A Taliban suicide bomber attempting to target Vice President Dick Cheney on a stopover at Bagram AB, Afghanistan, detonated his bomb on Feb. 27 outside Bagram’s outer-most entry gate, killing a US service member, a coalition member, a US government contractor. According to a Combined Joint Task Force-76 release, the bomber, who also died, wounded 27 people, including at least 20 Afghan nationals. The VP’s Secret Service detail moved Cheney, who told reporters he heard “a loud boom,” to a nearby bomb shelter.
Air Force depots are not typically meant for quick repair jobs, but during Operation Epic Fury, the service moved some of its stateside heavy maintenance capability forward to fix battle-damaged aircraft closer to the fight.
