Shindand Air Base

Shindand Air Base د شینډنډ هوائی ډګر
Breaking dusk, a C-130 takes off from Shindand Air Base in 2012
IATA: OAH ICAO: OASD
Summary
Airport type	Military
Owner	Afghanistan
Operator	Afghan Ministry of Defense ISAF
Serves	Northwestern Afghanistan
Location	Shindand, Afghanistan
Elevation AMSL	3,780 ft / 1,152 m
Coordinates	33°23′32″N 062°15′40″E / 33.39222°N 62.26111°E / 33.39222; 62.26111Coordinates: 33°23′32″N 062°15′40″E / 33.39222°N 62.26111°E / 33.39222; 62.26111
Map
OAH Location of airport in Afghanistan
Runways
Direction Length Surface ft m 18/36 7,933 2,417 Concrete
Source: AIP Afghanistan

Shindand Air Base (IATA: OAH, ICAO: OASD) is located in the western part of Afghanistan in the Shindand District of Herat Province, 7 miles northeast of the city of Shindand. The runway has a concrete surface. An all weather asphalt road connects it with the Kandahar–Herat Highway, part of Highway 1 (the national ring road). The base is of great strategic importance being just 75 miles from the border of Iran. It is capable of housing over one hundred military aircraft.

Once the largest Afghan Air Force base, it is now used by the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). The United States Air Force's 838th Air Expeditionary Advisory Group is based at Shindand AB supporting the ISAF and NATO Training Mission-Afghanistan mission. Since 2008 the base is believed to have been used by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) for secret surveillance missions over eastern Iran and western Afghanistan that have included use of the classified RQ-170 drone.

"Construction of a perimeter fence at Shindand Air Base tripled the size of the base and included 52 guard towers. Force protection was a major component of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) military construction program in Afghanistan." Shindand also hosts the 3rd Wing of the Afghan Air Force (AAF).

The Soviet military began building an airfield near the village of Shindand in 1961 and made heavy use of the base during the Soviet war in Afghanistan which ended in 1989. It was captured by the Taliban forces in 1997, and the runway sustained massive damage during bombing when coalition forces initially entered Afghanistan in 2002. It was recaptured by elements of the 3rd Brigade, Central Corps, Afghan National Army, with advisors from the New Hampshire and Oregon Army National Guards, on 14 and 15 August 2004. Elements of the 3/4 CAV of the 25th Infantry Division arrived two weeks later to reinforce this force.