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Buildup at Kandahar Airport Continues
Garrison Grows to 4,300 at Site of Taliban's Last Stand
 Listen to Tom Gjelten's Feb. 28, 2002 report on continuing U.S. and allied operations at Kandahar airport.
Listen to Gjelten's Feb. 20, 2002 report on troops under fire and the high state of alert at the airport.
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Foxhole on perimeter of the Kandahar airport.
Photo: Tom Gjelten, NPR News
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Feb. 28, 2002 -- The city of Kandahar was the last bastion of Taliban support, and the last city in Afghanistan to fall to U.S.-backed rebel forces. Taliban fighters and their al Qaeda allies made their final stand at the airport before it was captured by U.S. Marines in early December.
Now that airport is the main base for U.S. and allied military operations in the area, and more than 4,300 U.S. and allied soldiers are stationed there. NPR's Tom Gjelten visited the base recently and found the busiest time of day is after the sun goes down, when most of the heavy transport aircraft land.
The airport has officially been secure for about 10 weeks, but U.S. commanders worry holdout Taliban or al Qaeda fighters might try to shoot down incoming aircraft. So much of the air traffic arrives under the cover of darkness.
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Dawn rises over the detention center at the Kandahar airport.
Photo: Tom Gjelten, NPR News
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When the airlift began, no lights at all were allowed on the runway, making for challenging landings and work conditions, says Lt. Colonel Lawrence Gray, whose Air Force team manages operations on the tarmac.
Conditions have eased a bit at the airfield lately -- most of the aircraft still arrive at night, but the ground crews now get to use the lights on their forklifts. The airfield now belongs to the 101st Airborne Division of the U.S. Army. Col. Frank Wiercinski, the base commander, told Gjelten his soldiers faced a "different transition.There is no air war, but you can tell that there's little probing actions (by enemy forces), trying to find those weaknesses," he says.
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With about a dozen heavy transport aircraft arriving each night, repairing the already beat-up tarmac is a daily task.
Photo: Tom Gjelten, NPR News
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Once last month and again this month, U.S. forces at the Kandahar airfield came under fire from just outside the perimeter. But mostly it's been quiet. Still, the soldiers face danger -- if only because the environment is challenging. Several helicopters in Afghanistan have made crash landings in recent weeks, all under bad weather conditions.
The Kandahar base has expanded to the size of a small city, complete with a post office. But virtually everything has to be flown in, and the runways are taking a beating. "It's a daily repair," says Sgt. Michael Speers. "Each day we come here and repair it, so (the planes will) be able to land again, keep everything moving in and out."
Dedication to duty is what keeps the personnel here going. The al Qaeda network may not be so evident here any more, but Afghanistan is still the main front in the war on terrorism, and this base remains the nerve center of operations.
 Browse more NPR stories on Kandahar.
In Depth
Steve Inskeep's report on a botched raid on suspected al Qaeda fighters, Feb. 3, 2002.
Inskeep's report on clearing munitions and mines near Kandahar, Jan. 28, 2002.
Inskeep's report on the mosque of Mullah Omar, Jan. 23, 2002.
Inskeep's report on Kandahar's "Cloak of the Prophet," Jan. 10, 2002.
Inskeep's photos of war-ravaged Afghanistan, Dec. 10, 2001.
Pictures and audio from Afghanistan by NPR correspondent Eric Weiner, Dec. 28, 2001.
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