KYRGYZSTAN/FILE: U.S. Air Force Colonel Corey Martin assumes command of the U.S. military transit centre in Kyrgyzstan during a ceremony at the Manas Air Base

Record ID: 874239

  • Title: KYRGYZSTAN/FILE: U.S. Air Force Colonel Corey Martin assumes command of the U.S. military transit centre in Kyrgyzstan during a ceremony at the Manas Air Base
  • Date: 14th June 2012
  • Summary: PEOPLE SEATED FOR SHIFT HANDOVER CEREMONY VARIOUS OF U.S. SOLDIERS DURING HANDOVER CEREMONY
  • Embargoed: 29th June 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Kyrgyzstan
  • City:
  • Country: Kyrgyzstan
  • Topics: Conflict,International Relations,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVAEOE4NUJHM4IQSF9GMGRGPFXJD
  • Aspect Ratio:
  • Story Text: U.S. Air Force Colonel Corey Martin assumed command of the U.S. military transit centre in Kyrgyzstan during a ceremony at the Manas Air Base near the Kyrgyzstan capital, Bishkek on Wednesday (June 13).
    The base, located at Kyrgyzstan's main civilian airport, hosts about 1,200 American and dozens of French and Spanish servicemen, as well as several military cargo and refuelling aircraft. The United States uses the Manas transit center as a gateway for troops heading toAfghanistan and to stage aerial refueling. The base is adjacent to Kyrgyzstan's main international airport, also called Manas, just outside the capital of Bishkek.
    Troops gathered to watch the ceremony at the base's parade ground as Col. Martin assumed duties from the former base commander, Colonel James Jacobson.
    "I do not have any plans to increase the number of the personnel that are at the transit centre. The amount of cargo and personnel that come through the transit centre is really based on operations in Afghanistan, and so you'll see that fluctuate even monthly or quarterly. You'll see at times increases, and you'll see at times decreases. For right now, I do not anticipate adding any personnel, permanent personnel to the transit centre," Col. Martin told journalists after the ceremony.
    Kyrgyzstan hosts both a Russian and a U.S. air base. U.S. forces set up their base in Kyrgyzstan when they overthrew the Taliban government in Afghanistan in 2001 and have used the Manas base to support operations in Afghanistan.
    The U.S. and its allies plan to withdraw most of their troops from Afghanistan by 2014.
    Kyrgyzstan's president Almazbek Atambayev has said he wants the U.S. military to vacate Manas when its lease expires in 2014. Atambayev, elected last year to lead the landlocked former Soviet republic of 5.5 million people, has said he has no intention of renewing the U.S. lease on the base when it expires just over two years from now.
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