Bagram Air Base

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Bagram Airfield
IATA: BPM – ICAO: OAIX
Summary
Airport type		Military
Operator		United States Army
Location		Bagram, Afghanistan
Elevation AMSL		4,895 ft / 1,492 m
Coordinates		34°56′46″N 069°15′54″E / 34.94611°N 69.265°E / 34.94611; 69.265
Runways
Direction	Length		Surface
	m	ft
03/21	3,003	9,852	Concrete

The Bagram Air Base^[1][2] - official known and referred to as Bagram Airfield^[3][4] - (IATA: BPM, ICAO: OAIX) is a militarized airport and housing complex that is located next to the ancient city of Bagram, southeast of Charikar in Parwan province of Afghanistan. It is often referred to as Bagram Air Base, however the senior mission commander at Bagram is an Army two-star general, making it an Army Airfield in US military parlance. The Airfield is currently occupied and maintained by the 5th Aviation Battalion (Assault),and 6th Aviation Battalion (GSAB) of the United States Army, with the 455th Air Expeditionary Wing of the United States Air Force and other US Army, Navy, Marine Corps, and their coalition partner units having sizable tenant populations.

Bagram Airfield has three large hangars, a control tower, and numerous support buildings. There are more than 32 acres (130,000 m²) of ramp space and five aircraft dispersal areas, with a total of over 110 revetments. Many support buildings and base housing built by the Red Army during their occupation were destroyed by years of fighting between various warring Afghan factions after the Soviets left. New barracks and office buildings are slowly being constructed at the present time. There is also Bagram Theater Internment Facility, a detention centre which has been criticized in the past for its abusive treatment of prisoners.^[5]

The ICAO ID is OAIX and it is specifically at 34.944N, 69.259E at around 1500 m above sea level. The base had a single 3003 m (9852 ft) runway built in 1976. A new 3.5-kilometre long runway was built and completed by the US military in late 2006, at a cost of US$68 million. This new runway is 2000 feet longer than the previous one and is 11 inches thicker, which gives it the ability to handle larger aircraft if necessary, such as the C-5 Galaxy, C-17 Globemaster III or the Boeing 747.^[6]

Contents 1 History 1.1 Soviet occupation era 1.2 Civil War era 1.3 US and allied forces invasion era 1.3.1 Significant Bagram Airfield Attacks 2 Bagram Theater Internment Facility 3 Gallery 4 See also 5 References 6 External links

[edit] History

[edit] Soviet occupation era

Bagram Airfield played a key role during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan from 1979 to 1989, serving as a base of operations for troops and supplies. Bagram was also the initial staging point for the invading Soviet forces at the beginning of the conflict, with a number of airborne divisions being deployed there. Aircraft based at Bagram, including the 368th Assault Aviation Regiment flying Su-25s, provided close air support for Soviet and Afghan troops in the field. The 368th Assault Aviation Regiment was stationed at Bagram from October 1986 to November 1987.^[7] Some of the Soviet land forces based at Bagram included the 108th Motor Rifle Division and the 345th Independent Guards Airborne Regiment of the 105th Airborne Division.

[edit] Civil War era

Following the withdrawal of the Soviet forces and the rise of the Mujahideen, Afghanistan plunged into civil war. Control of the base was contested from 1999 onward between the Northern Alliance and Taliban, often with each controlling territory on opposing ends of the base. Taliban forces were consistently within artillery and mortar range of the field, denying full possession of the strategic facility to the Northern Alliance. Press reports indicated that at times a Northern Alliance general was using the bombed-out control tower as an observation post and as a location to brief journalists, with his headquarters nearby.

Reports also indicated that Northern Alliance rocket attacks on Kabul had been staged from Bagram, possibly with Russian-made FROG-7 Rockets.

[edit] US and allied forces invasion era

During the US-led invasion of Afghanistan the base was secured by a team from the British Special Boat Service. By early December 2001 troops from the 10th Mountain Division shared the base with Special Operations Command officers from MacDill Air Force Base in Florida and soldiers of the 82nd Airborne Division from Fort Bragg. The British force consisted of Bravo and Charlie Companies from 40 Commando Royal Marines. As of mid-December 2001 more than 300 US troops, mainly with the 10th Mountain Division, were providing force protection at Bagram. The troops patrolled the base perimeter, guarded the front gate, and cleared the runway of explosive ordnance. As of early January 2002 the number of 10th Mountain Division troops had grown to about 400 soldiers.

As of late January 2002, there were somewhat over 4,000 US troops in Afghanistan, of which about 3,000 were at Kandahar airport, and about 500 were stationed at Bagram Airfield. The runway was repaired by US, Italian and Polish military personnel.

As of mid-June 2002, Bagram Airfield was serving as home to more than 7,000 US and other armed services. Numerous tent areas house the troops based there, including one named Viper City.

