Karshi-Khanabad Air Base (Camp Stronghold Freedom)

Karshi-Khanabad Air Base is located in southeastern Uzbekistan, east of Karshi. It is operated by the Uzbek Air Force and hosts the 60th Separate Mixed Aviation Brigade.

During the Soviet era, the facility housed the 735th Fighter Aviation Regiment of the 12th Independent Air Defense Army from 1954 to 1981. The regiment operated MiG-15, MiG-17, Su-9, and MiG-23M aircraft. It was redesignated as a Fighter-Bomber Aviation Regiment in 1981 and as a Bomber Aviation Regiment in 1984, operating the Su-24 until 1992. Command of the regiment belonged to the Soviet Air Forces of the Turkestan Military District, and later the 49th and 73rd Air Armies. Control of the base transferred to Uzbekistan on 30 June 1992 following the dissolution of the Soviet Union. The resident unit was subsequently merged with other units into the 60th Separate Mixed Aviation Brigade.

U.S. military forces deployed to the base in October 2001 for Operation Enduring Freedom. Elements of the U.S. Air Force and the 5th Special Forces Group arrived to conduct combat search and rescue operations. In December 2001, the headquarters of the U.S. 10th Mountain Division established the Combined Forces Land Component Command (Forward) at the base to direct U.S. and allied ground forces in Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, and Pakistan, and to defend against regional Islamist militant groups. The headquarters relocated to Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, in February 2002.

Designated by U.S. forces as Camp Stronghold Freedom, the base hosted 7,000 United States Department of Defense personnel between 2001 and 2005. The 416th Air Expeditionary Group operated as the host unit, supporting missions against Taliban and al-Qaeda forces in neighboring Afghanistan. Following a formal request from the government of Uzbekistan in July 2005, United States forces vacated the base in November 2005.