Shindand Air Base is located in the western part of Afghanistan

Afghanistan

Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...

 in the Herat province

Herat Province

Herat is one the 34 provinces of Afghanistan; together with Badghis, Farah, and Ghor provinces, it makes up the South-western region of the country...

, 7 miles northwest of the city of Sabzwar. The runway has a concrete surface. An all weather asphalt road connects it with the Farah

Farah, Afghanistan

Farah is a city in western Afghanistan, situated at 650 m altitude, and located on the Farah River. It is the capital of Farah Province, and has a population of approximately 109,409....

 - Herat

Herat

Herāt is the capital of Herat province in Afghanistan. It is the third largest city of Afghanistan, with a population of about 397,456 as of 2006. It is situated in the valley of the Hari River, which flows from the mountains of central Afghanistan to the Karakum Desert in Turkmenistan...

 highway, part of the National Ring Road.

Once the largest Afghan Air Force

Afghan Air Force

The Afghan Air Force , formerly the Afghan National Army Air Corps and Afghan National Army Air Force , is one of seven "corps" of the military of Afghanistan, responsible for air defense and air warfare. It was officially established in 1924 and for most of its history has functioned as a small...

 base, it is now used by the International Security Assistance Force

International Security Assistance Force

The International Security Assistance Force is a NATO-led security mission in Afghanistan established by the United Nations Security Council on 20 December 2001 by Resolution 1386 as envisaged by the Bonn Agreement...

 (ISAF) for humanitarian

Humanitarian aid

Humanitarian aid is material or logistical assistance provided for humanitarian purposes, typically in response to humanitarian crises including natural disaster and man-made disaster. The primary objective of humanitarian aid is to save lives, alleviate suffering, and maintain human dignity...

, training, and medical flights. The United States Air Force

United States Air Force

The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...

's 838th Air Expeditionary Advisory Group is based at Shindand AB supporting the ISAF mission.

History

Shindand is a Soviet-era base.

It was captured by the Taliban forces in 1997 and recaptured by the United States Air and Ground Cavalry in August 2004. Originally built in 1961, the Soviet-built runway sustained massive damage during bombing when coalition forces initially entered Afghanistan in 2002.

In 2010 the runway was refurbished so that it is able to support all Afghan National Army Air Force aircraft currently in use and opens western Afghanistan to larger fixed wing aircraft like the C-17 Globemaster III

C-17 Globemaster III

The Boeing C-17 Globemaster III is a large military transport aircraft. Developed for the United States Air Force from the 1980s to the early 1990s by McDonnell Douglas, the C-17 is used for rapid strategic airlift of troops and cargo to main operating bases or forward operating bases throughout...

.

In mid 2011 an expansion of the base was completed which tripled its size. Construction is scheduled to begin on a new 1.3-mile NATO training runway in early 2012.