Bagram Airfield and NEO

The U.S. military left BAF in the middle of the night in early July 2021. Many critics asked why this was necessary. It is now becoming apparent to some that perhaps the U.S. should have maintained control of BAF as a contingency plan. Contingency plans had included for elements of the 82nd Airborne's Global Response Force to conduct a mass tactical jump to seize Bagram Air Field to facilitate the evacuation. The airborne insertion was called off and they diverted to HKIA.The DoD has received a lot of criticism for abandoning Bagram Air Field.

Many critics say that BAF, located about 35 miles north of Kabul should have been held along with HKIA at the very last phase. The Bagram option went away as soon as DoD was ordered to reduce its presence to the 650 personnel in Kabul. The numbers wouldn't allow holding both locations. There was a contingency plan for BAF to be reoccupied to operate as an additional air hub to evacuate people - the 82nd Airborne Division was on standby for this mission. Another contingency was if the Taliban attacked HKIA then BAF would quickly be occupied from which to mount operations. During Congressional testimony in September 2021 DoD officials took pains to explain the decision to vacate Bagram Air Field while the last phases of the withdrawal were still in place. See "DOD Leaders Address Bagram Departure, Noncombatant Evacuation Operation Timing", DoD News, September 29, 2021.

Many believe that the chaos at Hamid Karzai International Airport (HKIA) could have been prevented in the non-combatant evacuation operation had been conducted at Bagram Airfield.

News Articles about Bagram Airfield and the NEO

"Why Our Generals Can't Think, Military.com, September 22, 2023. Gary Anderson, a retired Marine Corps officer with a lot of Afghanistan experience, laments the deplorable state of our military professional education system. He points to the chaotic Afghan withdrawal of the summer of 2021 as well as the chaotic non-combatant evacuation operation at Hamid Karzai International Airport (HKIA) as an example.