Bagram Airfield

[peyton]

One of our forum members asked me to post a picture of Bagram Airfield. This image is unclassified, the local opposition has much better photos.
I live on the east side of the airfield and work on the west side. It is a 3 1/2 mile walk from where I live to where I work and I walk every morning. It is what I call "The fat and 55 diet plan".

 

[627 city hunter]

Cool, Thanks for your service, peyton.

I just bought a bottle of Châteauneuf-du-Pape from a particular maker
of a very fine make of 2007 (best year since 1999) for a hero in the Army.
He is/was a Kiowa helicopter pilot and is getting married. I am one of
his groomsmen and fraternity brothers. May your passage there and home be safe.

Châteauneuf-du-Pape - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[mg357]

WOW that is a BIG airfield peyton make sure your boots are tied on good because that looks like a long walk. Also make sure your weapon is clean locked and loaded please.

 

[peyton]

No, you mis-understand, I am just a lowly contractor, although I did serve for 22 years in the army. As a contractor I am not allowed a firearm, they don't trust us!! Along my walk I pass easily 200 to 300 Afghani's that are coming to work in the camp. I always say a quick prayer, "Please Lord, don't let them decide it would be a good day to mess with an old fat man"!! We probably have 5,000 Afghani's working here. They cook, clean, run laundry and doing construction projects. You know you build relationships by being courteous, I say Hi to them in the morning, I am always polite to the laundry and dining hall staff. To the Taliban they are traitors, and I am sure a large portion of their checks are stolen to payoff the local taliban. To me they are patriots, just trying to live a better life.
Now I am not silly enough to believe they do not help the local opposition with "inside information" and yet they are subject to the same rocket attacks I face.

 

[Lenny_D]

Whether you're in the service now or not you're still there and providing work that is needed for our troops. Thanks for that! Be safe.
Len

 

[msgdan]

Hey Peyton,

Contractor or not, keep your head down and be safe. i was on Bagram in 2006, I'm sure it's worse now. Get home safe.

Dan

 

[JJEH]

Stay safe

 

[NMPinNYC]

One of our forum members asked me to post a picture of Bagram Airfield. This image is unclassified, the local opposition has much better photos.
I live on the east side of the airfield and work on the west side. It is a 3 1/2 mile walk from where I live to where I work and I walk every morning. It is what I call "The fat and 55 diet plan".

How far is the BBQ joint from where you work? I went through Bagram on my way to ISAF in Kabul in 2010. Stay safe.

 

[peyton]

There are two BBQ chow halls now. One is on the south end of Disney drive and the other one in at Warrior camp on the east side. I am only allowed there once a month now, it always seems I try to eat a slab of ribs whenever I go there!! My bride asked who made the better ribs, the chow hall or her, I wisely said her, even though I don't have to do the dishes here!!

 

[peyton]

My friend likes to take pictures and here are a couple he gave me.

 

[MORSNO]

Wow, has Bagram grown. I arrived there in Feb '02, when there were just a few tents out back and couple of generators for power. I lived in the blown out Air Traffic Control Tower while installing an Emergency Airfield Lighting System (runway edge lights, threshold, and a 1000' approach strobe system. All flying was done at night with combat landings circling down over the airfield. There were also a bunch of abandoned MIGs in all the parking bunkers on the far side. The entire area was covered in UXO's from the Soviet/Afghan war. 11 years ago feels like just yesterday, I can still smell the burning poo in the cut off 55 gallon barrels.

 

[peyton]

We still have all the UXO's. I tell all the incoming personnel "If it has grass, it has mines" They have cleared a lot on the East side.
My co-worker built the hand rail around the top of the russian control tower in 2002. They would step out through the missing glass and sit out there and smoke. Some higher rank Air Force guy fussed at them so they built the rail and it is still there.

 

[peyton]

I got to see this French Renault Tank today. The Polish army is taking it home. It was in very good condition. The tank got loaded on a truck in Kabul and my buddy ran the crane that took it off in Bagram. This morning I visited the motor pool and the Sergeant told me it was headed to the flightline. It fit easily in the back of a 5 ton truck.
Here is the link to the article that discusses the find.

FT-17 w bazie Bagram, gotowy do powrotu

http://translate.google.com/transla...270?t=FT-17-w-bazie-Bagram-gotowy-do-powrotu-

Here is another article about the tank.

http://landships.activeboard.com/t51046964/another-ft17-found-in-afghanistan/

 

[peyton]

Here are some other photos of stuff on Bagram airfield. These are all Russian Anti-aircraft guns. Ignore the old man wishing he had some ammo to shoot them!!

 

[Cyrano]

Thanks for the information on the FT 17, Peyton. I'm sending it to a friend in France who will be most interested.

 

[Muley Gil]

Do they still sell the muzzleloaders and Martini-Henrys at the bazaar? I bought two Snider-Enfields in 2005 and shipped 'em home, as they were pre 1899.

 

[peyton]

They still sell the old Kyber Pass rifles at the bazaar. They do a pretty good job of getting them sent home. The tank was given to Poland after World War One and then taken by the Russians and shipped to Afghanistan. Now I wonder what mechanical genius kept that tank running for all those years. The engine compartment and main gun/machine gun were removed before I saw it.

 

[MORSNO]

We were using the old tower for air traffic control, it had plexiglass for windows. Are all of the Migs still there? They were all sitting in the gravel bunkers on the far side of the airfield. This one can also be seen in my first picture by my left arm.