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Bagram Airfield

military base in Parwan Province, Afghanistan

Architectural plans, a scale model, maps and brass measuring instruments
Places and architectureInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionSep 24, 2026
Entity authorityQ800126 ↗
Source-derived summary

Bagram Airfield (BAF), also known as Bagram Air Base (IATA: OAI, ICAO: OAIX), is located 11 kilometres (6.8 mi) southeast of Charikar in the Parwan Province of Afghanistan. It was owned and operated by the country's Ministry of Defense. Sitting on the site of the ancient town of Bagram at an elevation of 1,492 metres (4,895 ft) above sea level, the air field has two concrete runways. The main one measures 3,602 by 46 metres (11,819 ft × 151 ft), capable of handling large military aircraft, including the Lockheed Martin C-5 Galaxy. The second runway measures 2,953 by 26 metres (9,687 ft × 85 ft). The air field also has at least three large hangars, a control tower, numerous support buildings, and various housing areas. There are also more than 13 hectares (32 acres) of ramp space and five aircraft dispersal areas, with over 110 revetments.

Bagram Airfield was built by the Soviet Union in the 1950s. Bagram Air Field was formerly the largest U.S. military base in Afghanistan, staffed by the United States Army Garrison (USAG) under the command of United States Forces - Afghanistan (USFOR-A)with major tenants such as the 455th Air Expeditionary Wing of the U.S. Air Force, along with rotating units of other U.S. and coalition forces. It was expanded and modernized by the Americans.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Bagram Airfield” as military base in Parwan Province, Afghanistan. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Bagram, Airfield and military.

Editorial reviewA valuable geographic starting point for tracing changing names, boundaries, uses and administrative responsibility. The current 219-word lead offers orientation but no explicit four-digit date, so chronology should not be assumed. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1950. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Bagram, Airfield and military providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Bagram Airfield”, the useful work is to connect “military base in Parwan Province, Afghanistan” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

Maps, plans, fabric surveys and administrative records can establish how the site’s name, extent and function changed over time. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 24, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q800126. Authority coordinates are 34.946, 69.265. 1 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank.

Critical limits

Architectural summaries often privilege surviving fabric and can understate demolished phases, contested use or displaced communities. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.

Best used for
  • Historic place names
  • Jurisdictional context
  • Routes into maps and plans
Verify next

Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Bagram Airfield”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Bagram Airfield primary sources, Bagram Airfield archive and Bagram research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Bagram Airfield”?
  2. Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
  3. Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Bagram Airfield” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.