Manas International Airport
Ganci Air Base / Manas Air Base
Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan
On 28 November 2001, CENTCOM Commander General Tommy R. Franks stated that additional attack aircraft from the United States and France (and possibly other states) would be sent to Central Asia in early December 2001. Kyrgyzstan was reportedly the most likely base for most of the aircraft as the country was the only one in the region to offer coalition forces unrestricted overflight rights for aircraft flying combat, humanitarian and search-and-rescue missions. The country reportedly leased Manas International Airport for a period of a year to the coalition.
In late December 2001, engineers arrived at Bishkek's Manas international airport, to open the airfield for American use. Accommodation was initially provided to some 200 American and French servicemen in a tent camp at Manas. Their number was planned to reach 3,000 men. Initially plans called for about 2 dozen attack aircraft at Manas, including F-15E's, F/A-18's and perhaps French and Danish jets. By early 2002, analysis of the taxiways, the 13,000-foot runway and the fuel system suggested a smaller deployment. As of early-January 2002 the ultimate deployment had not been decided, but cargo and tanker aircraft were expected to begin arriving by mid-January.
The movement of aircraft would include F-15E fighter-bombers and A-10 attack jets, deployed for the first time in Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. The squadron of 24 fighter aircraft in Kyrgyzstan would consist of 6 F-15E's, 6 F/A-18's, and 6 other jets, either A-10's or F-16's, and 6 French fighters. France reportedly requested permission to base 6 Mirage 2000 multi-purpose fighter bombers, 2 C-130 tanker aircraft and 200 technicians in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.
As of mid-February 2002, plans called for stationing 6 Marine F/A-18s and 6 French Mirage 2000s, along with 5 KC-135 tankers and 4 C-130 transports, all expected to arrive in March 2002. By that time Manas was already serving as a refueling hub for C-17 transports coming from Afghanistan. The 350 military personnel were expected to grow to 2,000 by March 2002, and to more than 3,000 by June 2002.
Kyrgyzstan permitted the air forces of Canada, France and the United States to use its territory for the duration of the anti-terrorist campaign. Kyrgyzstan agreed in early January 2002 for 8 French military airplanes, six Mirage fighter jets and 2 supply planes taking part in operations in Afghanistan to be based at Manas. The Kyrgyz authorities expected eventually a total of 40 to 50 military airplanes from the international coalition to be based at Manas. Of the coalition aircraft, 30 would be military transport planes. The field at Manas would be used to transfer cargo from large cargo planes to smaller planes capable of landing at Afghan airfields. The 6 Mirage 2000 aircraft arrived in Manas around 1 March 2002. The 6 Marine F/A-18D Hornet fighter aircraft and their crews arrived at Manas around 24 April 2002.
As of June 2002, about 1,000 American troops and an equal number of coalition forces were stationed at Manas to support fighter, tanker and cargo operations into Afghanistan. The United States, Australia, Denmark, France, the Netherlands, Norway, South Korea and Spain all had forces at Manas.
As of July 2002, the bulk of the 1,900 troops, about half of them American, were from their national air forces. The US Marines operated the air-traffic control tower, and a smaller contingent of US Army troops ran the power-production facility. The leadership was multinational. The vice commander was French, and the operations group commander was Australian.
A detachment of 6 French Air Force Mirage 2000D fighters returned to France on 4 October 2002 after participating with French carrier-based aircraft in support of the US-led Operation Enduring Freedom. French fighters conducted more than 10% of sorties over Afghanistan. The 6 Mirage 2000Ds had been stationed at Manas Air Base, Manas, Kyrgyzstan, along with 2 C-135FR tanker aircraft.
On 1 October 2002 a tri-national detachment of 18 Danish, Netherlands and Norwegian F-16AM fighters and one Netherlands KDC-10 tanker, took the place of the Mirages. The Royal Netherlands Air Force (RNLAF) led the 440-strong unit known as the European Participating Air Forces (EPAF) detachment. It was tasked to provide day and night air support to US and coalition forces inside Afghanistan as part of Operation Enduring Freedom. Furthermore, it could be called on to provide air support to International Security Assistance Force troops in and around Kabul. The unit was integrated within the 376th Air Expeditionary Wing of the US Air Force.
On 16 December 2002, a new recreational facility at Manas Air Base was dedicated, marking the one-year anniversary of a coalition presence in the Kyrgyz Republic. The newly constructed Coalition Center housed a movie theater and a fitness center.
The US facility covered 37 acres. It was fenced off by a concrete wall at the top of which coiled razor wire has been placed. Four watchtowers overlooked the facility, which held roughly 300 tents, a fitness room, a chapel, a post office, a recreation room as well as a $5 million, 60-bed military hospital that opened in April 2002, and is manned by South Korean troops.
Fuel for the American and French fighter jets flying out of Manas Air Base in Kyrgyzstan was initially provided by a firm owned by President Askar Akayev's son-in-law.
The facility was unofficially renamed Ganci Air Base, after Chief Peter J. Ganci Jr, chief of the New York City Fire Department who gave his life during the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. Although the US Air Force was renowned for providing for the comfort of its troops, American airmen said Ganci was setting a new standard for comfortable deployments downrange. Compared to the dusty and desertlike temperatures at the tent city at Karshi-Khanabad, also known as K-2, in neighboring Uzbekistan, Ganci was almost like a resort.
The Air Force's 376th Air Expeditionary Wing was been tasked with operating the facility which also houses troops from South Korea, the Netherlands, Denmark, Australia, Norway and Spain. The 786th Security Forces Squadron was part of the 86th Contingency Response Group from Ramstein Air Base, Germany, and its mission was to ensure the safety of coalition forces setting up the Manas airfield. As of June 2002, the 822nd Security Forces out of Moody Air Force Base in Valdosta, Georgia, was also deployed at Manas.
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