Combined microwave, mass spectrometric, and optical techniques have been used to study the afterglow decay of electrons, ions, and excited atoms from microwave discharges in nitrogen-neon gas mixtures under conditions where ${\mathrm{N}}_{2}^{+}$ is the only significant afterglow ion, i.e., at nitrogen pressures less than 5\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}${10}^{\ensuremath{-}3}$ Torr. Optical absorption studies show that neon-metastable atoms, an undesirable ionization source, are present in the afterglow, the concentration being inversely related to the discharge pulse length. Under conditions of no detectable metastable-atom concentration and for neon pressures in the range 15 to 30 Torr, the afterglow decay is controlled by the recombination of ${\mathrm{N}}_{2}^{+}$ ions and electrons, yielding a recombination coefficient $\ensuremath{\alpha}({{\mathrm{N}}_{2}}^{+})=(2.9\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.3)\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}7}$ ${\mathrm{cm}}^{3}$/sec. The variation of the metastable decay rate with nitrogen pressure gives a cross section of (5.4\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}1.0)\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}${10}^{\ensuremath{-}16}$ ${\mathrm{cm}}^{2}$ for the de-excitation of the $^{3}P_{2}$ neon-metastable state by nitrogen molecules. At higher nitrogen pressures and shorter discharge pulse lengths (25-50 \ensuremath{\mu}sec) the recombination controlled afterglows are dominated by ${\mathrm{N}}_{4}^{+}$ ions, the resulting recombination coefficient being approximately 2\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}${10}^{\ensuremath{-}6}$ ${\mathrm{cm}}^{3}$/sec. All values refer to a temperature of 300\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}K.