Bagram Air Base

base After 20 years, US forces packed their bags and materiel on 02 July 2021 and vacated Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan, officials said. The base was the epicenter of the US-led war in Afghanistan following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. A US defense official who declined to be named told AFP: "All coalition forces are off Bagram." As of this week, 19 nations announced the withdrawal of their troops, totaling 4,800 soldiers. On Wednesday, Germany and Italy declared the end of their mission in Afghanistan and Poland brought all their troops home. The base was handed over to the Afghan National Defense and Security Force (ANDSF).

Bagram was constructed in the 1950s, later used by the Soviet Union in 1979 when it invaded Afghanistan to back a communist government. Bagram Airbase played a key role during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, serving as a base of operations for troops and supplies. and Aircraft based at Bagram provided close air support for Soviet and Afghan troops in the field. Some of the Soviet forces based out of Bagram included the elite 105th Guards Airborne Division. Bagram was used as a base of operations to fight the US-backed mujahedeen, whom then-US President Ronald Reagan called "freedom fighters" on the front line of one of the final Cold War battles.

The enormous base features two runways, the most recently built in 2006 at a cost of $96 million (€81 million). Additionally, there are 110 revetments or aircraft parking spots, three large hangars, a control tower, numerous support buildings, a 50-bed hospital with a trauma care unit, three surgical operating rooms, a modern dental clinic and a prison much feared by Afghans.

>Bagram Airbase is located in the Parvan Province approximately 11 kilometers (7 miles) southeast of the city of Charikar and 47 Kilometers (27 miles) north of Kabul. It is served by a 10,000 foot runway built in 1976 capable of landing large cargo and bomber aircraft.

Bagram Airbase has three large hangars, a control tower, and numerous support buildings. There are over 32 acres of ramp space. There are five aircraft dispersal areas with a total of over 110 revetments. Many support buildings and base housing built by the Soviets, have been destroyed by years of fighting between the various warring Afghan factions.

On or about 20-21 August 2012, 2 rockets were fired by insurgents in Afghanistan at Bagram Air Base. Shrapnel from the rockets damaged a C-17 military cargo aircraft that had brought Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff General Martin E. Dempsey to Afghanistan. The Chairman was in his room at the time of the incident and was unharmed. The damage to the aircraft meant that the Chairman departed Afghanistan safely on an alternate aircraft. Two ground crew members were slightly injured and an ISAF helicopter was also damaged in the attack, for which the Taliban claimed responsibility.