By November 2003 B-huts were replacing the standard shelter option for troops. There were several hundred, with plans to build close to 800 of them. The plans were to have nearly 1,200 structures built by 2006, but completion of the project was expected much earlier; possibly by July 2004. The increased construction fell under US Central Command standards of temporary housing and allowed for the building of B-huts on base, not to show permanence, but to raise the standard for troops serving here. The wooden structures have no concrete foundation thus not considered permanent housing, just an upgrade from the tents, the only option Bagram personnel and troops had seen previously. The small homes offer troops protection from environmental conditions including wind, snow, sand and cold. On average, B-huts house up to 8 people, as does the majority housing option, the tent.

By 2007 Bagram has become the size of a small town, with traffic jams and many commercial shops selling goods such as clothes to food. The base itself is situated high up in the mountains and sees temperatures drop to -20. Due to the height and snow storms commercial aircraft have difficulty landing there, and older aircraft often rely on very experienced crews in order to be able to land there.

[edit] Significant Bagram Airfield Attacks

Wikinews has related news: Taliban target US Vice President Cheney with suicide bomb attack

The 2007 Bagram Airfield bombing was a suicide attack that had killed up to 23 people and injured 20 more at the base in Afghanistan, while Dick Cheney, the Vice President of the United States, was visiting. The attack occurred inside one of the security gates surrounding the heavily guarded base 60 km north of Kabul.

Qari Yousef Ahmadi, a Taliban spokesman, claimed responsibility for the attack and said Vice President Cheney was its target, although there is no proof that any terrorist organization was aware of Cheney's presence on the base. However, recently a Taliban spokesman said that Osama Bin Laden himself planned the attack, and reiterated that Cheney was the intended target. This claim is supported by the relatively limited number of large suicide bombings carried out in Afghanistan, combined with the intensity of this attack, and the fact that Cheney was at the base.

Cheney was unhurt in the attack. Among the dead were an American soldier, PFC Daniel Zizumbo, an American contractor, Geraldine Marquez-Rincon, a South Korean soldier, and 20 Afghan workers at the base.

On March 4th, 2009, a car bomb exploded just outside Bagram Airfield wounding three civilian workers.^[8]

On June 21, 2009, Two U.S. service members were killed and at least six other personnel were wounded during an early morning indirect-fire attack. [[1]]

Most incidents, apparently, have never received press coverage, it was noted in Newsweek.com that "Bagram came under daily rocket attack" in 2002. [[2]] Landmines have also been a serious concern in Bagram. [[3]]

[edit] Bagram Theater Internment Facility

Bagram Airfield is the main detention facility for persons detained by US forces in Afghanistan.^[9]

The detention facility has housed as many as 500 enemy combatants who are mostly held in a building deep in the heart of the base.^[9] The detainees have included senior members of Al-Qaeda and alleged Al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters. In July 2005, about 450 alleged militants and journalists were being detained there.^[10][11] Apart from US military and intelligence personnel, the only people officially allowed inside the prison building are Red Cross representatives who inspect the facility once every two weeks.^[12]

The detainees don't have any access to a legal process.^[13]

The Detention Center at Bagram has been heavily criticized for its alleged abusive treatment of prisoners.^[5] In 2005 the New York Times reported that two detainees had been beaten to death by guards in December 2002.^[14] Amnesty International has used the word "torture" to describe treatment at the detention center.^[15]

Many of the officers and soldiers interviewed by US Army investigators in the subsequent criminal investigation said the large majority of detainees at Bagram were compliant and reasonably well treated.^[14] However, some interrogators routinely administered harsh treatment which included alleged beatings, sleep deprivation, sexual humiliation, shackling to ceilings, and threats with guard dogs.^[14] Amnesty International has criticized the US government for using dogs at the detention center at Bagram Airfield.^[15]

In July 2005 four suspected Al-Qaeda militants escaped from Bagram detention center.^[10]

[edit] Gallery

View of the Airfield from the Air Traffic Control Tower's catwalk	View of the Airfield from the Air Traffic Control Tower's catwalk after a recent rainstorm.
Special visit in October 2007 by U.S. Navy Admiral and the 17th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Michael Mullen	Special visit in July 2007 by United States Deputy Secretary of Defense, Gordon R. England	Special visit in July 2005 by the 16th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Peter Pace	C-17 on the runway at Bagram on 31 January 2009 after landing without landing gear

[edit] See also

• List of airports in Afghanistan
• Kandahar International Airport
• Manas Air Base
• Provincial Reconstruction Team
• International Security Assistance Force
• Afghanistan War order of battle
• Bagram torture and prisoner abuse

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Bagram Air Base

• 455th AEW's Bagram Airfield Official Site
• Bagram Airbase at GlobalSecurity.org
  • Global Security Numerous maps and photos from the sky as of August 13, 2001
• runway dimensions
• The Prisoner, NOW on PBS
• May 15, 2005 News "Slowly, but steadily, a slew of construction projects is providing troops with better housing and improved work areas as well as a handful of new shops for eating and entertainment."
• "Cheney targeted in Taliban attack". Aljazeera.net. http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/38956FF4-704F-4AD5-BCD0-85C5A1C0F844.htm.