemy’s gunfire was intensifying.

Thunderclouds loomed as low as 1,000 feet. The U.S. Air Force AC-130, B-1 and MC-12 warplanes flying overhead had to return to base, depriving the 90-man team of potentially life-saving close air support.

Or maybe not. Two A-10C Warthog attack jets were threading their way between the mountains and lightning strikes to reach the battle.

Shrugging off heavy enemy fire, the twin-engine A-10s maneuvered so low below the storm clouds their pilots could look down and see the allied soldiers under attack on the ridge line.

Flying close enough to distinguish friend from foe—and with radio help from the commando—the heavily-armored jets laid down 30-millimeter cannon fire within meters of the friendly forces over the course of what would be a 13-hour engagement.

“You saved a lot of lives,” one of men on the ground told the A-10 pilots the next day. No other Air Force aircraft—fighter, bomber or drone—could have done what the A-10 did. Get below the weather, distinguish good guys from bad … and save American lives.

For their actions in June of 2012, the Air Force awarded the Warthog pilots Distinguished Flying Crosses with Valor, one of the flying branch’s highest awards. The Air Force, however, has a much different plan for the A-10s.

The air service recently announced it will “divest” the A-10—this despite the Army’s chief of staff calling the ungainly plane America’s “best close air support aircraft.”

This is a mistake that will cost lives. It’s now incumbent on Congress to save the A-10.

The Air Force argues that the A-10 will be irrelevant in future conflicts because of its lack of stealth and inability to operate in a “contested” environment. The Air Force also maintains it cannot afford a “single-mission” aircraft—even one it admits has performed superbly.

The military, however, has been abysmal at predicting what the next conflict will look like. Eliminating the A-10, particularly given its low operating cost, is a dangerous value statement regarding its support for troops on the ground.