Manas Air Base

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Ganci Air Base is the unofficial name of Manas Air Base, a United States military installation at Manas International Airport near Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, primarily operated by the U.S. Air Force.

1 Dedication
2 Recent events
3 See also
4 Sources

[edit] Dedication

The installation was named after New York Fire Department Chief Peter J. Ganci, Jr., who was killed in the September 11 terrorist attack.

Shortly after the Air Force had used the name "Ganci," it was found that an Air Force Instruction (AFI) dictated that foreign air bases could not bear the name of any heroes from home. Since that time the air base has been officially called Manas Air Base, yet the locals and media still more often than not use the name "Ganci."

[edit] Recent events

Even in the wake of the Tulip Revolution in Kyrgyzstan that led to the toppling of President Askar Akayev, American and allied personnel have not found themselves disrupted or affected, according to international news reports. One military member even indicated, "It's been business as usual… We did not miss a single flight."

Kyrgyzstan's president threatened in April 2006 to expel U.S. troops if the United States does not agree by June 1 to pay more for stationing forces in the Central Asian nation. He withdrew this threat, except the U.S. and Kyrgyzstan have yet to agree to new terms for the military base.

On September 6, 2006, a U.S. Air Force officer, Maj. Jill Metzger went missing after being separated from her group while visiting a shopping center in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. The Kyrgyztan Interior Minister claimed, "I rule out the theory that the U.S. citizen may have been kidnapped." A US Military spokesperson, however, clamied that "Nothing has been ruled out."^[1]

On December 6, 2006, a U.S. serviceman fatally shot a Kyrgyz civilian at a truck checkpoint at the base. A statement from the base stated the soldier “used deadly force in response to a threat at an entry control checkpoint.” The civilian was identified as Alexander Ivanov, a 46-year-old Russian employee of [Aerocraft Petrol Management].^[2]