Bagram AB, Afghanistan, boasts the highest air traffic of any single-runway base in the Defense Department, currently handling 333,610 arrivals and departures a year. “We have completed 2.6 million operations since 2006,” said Capt. Kyle Sultemeier, airfield liaison for Bagram’s 455th Expeditionary Operations Support Squadron. “This breaks down to more than 700 operations a day. There is always something happening whether it is people or cargo coming in and out, the airfield is consistently busy,” he added in an Oct. 28 release. Due to the force drawdown underway in Afghanistan, Bagram has handled 14,300 airlift missions shuffling more than 114,700 short tons of material and retrograde cargo since the beginning of the year alone, according to aerial port officials.
The Air Force wants to “own and run” more of its air bases, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Kenneth S. Wilsbach said Nov. 6, in what could be a major potential revamp the military’s joint base program. Speaking at the Airlift/Tanker Association’s 2026 Symposium, Wilsbach said he and the…