The base, which has cost the U.S. a total of $250 million since construction began in 2016, is the key U.S. surveillance hub in West Africa.
"I've done field research near the sites of some of the 'contingency locations' that don't seem to be part of the general's official count, and in practice, if not in name, they serve as significant hubs of U.S. military operations. To not include them in an official count is to pull wool over the eyes of Congress and the U.S. public."
"It is nearly impossible for U.S. taxpayers and even members of Congress to keep track of the vast U.S. military presence in the world. Without basic transparency about the location and costs of U.S. military engagement abroad, including information on the cost of our hundreds of bases and countless partnerships with foreign militaries, legislators cannot have an informed debate about national security priorities," she told The Intercept.
The linchpin of the U.S. military's archipelago of bases in North and West Africa, Air Base 201 consists of a 6,200-foot runway, aprons, taxiways, massive aircraft hangars, multistory living quarters, roads, utilities, munitions storage, and an aircraft rescue and firefighting station, all within a 25-kilometer "Base security zone." U.S. troops eat in a 13,000-square-foot dining facility, work out in a gym, play on basketball and volleyball courts, and spend leisure time at a recreation center with "Bookcases full of movies and games, Wi-Fi, snacks," according to the Air Force, all of it protected by fences, barriers, and upgraded air-conditioned guard towers with custom-made firing ports.
Only the Pentagon could call Air Base 201, the largest "Airman-built" project in Air Force history, a "Low-cost" facility, since it cost $110 million to build and is maintained to the tune of $20 to $30 million U.S. taxpayer dollars each year.
Officially, so-called cooperative security locations, known as CSLs, have "Little or no permanent U.S. presence," but Air Base 201 can currently accommodate about 1,000 U.S. military personnel, according to a spokesperson for U.S. Air Forces in Europe and Air Forces Africa.
A Pentagon spokesperson told The Intercept that they were now "Repositioning some U.S. personnel and equipment in Niger from Air Base 101 in Niamey to Air Base 201 in Agadez" but did not respond to questions about how many personnel would be moved.
https://theintercept.com/2023/09/08/africa-air-base-us-military/
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