U.S. military personnel celebrated Christmas Day on Sunday (December 25) at the U.S. Transit Centre Manas, the base which adjoins the international airport on the edge of the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek.
Five servicemen paraded with U.S. and Kyrgyz flags at the former U.S. air base, now Transit Centre, in the very heart of Central Asia, where hundreds of U.S. officers are waiting to be transferred to Afghanistan.
Banner-bearers were followed by vehicles which were designed as Christmas carriages. The parade participants competed in designing the most original Christmas carriage, and the vehicle designed as a red one horse sleigh was named the best.
Serviceman Brandon who designed the carriage together with his comrades said it was a spur of the moment idea.
"A last minute idea we thought up yesterday or so, we decided to make this entry, I don't know, I just got it popped into my mind, and then all my buddies jumped on the idea and helped me out. He (horse) is made out of three layers of plywood, he's got a kind of a horse body, and then he's got hollow spots inside with pulleys so that the strings make the legs move," Brandon said.
Though the military miss their families back in the U.S. the they celebrate in almost family-like atmosphere at the base, colonel James Jacobson told Reuters.
"Today we saw just a parade, a Christmas parade with six teams that competed. Anybody could volunteer a float and the point was really just to remind them of Christmas and home, and America, and give them a chance to celebrate as they would in America. The prizes today are a little certificate and a little gift card so that they go out and buy a few things for themselves, presents for today," Jacobson said.
Despite the Christmas Day celebration the base continued to function as usual.
"It's not a day off, we're still at work supporting international efforts in Afghanistan. So you'll see air planes still flying and people still transiting to Afghanistan, and returning home, to their home countries. So what we are not... we are giving people an opportunity to relax, it's only during their time off but they'll still have to work today," Jacobson added.
Kyrgyzstan hosts both a Russian and a U.S. air base. U.S. forces set up their base in Kyrgyzstan when they overthrew the Taliban government in Afghanistan in 2001 and has used the Manas base to support operations in Afghanistan.
The Kyrgyz parliament voted in February 2009 to approve the closure of the Manas base after securing pledges of $2 billion in aid and credit from Russia. Washington later agreed to pay $180 million to Kyrgyzstan to keep the base open.
Kyrgyzstan's president Almazbek Atambayev, the pro-Russian prime minister who claimed victory in a presidential election on October 30, said on the United States should leave its military air base in the Central Asian republic when its lease expires in 2014. He said he did not believe the U.S. base provided security for his country.
All NATO-led combat troops are due home from Afghanistan by the end of 2014, and mounting bills and war weariness among the public mean there is little chance that foreign troops will be fighting there in significant numbers beyond that date.
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IBEX HUNTING KIRGHIZSTAN NOVEMBER 2011by seladang5,012 views
my bors in this video getting an award...now i c why my sister was excited lol
redneckgrl16 1 month ago