We arrived at the gate of the Ganci Air Base at 7 am this morning after a brisk taxi ride from the recently rain-washed streets of Bishkek.  There the language shifted from russian to english and the Volga autos giving way to big ol’ trucks and Hummers. It’s astounding how much America fits onto a few acres of land.  From the southern twang of the 23-year-old guards at the gate this morning to the curly fries I ate at lunch right through to a Karoke rendition of "Sweet Child O’ Mine" in the Base Cantina a few minutes ago to the rich coffee smell and tapping of keyboards at the base internet cafe where I’m writing from now, this place feels like an American island sometimes.

-Patrick Farrell.  Ganci Air Base, Kyrgyzstan

But there are constant reminders all around that this is not Kansas or Washington State even if the KC-135s do say McChord Air Force Base on their sides. There’s gift shop in a traditional yurt parked in one corner of the base and old Soviet army posters for sale. The gal behind the counter at the dining facility is Kyrgyz as are the people cleaing up, doing laundry and cutting hair here.  There are some third country nationals here as well, though not many. Most are in communications or jobs that require proficient english but not translation.

There seems to be a real desire to hire locally and buy locally on base. A few people we’ve had passing conversations with have suggested that the relative clamp down on off-base activities is probably negatively affecting the local economy.  Hard to say if it would extend beyond a handful of bars, but in a country where the official (corruption is pretty rampant–my taxi driver paid off two crooked cops just on the way to the base one day) average monthly salary hovers in the $50 range it couldn’t hurt to inject a few more American dollars.

We had a full day shuttling around and poking into different rooms and parts of the base.  We went out to the flightline to watch the mechanics work on KC-135 engines, talked shop with the purchasing officers and contractors (who just bought a shipment of much needed toilet seats from a Kyrgyz vendor–I’m told they did not pay 1980’s Pentagon prices) and got a few minutes with the new commander.

Tomorrow we’re likely to spend a good portion of the day with army soldiers about to "head downrange" into Afghanistan and maybe with a group of soldiers and marines returning from downrange.  The two main things this base is responsible for is moving people and moving supplies, be it fuel or gear for Operation Enduring Freedom.  The official word is that (assuming negotations continue to go well after the Shanghai Cooperation Organization meetings) the base is only here as long as OEF is still active, but there are plenty of people who see this as a longer-term base of prime strategy in the region.

Ganci is built on the remnants of a Soviet base, even the command post is a old Soviet building refurbished for the newest war in Afghanistan.  We spent some time today with the guys in charge of construction who are building some fairly big new buildings. No one is really at liberty to discuss how long this base might be here, but it certainly isn’t as temporary as I had envisioned it to be. While some transient troops (ie army on the way in or out) sometimes stay in tents, I’m in a corrugated tin building with air conditioning and oak furniture. New sidewalks are being laid down, a cold storage facility is being erected and a new sewage system is being laid as well.

Off to my modular room for some shut-eye.

Patrick Farrell.

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