Closing Sharana

Photo by MSgt. Ben Bloker

A deployed C-130H crew assigned to the 774th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron flew the last of the US cargo out of FOB Sharana, Afghanistan, on 28 September 2013, closing out a decade of Hercules operations there. On the fourth and final mission of the day, the cargo loader used to fill the aircraft’s cargo compartment on the previous flights was driven onto the Hercules for transport out. FOB Sharana was officially transferred to the Afghan government on 1 October, underscoring the International Security Assistance Force's commitment to meeting the scheduled 2014 goal of drawing down Coalition operations in Afghanistan. US and Coalition partners have now closed or transferred about ninety percent of the ISAF installations in Afghanistan.