Do you think Bagram, Jalalabad, & Kandahar Air Field will eventually become duty stations like Korea for a one year assignment or even two?

SGT Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 05 Feb 2014 11:11:19 -0500

Having been to a lot of the major airfields here in Afghanistan I am noticing that the larger bases are still building A LOT of new structures, mainly barracks and TOCs. This does not seem like something an Army leaving by the end of 2014 (Majority of the troops that is) would be doing. What are your thoughts and your own insights possibly from also being here and seeing the major construction yourself?

Response by SFC Cornelius Walsh made Feb 5 at 2014 11:14 AM

SFC Cornelius Walsh — Wed, 05 Feb 2014 11:14:35 -0500

I would certainly hope not, and it doesn't seem to me like we would. From my limited understanding of the Karzai government, gleaned from open source, it seems like we will be quite unwelcome as a long term force.

Response by 1SG Shane Hansen made Feb 5 at 2014 11:51 AM

1SG Shane Hansen — Wed, 05 Feb 2014 11:51:52 -0500

It happened in Germany when we started closing bases there and turning them back over to them. We built new buildings and refurbished all the old ones to brand new condition. It might be that they are doing the same thing for the Afghanis. I do know this, here in Shindand, we are not building anything, except on the Afghani side there are some new hangars going up for the Afghani air force pilot training.

Response by CW2 Private RallyPoint Member made Feb 5 at 2014 12:01 PM

CW2 Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 05 Feb 2014 12:01:25 -0500

I highly doubt we will be there much longer. The country doesnt want us there, at least the Afghan Govt. doesn't. The political games we see in the news are not really a surprise to me due to the fact that once we leave, the the Taliban will be free and clear in the country to do as they please. They have taken power before and Karzai knows that if he doesn't play nice with them, he'll be removed very quickly by whatever means possible. As for the building at the various large bases that are still building... There are two things that i can think of right away that are the probable cause for the continued buikding. First is that contracting those projects takes awhile. Once a contract is awarded and the money is allocated, the government isn't going to pull the plug and ask for the money back. Second is that just like Iraq, our government looks at these building and facility improvements as infastructure improvements that will aid the host nation. That thought process supports the first point I mentioned. The gov. just isnt going to pull the money back.

Response by CPT Private RallyPoint Member made Feb 5 at 2014 12:36 PM

CPT Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 05 Feb 2014 12:36:51 -0500

We (the U.S.) continued new construction contracts on Balad Air Base (a.k.a. LSA Anaconda) until four months before it was closed down. My son was there as an Air Force augmentee to the Army unit doing the final shutdown. They asked the construction crews why they were working on buildings and infrastructure for a base that was being shut down and the answers varied from "the contracts were signed before the announcement so we finish the job" to "we are continuing improvements for the Iraqi forces who will man it after we are gone". Given the fact that the Iraqi governmnet had no plans to occupy the base, neither explanation makes sense. I anticipate the same type of thing happening in Afghanistan. I would hope that the Afghan government would actually take advantage of the new infrastructure but the Iraqi government sure didn't.

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 6 at 2014 11:57 PM

SSG Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 06 Aug 2014 23:57:57 -0400

I was going to offer a comment but it looks like you're in the BN that replaced the one my unit fell under, so I don't think I can tell you anything you don't already know!

Response by MAJ Private RallyPoint Member made Oct 22 at 2014 12:03 AM

MAJ Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 22 Oct 2014 00:03:09 -0400

I could possibly see that at Bagram but I am fairly certain Kandahar is closing down within the next year or so. Even if we do maintain an enduring presence in Bagram I see it still just being referred to as a deployment that wont exceed 1 year. There will always be conflict here so I can't imagine it would ever work out like a PCS move where you can bring your family.