U.S.–Afghanistan Strategic Partnership Agreement
The draft agreement says that U.S. military and Defense Department civilian personnel are exempt from visa requirements and taxation. Afghan taxes and other fees will not be imposed on the entry or exit of goods specifically for the use of U.S. forces. An annex to the draft lists locations where Afghanistan agrees to provide facilities for U.S. forces, including Kabul; Bagram, north of the capital, where the United States has its largest current base; Mazar-e Sharif in northern Afghanistan; Herat in the west; Kandahar in the south; Shindand in Herat province; Sharab in Helmand province; Gardez, south of Kabul; and Jalalabad, to the east. The draft document gives the U.S. the right to deploy American forces on nine bases, including the two biggest, the airfields in Bagram and Kandahar. It also allows U.S. military planes to fly in and out of Afghanistan from seven air bases, including Kabul International Airport. U.S. forces would be permitted under the document to transport supplies from five border crossings, described along with the air bases as "official points of embarkation and debarkation." All bases in Afghanistan would revert to Afghan ownership and sovereignty after 2014, according to the draft.
Camp Leatherneck
Camp Leatherneck was master-planned by the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Europe District FEST-A Team from Wiesbaden, Germany in October/November 2008. Upon arrival to Kandahar, the team was tasked by the Theater Engineer of U.S. Forces Afghanistan (USFOR-A) to find a suitable location in Helmand Province for 2K-15K troops. The primary purpose for the base was to house troops for a majority of an estimated 26,000 additional U.S. troops being deployed to Afghanistan. Throughout all of southern Afghanistan, bases were all at or above capacity leading to the paramount need for a large centrally located base for the surge. The site was chosen primarily to take advantage of the adjacent British Airfield on Camp Bastion and to provide much needed protection to the primary east-west corridor of Highway 1 in Helmand Province.